A BRIEF LOOK AT EARLY INFANCY
(Vinod Anand)
The newborn baby is usually red, wrinkled, blue-eyed, and bumpy-headed. He has a large head, a small trunk, and very small, bowed legs. His first big adjustment is to establish breathing with his lungs. The next demand upon him is to secure food through his mouth, which he does by using a complex of reflex mechanisms. He is very limited in his ability to regulate his body temperature.
Many different motor co-ordinations, involving all parts of the body, can be observed in the neonate. Through crying and food-seeking, he effects environmental changes, many of which involve relationships with his mother. Mutual regulation occurs between mother and baby, especially in the realm of breast feeding, where milk supply and strength of sucking become adapted to each other. First experiences in obtaining food and comfort may be influential in patterning the ways in which the infant copes with other problems.
Sleeping and waking are differentiated into six states. External stimulation is most readily received and processed during the state of alert inactivity.
98 Infants
A child probably tries to maintain the level of stimulation which is optimal for him. Tactile and inner ear senses, highly developed before birth, are very important to the infant. Animal experiments show that early tactile experiences promote growth and learning. Human mothers and babies communicate to a great extent through touch. The neonate can hear, even making fine discrimination in pitch. The sound of the human heartbeat probably has significance for him. The newborn responds to visual stimuli, selecting what he regards, and showing preference for a human face and for complex patterns as compared with simple ones. Taste and smell receptors function. Pain sensitivity in the skin increases during the first few days of life, Infants vary considerably in the intensity and selectivity of their responses to stimuli.
Many or most of the neonate’s efforts are directed toward maintaining and restoring states of physiological equilibrium. Growth and development occur as new states of equilibrium are achieved. Presumably, comfortable feelings and healthy personality growth accompany optimal maintenance of equilibrium. A sense of trust grows as the baby is fed, comforted, and stimulated satisfactorily and as he plays some part in bringing about these experiences. Flexible, mutually regulated feeding practices contribute to the sense of trust. Mothers and infants can be helped to establish a satisfactory feeding relationship by a rooming-in arrangement in the hospital. This plan includes expert education given by the nurses. Comfortable feelings, stimulation, and relationships are also built through other aspects of physical care, including holding, handling, dressing, and bathing.
Born in 1939, and holding Master’s Degree both in Mathematics (1959) and Economics (1961), and Doctorate Degree in Economics (1970), Dr. Vinod K.Anand has about forty five years of teaching, research, and project work experience in Economic Theory (both micro and macro), Quantitative Economics, Public Economics, New Political Economy, and Development Economics with a special focus on economic and social provisions revolving around poverty, inequality, and unemployment issues, and also on informal sector studies. His last assignment was at the National University of Lesotho (Southern Africa) from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that he was placed as Professor and Head of the Department of Economics at the University of North-West in the Republic of South Africa, and University of Allahabad in India, Professor at the National University of Lesotho, Associate Professor at the University of Botswana, Gaborone in Botswana, and at Gezira University in Wad Medani, Sudan, Head, Department of Arts and Social Sciences, Yola in Nigeria, Principal Lecturer in Economics at Maiduguri University in Nigeria, and as Lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Nigeria. Professor Anand has by now published more than 80 research papers in standard academic journals, authored 11 books, supervised a number of doctoral theses, was examiner for more than twenty Ph.D. theses, and has wide consultancy experience both in India and abroad, essentially in the African continent. This includes holding the position of Primary Researcher, Principal Consultant etc. in a number of Research Projects sponsored and funded by Universities, Governments, and International Bodies like, USAID, IDRC, and AERC. His publications include a variety of themes revolving around Economic Theory, New Political Economy, Quantitative Economics, Development Economics, and Informal Sector Studies. His consultancy assignments in India, Nigeria, Sudan, Botswana, and the Republic of South Africa include Non-Directory Enterprises in Allahabad, India, Small Scale Enterprises in the Northern States of Nigeria, The Absolute Poverty Line in Sudan, The Small Scale Enterprises in Wad Medani, Sudan, Micro and Small Scale Enterprises in Botswana, The Place of Non-Formal Micro-Enterprises in Botswana, Resettlement of a Squatter Community in the Vryburg District of North West Province in the Republic of South Africa, Trade and Investment Development Programme for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises: Support for NTSIKA in the Republic of South Africa, and Development of the Manufacturing Sector in the Republic of South Africa’s North West Province: An Approach Based on Firm Level Surveys. Professor Anand has also extensively participated in a number of conferences, offered many seminars, participated in a number of workshops, and delivered a variety of Refresher Lectures at different venues both in India and abroad. Dr. Anand was placed at the prestigious Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla in the State Himachal Pradesh, India as a Fellow from 2001 to 2003, and had completed a theoretical and qualitative research project/monograph on the Employment Profile of Micro Enterprises in the State of Himachal Pradseh, India.