Babies are bundles of adoration and shades of cuteness! But do you know if there is a difference in what they should be called?
The term babies’ is synonymous with how people refer to little kids. We can say that a child from birth to age 4 is a baby.
This is a widely acceptable term or slang. Have you explored the proper names to call your little ones?
Some word names include babies, newborns, and infants, while for older kids, toddlers, kiddies, and so on.
Our focus today is to explain and help you understand each of these terms, the age range, a general overview of their growth and development, and what to expect.
Newborn
“WHO” defines a newborn as less than 28 days old. Others refer to a newborn as a baby from birth to two months of age.
During this period, the foundation for healthy growth and survival directly results from appropriate care and feeding.
The first few hours are critical and sensitive. Newborns demand constant attention. Since their bones are still tender, they should be carried or laid down with support to the baby’s head.
Physical closeness contributes to emotional attachment and growth between parents and the newborn.
They can recognize the voice of their parents. Bonding occurs as parents spend quality time physically with the newborn.
The first 2 months of newborn growth and development are known as the neonatal period.
What to Expect in Newborn?
A newborn spends about 16 hours or more sleeping each day. Much of their movement and activities are involuntary; they do not purposefully make these movements.
These movements are uncoordinated, jittery, and jerky. Early reflexes include rooting, grasping, startling, etc.
As the nervous system ages, these reflexes give way to purposeful and coordinated behaviors.
Their sense of touch is developed, and they are sensitive to pain, pressure, and temperature.
Since newborns have small stomachs, they must be fed every 2- 3 hours until they get older, at around 3 months, when they can go longer between feedings.
A fun fact about them is that newborns do not shed real tears until around the 3rd week. This is because their tear ducts are not fully developed. They only cry and scream without tears to express themselves.
During this period, their feelings are communicated facially and with sounds. They can listen and absorb the basic and distinct sounds of language. Also, their brain grows rapidly.
Infants
Infants are babies between 0 and 12 months old. The word ‘infant’ is derived from the Latin term ‘infans,’ which means unable to speak.
Babies under the age of one usually don’t speak clearly. They are humans’ young offspring, and an infant can be regarded as a newborn.
What to Expect in Infants?
Exclusive breastfeeding is preferred and recommended for babies in their first six months. Fussing and crying are the primary forms of communication. By their 12th month, they can say their first words.
Since Infants are born with a reflex, they can suck/extract milk from the nipples of the breasts or a baby bottle; this behavior is known as rooting.
As they get older, they start to sleep throughout the night and nap during the day. By the 5th month, a child doubles the birth weight and triples by the 12th month.
At the start of the infant stage, they can probably use their head and eyes to track someone’s movement. They react to touch and respond to their mother’s voice. They can interact with the world around them.
During infancy, babies learn to trust and bond with their parents while developing. They learn to smile, clap, wave, pick objects up, babble, crawl, and some may start saying a few words.
By 5-6 months of age or towards the end of infancy, infants display motor skills like hands-and-kneels crawling, picking up objects with fingers and thumb, sitting and rolling over without support, and standing up and walking around holding onto something. These are visible progress.
The appearance of teeth-milk teeth erupt at about 6 months through the gums, allowing them to switch to human milk and soft food. This complementary food provides nutrients and immune substance.
Sweet foods are their preference, and they display displeasure when given bitter, sour, or salty food.
Toddler
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a toddler as a child between 1 to 3 years old (12 and 36 months old). However, most people regard a toddler as a baby advancing into preschool.
The word ‘toddler’ comes from the word ‘toddle’. ‘Toddle’ means to walk with short, uncertain steps.
In simple terms, a toddler is learning to work. At this stage, the child’s motor works steadily and develops other motor skills. Early childhood begins at age 2.
What to Expect?
During this time, his physical and motor development will slow, but you can expect tremendous intellectual and emotional changes. They express wants and dissatisfaction at this stage. They have a natural curiosity for things.
Many changes occur as your toddler responds to sounds and begins uttering a few words, simple phrases, and sentences like mum, dad, and many more. They can get some understanding of words.
At two years old, a toddler can walk alone sideways, backward, up and down the stairs on both feet.
They enjoy simple games and songs and can start learning their alphabet. As a result of their intellectual development, memorization is easy for them.
When he or she is three years old, the average toddler has reached between 53 %and 57% of his or her adult height.
During the second year, they are aware of themselves and their surroundings.
Their desire to explore new objects, show greater independence, display defiant behavior, recognize themselves in pictures or a mirror, and imitate the behavior of others, especially adults and older children.
Toddlers also should be able to follow simple instructions and directions.
Baby
A baby can refer to any child from birth to age four, including newborns, infants, and toddlers. In fact, any young offspring is called a baby.
A newborn is a baby; we also call the young ones a baby, irrespective of age.
In summary,
A newborn is a baby who is under or within two months old, whereas an infant is a baby under one year old.
A toddler is a young child over one year to three years old, while a baby is usually used for children between newborns and infants up to the point when they become toddlers.
At every stage, a baby needs love and uttermost attention for proper growth and emotional development.
