Infant

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Infant

An infant or baby is the term used to refer to the young offspring

Offspring

In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, a new organism produced by one or more parents.Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way....
of human

Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
s.

term "infant" derives from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
word infans, meaning "unable to speak." "Infant" is also a legal term referring to any child under the age of legal adulthood.

man infant less than a month old is a newborn or a neonate.

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Etymology and related terminology

The term "infant" derives from the Latin

Latin

Neonates

A human infant less than a month old is a newborn or a neonate. The term "newborn" includes premature

Premature birth

In humans, preterm birth refers to the birth of a baby of less than 37 weeks gestational age. Premature birth, commonly used as a synonym for preterm birth, refers to the birth of a premature infant....
infants, postmature infants and full term

Full Term

Full Term in the universities of University of Oxford and University of Cambridge refers to the eight weeks within the longer academic term during which lectures are given and students are required to be in residence....
newborns.

Toddlers

Upon reaching the age of one or beginning to walk, infants are referred to as "toddler
Toddler

Toddler is a common term for a young child who is learning to walk. The toddling stage is generally considered to be the stage of development between infant and childhood....
s" (generally 12-36 months).

Infant mortality

Infant mortality is the death of an infant in the first year of life. Major causes of infant mortality include dehydration

Dehydration

Dehydration is the removal of water from an object. In Physiology terms, it entails a relative deficiency of water molecules in relation to other dissolved solutes....
, infection

Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host resources to multiply ....
, congenital malformation and SIDS

Sudden infant death syndrome

Sudden infant death syndrome is a syndrome marked by the symptoms of sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant aged one month to one year....
. This epidemiological

Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine....
indicator is recognized as a very important measure of the level of health care in a country because it is directly linked with the health

Health

In 1948, the World Health Organisation defined health as ?a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.? ...
status of infants, children, and pregnant women as well as access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions, and public health

Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
practices.

Care and feeding

Infants cry as a form of basic instinctive communication. A crying infant may be trying to express a variety of feelings including hunger, discomfort, overstimulation, boredom, wanting something, or loneliness.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container....
is the recommended method of feeding by all major infant health organizations. If breastfeeding is not possible or desired, bottle feeding is done with expressed breast-milk or with infant formula

Infant formula

Infant formula is an artificial substitute for human breast milk, intended for infant consumption. The first preparations for the feeding of infants were produced commercially in 1867 by Justus von Liebig....
. Infants are born with a sucking reflex allowing them to extract the milk from the nipples of the breasts or the nipple of the baby bottle

Baby bottle

A baby bottle is a bottle with a teat to drinking directly from. It is typically used when a mother does not breastfeed, or if someone can not drink from a cup, for feeding oneself or being fed....
, as well as an instinctive behavior known as rooting with which they seek out the nipple. Sometimes a wet nurse

Wet nurse

A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding a baby that is not her own. These children may be known as milk-siblings and in some cultures share a special relationship....
is hired to feed the infant, although this is rare, especially in developed countries.

As infants grow, food supplements are added. Many parents choose commercial, ready-made baby food

Baby food

Baby food is any food, other than breastmilk or infant formula, that is given specifically to infants, roughly between the ages of four months to two years....
s to supplement breast milk or formula for the child, while others adapt their usual meals for the dietary needs of their child. Whole cow's milk

Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
can be used at one year, but lower-fat milk should not be provided until the child is 2 to 3 years old. Until they are toilet-trained, infants in industrialized countries wear diapers. Children need more sleep than adults - up to 18 hours for newborn babies, with a declining rate as the child ages. Until babies learn to walk, they are carried in the arms, held in slings or baby carriers, or transported in baby carriages or strollers. Most industrialized countries have laws requiring child safety seat

Child safety seat

Background/History After the first automobile was manufactured and put on the market in the early 1900?s, many modifications and adjustments have been implemented to protect those that...
s for infants in motor vehicles.

Common care issues

Baby colic
Baby colic

Baby colic is a condition in which an otherwise healthy infant cries or screams frequently and for extended periods without any discernible reason....
Cradle cap
Cradle cap

Cradle Cap is a yellowish, patchy, greasy, scaly and crusty skin rash that occurs on the scalp of recently born babies. It is usually not itchy, and does not bother the baby....
Bathing
Bathing

Bathing is the immersion of the body in a fluid, usually water or an aqueous solution. It may be practiced for hygiene, religion or therapy purposes or as a recreational activity....
Umbilical cord
Umbilical cord

In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta. During prenatal development, the umbilical cord comes from the same zygote as the fetus and normally contains two arteries and one vein , buried within Wharton's jelly....
Day care
Day care

Day care or child care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's parents or legal guardians, typically someone outside the child's immediate family....
Diaper rash
Diaper rash

Diaper rash or nappy rash , is a generic term applied to skin rashes in the diaper area that are caused by various skin disorders and/or irritants....
Infant formula
Infant formula

Infant formula is an artificial substitute for human breast milk, intended for infant consumption. The first preparations for the feeding of infants were produced commercially in 1867 by Justus von Liebig....
Immunization
Immunization

Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent .When an immune system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body , it will orchestrate an immune response, but it can also develop the ability to quickly respond to a subsequent encounter ....
Paternal bond
Paternal bond

A paternal bond refers to the personal relationship between a father and his child. In the U.S., legal paternity is presumed for the husband of the mother unless a separate action is taken; an unmarried man may establish paternity by signing a voluntary recognition of paternity or by taking court action....
Pacifier
Pacifier

A pacifier is a rubber, plastic, or silicone nipple given to an infant or other young child to suck upon. In its standard appearance it has a teat, mouth shield, and handle....
Bassinet
Bassinet

A bassinet or bassinette is a bed specifically for babies from birth to about four months, and small enough to provide a "cocoon" that small babies find comforting....
/crib
Crib

A crib is an infant bed in American English .Crib may also refer to:*A box crib, a wooden frame used to stabilise an object during a Cribbing ...
Teething
Teething

Teething is the process by which an infant's teeth sequentially appear by breaking through the gums. Teething may start as early as three months or as late, in some cases, as twelve months....

Attachment

Attachment theory is primarily an evolutionary

Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
and ethological

Ethology

Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a branch of zoology .Although many naturalists have studied aspects of animal behavior through the centuries, the modern discipline of ethology is usually considered to have arisen with the work in the 1930s of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologist Konrad Lorenz,...
theory whereby the infant or child seeks proximity to a specified attachment figure in situations of alarm or distress, for the purpose of survival. The forming of attachments is considered to be the foundation of the infant/child's capacity to form and conduct relationships throughout life. Attachment is not the same as love and/or affection although they often go together. Attachment and attachment behavior

Behavior

Behavior or behaviour refers to the action s or reactions of an object or organism, usually in Relational theory to the environment. Behavior can be conscious or Unconscious mind, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary....
s tend to develop between the age of 6 months and 3 years. Infants become attached

Attachment in children

Social interaction

Social interaction is a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between individuals who modify their actions and reactions according to those of their interaction partner....
s with the infant, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some time. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment which in turn lead to 'internal working models' which will guide the individual's feelings, thoughts, and expectations in later relationships. There are a number of attachment 'styles'

Attachment in children

Attachment in children is a theory of attachment between children and their caregivers specifically addressing the behaviors and emotions that children direct toward familiar adults....
namely 'secure', 'anxious-ambivalent', 'anxious-avoidant', (all 'organized') and 'disorganized', some of which are more problematic than others. A lack of attachment or a seriously disrupted capacity for attachment could potentially amount to serious disorders.

Infants in art

In art, infants often symbolize purity and innocence. In Christian iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Ancient Greek e???? and ??afe?? ....
, infants are a symbol of Jesus Christ and the resurrection.

Bibliography

External links

[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2091.html CIA FactBook] with infant mortality rates in different countries and other health indicators
- University of Illinois

Infant

Etymology and related terminology

Neonates

Toddlers

Infant mortality

Care and feeding

Common care issues

Attachment

Infants in art

Bibliography

See also

External links