Infancy and Toddlerhood Fact Sheet: Birth to 2 years

There will be a lot of physical developmental milestones that will happen between the
period of infancy and toddlerhood. I will point out two of the most visible physical milestones
that children will reach. Infants and toddlers alike will begin teeth during this period, especially
around their first birthday. The following is stated regarding one year old children, Teeth begin
to erupt rapidly; 6-10 teeth will appear during this period (Marotz & Allen, 2013, Pg. 108).
When children reach their second birthday, they will likely have all of their baby teeth, including
their molars. Another important physical development during this period is the shape of a
toddlers body. The following is said regarding this, Body shape changes; toddlers take on
more adult-like appearance but still are top-heavy; abdomen protrudes, back is swayed (Marotz
& Allen, 2013, Pg. 108). Between infancy and toddlerhood one will see the rapid development
and physical changes in their bodies.
Language development between infancy and toddlerhood will have significant changes.
Even infants will reach milestones in language development. For example, the following is stated
about infants between 1 and 4 months, Coos, using single vowel sounds (ah, eh, uh); also
imitates his or her own sounds and vowel sounds produced by others (Marotz & Allen, 2013,
Pg. 82). Listening to children coo is amazing, but was is most amazing is that this is the
beginning of their language development. When a children reaches toddlerhood, their language
becomes much more advanced. Regarding two year old children the following is described,
Uses 50 to 300 words; vocabulary continuously increasing (Marotz & Allen, 2013, Pg. 118).
Toddlers are able to use words to communicate much more effectively at the end of this stage.
Cognitive development is another area in which we see a dramatic change between
infancy and toddlerhood. For example, an infant between the age of 4 to 8 months, Turns
toward and locates familiar voices and sounds (Martoz & Allen, 2013, Pg. 88). By the time the
reach toddlerhood this action become much more sophisticated. Not only will the child respond
to familiar faces and sounds, but toddlers also, Follow simple requests and directions; Find
your sweater, Come here (Marotz & Allen, 2013, Pg. 117). Essentially an infant will go from
simply staring at an adult to being able to follow direction once they enter toddlerhood.
It is important to remember that all children grow and develop at different rates.
However, for each milestone, there is an age range in which the child is expected to reach that
particular milestone. For example, walking will take place during this stage of development.
Children will walk alone between 9 and 17 months, but the average age of reaching this
milestone is 11 months and 3 weeks. (Berk, 2013) Therefore, a sign of atypical development for
a toddler reaching his/her second birthday would be that they are not yet walking alone.
I would suggest that parents play with their infants and toddlers in order to promote
development during this particular period. Play is no doubt crucial in development, but I found
some interesting information related to this subject. The following was stated, When parents
play with toddlers, differences in play activities persist. Mothers help their toddlers play with
toys, read to them, or play traditional games such as patty-cake and peekaboo. Fathers engage in
increasing amounts of physical play. They play chase and crawling games or wrestle with them.
As a result, some researchers have found that toddlers are more responsive to their fathers then to

their mothers (Frost, Wortham, and Reifel, 2011, Pg.118). I would suggest that mothers and
fathers be open to new play activities. Mothers can wrestle and be physically active with their
children as well. Fathers can switch roles from time to time and read with to their young ones
before bed. This can also be important in language development.

References
Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Frost, J., Wortham, S., & Reifel, S. (2011) Play and child development. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Merrill/Prentice-Hall.
Marotz, L. R. & Allen, K. E. (2013). Developmental profiles: Pre-birth through adolescence
(7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.