By Majida MEHANA
Newborns have innate emotions. They cannot speak about their emotions, so they behave and use expressions to help the people around them understand their feelings.
The four emotions that we witness in the first year are:
Happiness: This is expressed when infants are exploring their environments. They are looking around them fully engaged, positive, and open to learning.
Fear: Infants are anxious and look in pain. They turn their faces away as if trying not to face the situation or they could choose to stop responding altogether.
Panic/grief is expressed when infants cannot sense the presence of the caregiver around them and they look sad and cry seeking comfort.
Rage: When infants experience irritation, anger, or restraint for an extended time, they lash out by physically attacking people within their reach.
Happiness is expressed through open body movements and smiles. Babies’ smiles become more purposeful in the early months. They smile as early as two months as a response to touch, move to a social smile at 4 months when seeing their parents, and would laugh of joy at 5 months.
On the other hand, fear becomes more apparent later. It takes time for babies to recognise familiar from non-familiar faces. Once they do, feelings of fear show up when seeing strangers.
It is recommended to expose the child to the different feelings including feelings of insecurity. Parents could wait a short time prior to intervening just to help the child get used to deal with uncomfortable situations. The waiting time should vary depending on the child’s individual needs.
It will take parents some time to understand the facial expressions of infants; however, the process helps parents develop a positive relationship with the child. It is also very important for parents to become attuned to the temperamental characteristics of the child and avoid the child reaching an uncontrolled fear that takes a long time to console.
In the second year, children become more self-aware and they experience feelings of pride and guilt as a response to people’s interactions with them.
Helping children manage the full range of their emotions and learn problem solving techniques to alleviate each emotion will help them succeed in a global world. Successful people accept their emotions and work through them to achieve a balanced life.
Reference:
Garvis, S., Phillipson, S., Clarke, S., Harrison, L., McCormack, J., & Pendergast, D. (2019). Child development and learning. Oxford University Press.
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