The Fascination, Joy, Uniqueness and Challenges Of Infants!

It is really rare that there are two children under the age of one (our definition of an infant) in our daycare giving us an opportunity to observe and guide them as individuals who are learning to be socialized.

We have always understood that infants begin life as an intelligent, unique being. It is our challenge as educators to recognize the developmental areas that will require more of our involvement, and their strengths that will only need encouragement and support. Along with this, they will need to be socialized so they can grow within their family and general social environment.

Their differences
1. One child is very physical, stood up firmly at seven months. The other child showed no interest or ability to accomplish that until eleven months even when given assistance and encouragement.

2. One is an ongoing babbler and attention getting screamer while the other tends to be a “smiler” but quiet.

3. One wants company most of the time, while the other is very independent and interacts when company is available but shows no anxiety when it isn’t.

4. One never really cries when injured or confronted by another child taking a toy, or when hungry. The other has an attention getting cry and emotional response when their needs are not immediately met.

Our success in helping both of them become socialized is in supporting their individuality and realizing their different personalities. They are both open to understanding and following our expectations when they are respected and effectively communicated with.

1. We took the time to identify their natural strengths, encourage them in those areas , but spend more time on those necessary skills they had to develop and spend more time to be successful at.

2. We provided them with activities that supported their natural strengths but gave equal time, and sometimes more, for areas they had to really work at.

3. We taught both of them early on that there were areas and toys/activities that were off limits to them. Since they were both crawling, a simple change of tone and a firm “no” would stop them in their tracks and we would redirect them to an appropriate area. It was amazing that two children with very different personalities understood this message. It was because we are consistent and always followed throw.

4. They both also became “good eaters” this area can be a real challenge. We not only fed them a variety of foods while they were on pureed foods, but also introduced them to regular food by nine months. This was in small portions and careful selections. We started with the challenges first such as greens and somewhat bland foods.

It was an interesting time since I was also training a new assistant. She had the day to day experience seeing two very different children respond so well to our expectations.

This is going to be true for your infant. Take the time to really know who they are and believe that they will be helped when you have clear expectations for them

So what my assistant saw is that all children need clear boundaries and directives and will meet your expectations, even though they have different strengths and personalities possibly even from you.
Agree clearly and communicate!

Good luck!

Enjoy!