How Do Infants and Children Develop?

Have you ever seen newborn babies? Do they seem completely helpless? In fact, babies arrive in the world with basic abilities that aid their survival. In infancy, beginning at birth and lasting between 18 and 24 months, babies can suck for nourishment and see the face of a caregiver who feeds them. They can cry when hungry, which makes parents want to feed them. By smiling and bonding with caregivers, infants develop attachments that aid their survival. And they can remember and learn. These abilities aid infants’ survival until childhood, which lasts from age 2 until about ages 11–14. Both infancy and childhood are times of great change across all three developmental areas: physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional.