Perceptual-Motor Abilities of Infants in the 1 to 2 Month Period

Introduction

During the 1-2 month period of infant development, perceptual-motor behaviour shifts from spontaneous movements to intentional movements. As infants stay awake longer periods of time they are able to explore and connect with their social and physical environment. During this period of development you can expect to see the following:

• movements shift from writhing to fidgety
• greater head control and movements allowing increased ability to visually reach and gather information
• turning towards sounds and visual events within their environment
• exploring their bodies, clothing and surrounding surfaces with their hands and feet
• successful and intentional reaching

Communication and Social Interaction

kkkkthe parents’ behavior shows strong intent for interaction, it attracts the attention of infants and initiates mutual exchange, response, and participation [7, 8]. In such cases, the infants actively contribute to social engagements and learn from these to anticipate social responses from caregivers [7]. Parent–child interaction is a shared, reciprocal experience within the dyads, whereby the experience of each has an impact on the experience of the other [7]. Effective parent–child interaction requires that both the infant and parent (or caregiver) send clear cues and respond to each other, thus facilitating the development of an interactive environment that continues the interaction [9, 10]. The parent and infant learn to adapt, modify, and change their behaviors in response to the other in every interaction process [11].

Caregiver interaction

When caregivers speak to infants they use baby talk called motherese. This type of infant directed speech allows adults to alter their acoustic properties to use a higher pitch, increased pitch range, more pitch variability and a slower speech rate. Research shows that these vocal adjustments happen across all populations.

Infant interaction

Newborns during this period will begin to demonstrate more complex, sustained and expressive social behaviour. Some of the communication and social developments you might notice on a 1-2 month old are bulleted below:

• first miles
• turning head toward voice and other sounds within the environment
• quietening their limbs movements
• smile in response to sounds

• interest in faces
• recognising familiar faces
• eye contact
• different cries for different needs
• producing pre-speech sounds known as protophones which includes grunts, coos, and gurgles

Vocalization

Infants use vocalization spontaneously allowing them to practice and explore different ways of producing a range of sounds. In addition to a range of sounds, infants can change the emotional tone or inflexion with their vocalization. These different sounds will provide the foundation for later babbling and words. These pre-speech sounds such as grunts, squeals and coos are referred to as protophones.

Around 2–3 months of age, infants have gained sufficient control of their vocal tracts to start producing a wider variety of protophones such as full vowels, raspberries, squeals, growls, yells, whispers, and marginal babbling

Mirroring

During the 1-2 month period, infants begin to recognise familiar faces and smile at them. Caregivers will often "mirror" or imitate the newborns facial expression, jaw and lip movements and vocalisations that allow the infant to hear and see copies of their own activity.

By two to three months, infants deploy a range of communicative expressions during face-to-face encounters, including smiles, and tongue protrusions and wide mouth openings termed “prespeech” [2, 3]. Prospective studies through the postpartum weeks h

General Movements

During the 1-2 month period, infants move from generalised writhing movements to fidgety movements. In the beginning of this period, writhing movements are characterised by complex whole body movements including the arm, leg, trunk and neck in variable arrangements. These movements have a gradual onset and end and vary in range of motion, speed and intensity. Writhing movements wax and wane and give the appearance of being fluid and graceful. Around 9 weeks, fidgety movement replace writhing and will dissipate around 16-20 weeks old. The movements are characterised by small movements of moderate speed with variable acceleration of the legs, neck and trunk in all directions.

Head control and neck movement

During the initial 1-2 month period, infants in supine lie with their rotated to one side. When rotating their heads you may see the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR) although non-obligatory and some neck extension. By the end of this period, infants can hold their head in midline when lying supine and easily turn to either side to explore their environment. With their head in midline, infants will tend to hold their arms abducted and extended to provide a stable base for kicking and head movement. Towards the end of this period, this inclination decreases as they brings hands into midline. At the end of this period, infants can track and object from side to midline, but not across midline. They can also track an object in the downwards direction.

Reaching and Grasping

In the beginning of this stage infants will reach for a toy making large swiping motions with their elbow and fingers extended. Their hands predominately do not make contact with the object. As they move through this period, extension of the fingers becomes less pronounced and small shoulder and elbow movements help facilitate grasping the toy. Around 10-12 weeks old, the infant's ability to steady the head and trunk while moving their upper extremities becomes more consistent allowing them to reach for fixed or suspended toys. Exploring toys with their hands and fingers permits them to learn about the behaviour, structure and texture of an object. Flexion and extension of the fingers are often seen as infants interact with various surfaces they encounter.

mmmbetween 2-3 months infants gain enoughstrength in their neck muscles to keep their head upright and stable which helps with goal directed reaching

During the 1-2 month period, the infant has a physiological flexor stiffness at the knees and hips. By 10 weeks, the infant will gain full lower extremity range of motion and be able to extend the hip and knee with an associated anterior pelvic tilt. Single or alternating leg kicking can be seen during this time with the hip and knee motions coupled. The feet will will occasionally push down on a surface providing lateral trunk weight shift with trunk and head extension. The feet will demonstrate increased plantarflexion during this time as well.

Pull to Sit

Within the 1-2 month period, the infant can pull to sit keeping their head in line with their trunk. As they anticipate being pulled up, they can activate their trunk and neck flexor muscles while stiffening their hips and upper extremities. When they are upright, they are able to move their head to look at the person lifting them.

Sitting

Infants 1-2 months old will need support in sitting. When support is given at the trunk, the following characteristics will be seen:

• head falls foward
• brief period of scapular retraction
• increased flexion of the elbows
• forearm pronation
• extension of the wrist
• flexion of the fingers
• feet flexed and everted

Around 6 weeks the infant can extend their thoracic spine and head when supported around their waist. With support given at the hips, their head will stop flop forward. In the later stage of this period, the infant can maintain a semi-erect position with support at their hips facilitating their neck and trunk extensors.

** any trunk movement backwards in the semi-erect position will elicit a postural response from trunk and neck flexors and upper extremities.

Prone

Infants can briefly lift their heads up from a prone position when they 1-2 months old. The feet remain in dorsiflexion increasing as they flex their hips and knees and decreasing as they extend them.Kicking can be seen in prone position with either unilateral or bilateral lower extremities. Unilateral kicking presents with a lateral weight shift in weight bearing and a lateral flexion of the trunk.

Rolling

Since the Back to Sleep campaign has suggested infants be placed on their backs to sleep, many infants do not like being placed in prone, quickly get upset and roll from prone to supine. Rolling is initiated in one of two ways: (rolling onto left side)

• lifting the head
• extending the thoracic spine
• extending the hips and knees
• shift center of mass caudally
• retracts right shoulder
• flexes right hip
• falls onto back

or

• lifting the head
• push down with right hand
• extend elbow
• extend thoracic spine
• center of mass shift caudally
• falls onto back

** this second way has no associated hip extension- hips remain flexed throughout

Weight bearing through the hands in prone is seen at the of the 1-2 month period. Adduction and extension of the hips is seen with thoracic and head extension. The knee movement does not always couple the hip allowing disassociation and freedom for each joint.