Newborn Development Patterns

Development of Children
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Development of Children
Part 1: Family Dynamics
For the newborn, many changes occur since it is brought into a new and unfamiliar environment straight from birth and the later transfer into the family setting. From this point, the newborn gets to meet other family members where possible or a primary caregiver. Therefore, his/her childhood develops from the relationships at this early stage with either the parents or primary caregivers (Wittmer, Petersen, & Puckett, 2016). Trust develops with proper treatment by these individuals in the newborn's life, which will ultimately play a role in their interactions. Newborns that experience consistent love and care thud develop strong bonds, while those that experience neglect tend to show signs of rejection or withdrawal from their caregiver.
The mother, as the primary caregiver, goes through different emotions of bringing a newborn into the world. Furthermore, this also brings forward her parental duty for a foreseeable time in the future. For a new mother, the experience provides a new challenge with changes in the body expected to have both a physical and mental effect. Emotional changes may cause mood swings or depression in the mother as she tries to adjust to motherhood. Other changes may force the mother to adapt to this new life with a difference in sleeping and eating patterns caused by the body adapting to life after giving birth (Wittmer, Petersen, & Puckett, 2016). Therefore, getting adequate support from family and health practitioners can help the mother cope with any changes. The mother forms part of the first and most influential people in the life of the newborn hence must be adequately supported and prepared to handle raising the newborn at their most challenging stage of development.
Apart from that, the father, who is a primary giver, also gets to experience changes with new responsibilities of protecting and taking care of the newborn. As the father figure, he is expected to provide unconditional love while also adequately providing for the mother and newborn's needs. Therefore, fathers who engage actively through the pregnancy and all other processes leading up to the child's birth will have a better understanding of being a parent. In other cases, fathers have to take lessons to understand better how to cope with the new responsibility of taking care of a newborn (Wittmer, Petersen, & Puckett, 2016). However, the dynamics change significantly if the parents are divorced or separated hence giving the father less opportunities to bond with the infant. In such cases, the father may develop challenges, especially if they are not on good terms with the mother, thus presenting fewer opportunities to meet and bond with the newborn.
Siblings also play an essential role since the newborn adds to the family and present an added friend for life. However, siblings that may be used to be the center of attention in the family may feel neglected at the arrival of a newborn (Wittmer, Petersen, & Puckett, 2016). Furthermore, the siblings may also feel disconnected from their parents due to the reduced attention that they may feel. This poses a challenge of jealousy that may cause a rift be...