To be able to provide the correct care and support for children at each stage of their development, it is essential for parents and other caregivers to have a solid understanding of those stages. The terms “infant” and “toddler” are frequently used to refer to small children; however, it is important to understand what age ranges these terms properly relate to.
Infant:
An infant is commonly understood to be a child from the time of birth up until the age of one year. At this point in their development, babies are totally reliant on their caregivers for meeting all of their requirements, including being fed, changed, and comforted. Children under the age of one go through a period of tremendous growth and development, both physically and mentally. They develop the ability to fixate their gaze on things, identify voices, and communicate through cries and other vocalizations.
As babies continue to mature and develop, they start to acquire control over their body and eventually learn how to sit up, crawl, and finally walk. They also start to develop their fine motor skills, such as being able to grasp objects and pick them up. Those skills will continue to develop throughout the next few years. To foster a healthy growth at this period, it is essential for caregivers to provide a risk-free environment as well as an abundance of opportunities for the child to engage in sensory exploration.
Toddler:
A child is considered to be in the toddler age range when they are between the ages of one and three years old. Children reach this age when they are maturing into their own unique personalities and become increasingly self-reliant. They are beginning to speak with one another using words and sentences that are more basic as they learn how to walk, run, and climb.
Additionally, toddlers are learning to engage with others and improving their social abilities at the same time. They may begin to feel emotions such as frustration and rage more deeply, and they will require the supervision of caregivers in order to learn how to express and manage these emotions in a healthy way so that they can function normally.
During this time, it is essential for caregivers to create an environment that is both safe and interesting, with the goal of fostering exploration and learning in the child. As they continue to develop their cognitive, physical, and social skills, toddlers require a lot of opportunities to play and engage with other people, as well as direction and support from their caregivers.
To summarize, a kid is considered to be an infant from the time of birth up until the age of one year old, whilst a child is considered to be a toddler from the age of one year old up until the age of three years old. Caregivers can better assist young children by providing the proper care and support for them if they have a solid understanding of these age ranges and the developmental stages that are linked with them.