This essay entails the reports research findings on emotional, psychological, and physical changes that occur in children between birth and the age of five. The stage is continuous with a foreseeable sequence but every child is unique in its way. The path that the child follows majorly relies on the way the child develops be it physically, spiritually, emotionally or mentally. During the first five years stage of child development some issues arise, which this essay reports.
Children face issues of improper nutrition during the first five years of their lives. Parents have many responsibilities and home duties during the first five years stage of child development. The parents are always concerned with how to make sure that their children are comfortable. During the tender ages, mothers take part in breast-feeding the children until the six months period elapses or two years in some children. Parents also embark in the duty of feeding the child even after breast feeding period. It is also notable that parents and the caretakers of the children participate in the role of cleaning the children (Bayer et al, 2012). However, some parents have busy lifestyles, which deny them a chance of breast-feeding their children.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Security of the child is also a key issue at this stage since children under the age of five need proper security. Children at the stated ages need a lot of attention to avoid issues, which may hinder their proper development. Security for the children at this stage entails watching them to ensure that they do not stumble into issues that could compromise their physical and mental well-being. For example, at the age of three years children are usually determined to explore the world around them (Chao, 1994).This factor may expose them to dangers such as being hurt by sharp and hot objects, which means that they need a lot of care. Within the five-year period children also require guidance emotionally such as being shown how to deal with their emotions and feelings since at this stage they won’t be aware on how to cope up with frustrations and violence.
School is one of the challenges that children face during their infantry years. As the child proceeds with its development, the issue of learning generates slowly as the child begins to try to express itself by words other than crying (Mäntymaa et al., 2012). At first the child, especially at the age of two years will not be able to fully communicate with others but as time goes on the child finally does so because of the guidance by people close to it. At the age of five years, school becomes a matter of concern to the parents. The parents make a decision of taking their children to learning institutions such as preschools during this age. The learning institutions for the kids play a dominant role on their development since from these schools the children will be taught judging between good and bad, which assists them to be morally upright. As much as the period provides ample learning opportunities, it presents a challenge in the fact that the children are broken away from the intimacy of their homes, which could be emotionally challenging most of them (Mäntymaa et al., 2012).
Children also face the challenge of unstable health conditions during the stage of life when they are infants. Within the stage, children are exposed to a lot of health complication since their immunity is usually not well developed. Such underdevelopments result in them being affected by diseases especially those that are not vaccinated against, such as malaria (Mäntymaa et al., 2012). Nutrition issues also affect the health of children at this stage. When children are not well fed on balanced diets, they end up being malnourished. Malnutrition affects the development of the children since it hinders their physical growth and brain development, which affects the child’s cognitive development (Mäntymaa et al., 2012). Moreover, at this stage, children’s health is also affected by their parents’ activities. For instance, a smoking mother may affect the health development for the child such as causing respiratory diseases their children (Mäntymaa et al., 2012).
Emotional problems at the first five years period of a child’s development also affect their well-being. At this stage, issues relating to their feelings affect children so much (Chadwick et al., 2012). The child may experience fear and anger which might be because of family break up or parents divorcing. At the age below five years, the kids are also known to have a relentless attitude of not giving up when demanding for their wants be it good or bad. To deal with the emotional challenges affecting children, parents should give close attention to their kids like guiding them through difficult situations for example showing them that not all is lost when they do not get their demands. Emotional guidance will not only help in their mental development but also play a role in both their physical and cognitive development (Chadwick et al., 2012).
In conclusion, the stage of years and below plays a critical role in the development of a child physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. They parents and caretakers of children should therefore try to be perfect in the roles of taking care of their children if they are to avoid the challenges described in this essay.
References
Bayer, J. K., Ukoumunne, O. C., Mathers, M., Wake, M., Abdi, N., & Hiscock, H. (2012). Development of children’s internalising and externalising problems from infancy to five years of age. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry , 46 (7), 659-668.
Chadwick, O., Walker, N., Bernard, S., & Taylor, E. (2000). Factors affecting the risk of behaviour problems in children with severe intellectual disability. Journal of intellectual disability research , 44 (2), 108-123.
Chao, R. K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child development , 65 (4), 1111-1119.
Mäntymaa, M., Puura, K., Luoma, I., Latva, R., Salmelin, R. K., & Tamminen, T. (2012). Predicting internalizing and externalizing problems at five years by child and parental factors in infancy and toddlerhood. Child Psychiatry & Human Development , 43 (2), 153-170.
