The Natural Development of a Child

Raising a child can be a learning experience for the parent as well as the child. The various child stages are milestones to be achieved from being an infant to becoming a teenager. The stages are to be celebrated and enjoyed as they grow into successful young adults.

Child stages begin with preterm infants, which are when the baby was born earlier than expected and not around the forty week period which is for a term baby. Preterm infants, otherwise called "preemies" are smaller in size and require a longer stay in the hospital until they can successfully eat from a bottle, sleep without any breathing apparatuses and when they have reached a certain weight limit which is generally around five pounds. They many require certain additional help at home until they can feed and sleep as a full term baby would.

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Next in child stages would be the infant stage, which is from around one month to almost two years old. During these months the child will grow immensely and learn to walk, crawl, feed themselves, sleep all night, speak and even begin potty training. These are the biggest years as far as development is concerned for the child that they will endure their entire lives. There seems to be a new change in their skills and progression each week until the child is two years old from walking to climbing and these months are the ones when you must watch the child at all times until they can safely move about the home without suffering from any injuries from falling.

The next years in child stages are the called the children stages. This is from the ages of two until they are eleven years old. These years are when the child will graduate to attend school, begin to play on team sports, begin to dress and care for themselves and not be as dependent on you the parents as they previously were. While the child is growing they may begin with attending preschool classes then progress to a kindergarten setting when they are five years old.

These years are generally not mandatory for a child to graduate, but it is encouraged to prepare them for a smooth transition into first grade and those to come so they are not so attached to you the parents. After the elementary school years the last in child stages is the adolescent one, which is from a twelve year old until an eighteen year old. This is the teen years that can be a tad tricky, but it is important to support your child and to allow them to become the people they want to be as adults.

Helene Goldnadel says that always have open communication with your children and be a good listener even when they are preschoolers, as when they want to tell you about their day and their lies they are doing so to engage with you. For information on child stages, you can do some research on the web for free to ensure your child is right where they should be.