Emily Payton
Professor Morrison
EDEC 3610
March 12, 2009
Infant Toddler Observation
For this assignment I observed my nephew, David (Davy), an overall cheery and laid back
six-month old. Observing Davy was a very interesting experience because in my last observation
Davy had a cold, so I got to see extremes of his personality.
Davy is average for his age group. He still has some difficulty sitting up on his own, and has
to be propped up against something in order to sit by himself. He scoots around, almost semicrawling, but in reality it is more like an inchworm trying to move, he just thrusts his body
forwards enough to reach the item he wants. Davy lifts his head and shoulders when on his
stomach, and plays with his toys, his favorite being one that hangs over the edge of the crib with
a mirror, a rattle, and other engaging items to be touched and played with. Like most six-month
olds, Davy is not potty trained, and he wears a diaper, and he has very little control over his
bladder and bowel movements, when he needs to use the restroom, he will go wherever
whenever. Davy has definitely achieved the motor skill of grasping and chewing. Currently,
Davy is teething, so anything within his arm’s reach is picked up, and put in his mouth to gnaw
on.
Cognitively Davy is where the average six-month old is, he initiates activities to keep himself
entertained, he is fascinated with effects of actions, and he is very interested in the world and
people around him. During play time, Davy kept picking up his lion toy to play with/ stuff in his
mouth. And even though some things he wanted were further away from him, he took the
necessary steps needed to scoot towards it, or any other toy which he wanted. Davy is utterly
fascinated with the sounds, colors, and items on his over-the-crib toy. He will be lying on his
stomach and supporting himself on one hand as he touches the roller, making it spin, and
changing between alternating red and yellow colors. The mirror also fascinates Davy, he will
spend minutes just staring at his reflection, watching himself as he changes faces, and gurgles
infant speak. Every time Davy’s mom or dad would enter the room, Davy was fascinated and
would try his best to see what they were doing. He will intently watch his mom wherever she
goes, and becomes upset when she leaves.
During my observation Davy became ill, and because of that I got to see all sides of his
temperament. Typically a happy, easily entertained child, Davy is easy to please. He will ‘talk’
gurgling words that are inflected upward when he is excited, and he shrieks when he is happy.
During the three times I observed Davy (and my previous knowledge of him since he is my
nephew) I’ve observed that Davy is a laid back baby who, for his age, has a very large attention
span to which he is easily pleased. He enjoys playing on his own, and he warms up to strangers
quickly. However, whenever he hears a sneeze, he will cry, so when he was sneezing while being
sick, you can only imagine what it was like for him. He dislikes carrots, meat flavored baby
food, but most of all Davy hates falling asleep. He will fight falling asleep until he literally falls
over tired. This wasn’t so apparent when he was sick, because it was under different
circumstances, but typically Davy will force himself to stay awake, and become very grumpy. I
would rate him as an easy child despite his dislikes for he does warm up to others and new
activities with ease.
Davy spends most of his time in two different homes. On Monday- Friday Davy goes to a
baby sitter’s, and stays in the main room in the baby sitter’s home. He sleeps on a mattress set up
in the living room of the house, plays in the same room, but he eats his meals in the kitchen, and
diaper changing happens in a different room as well. At home Davy spends most of the time in a
play pin in the living room or playing on a blanket in the living room. In his play pin there is an
assortment of toys and books for Davy to play with, whether it be the previously mentioned over
the crib toy, books with tangible portions such as fur, or roughness, and he also has a lion stuffed
animal in the play pin. In every room Davy is in, there is some activity for him to do. In the
bathroom he sat inside this inflatable duck for support for his back, and he had toys in the tub.
Every outlet was protected by a cover, and the coffee table in the living room had towels taped to
the corners to prevent Davy from hurting himself as he played on the floor in the living room.
Another thing I found very nice was that Davy’s mom really monitored what she was saying and
what the television had on. She told me that whenever Davy is in the room she makes sure only
educational shows are on such as Reading Rainbow, Arthur, and Sesame Street. Davy’s mother
also chose a baby sitter who watched another child, so that way Davy had social interaction with
someone besides an adult frequently, so Davy goes to a baby sitter who also watches a ninemonth old girl. Davy is growing up in an enriched environment in both his babysitter’s and at
home.
Being born into a Christian family, Davy is already being reared in the Christian life-style and
faith. However, his mother stressed the point that they want Davy to grow up believing in God,
yet she didn’t want him to judge others who may not believe. Currently an only child, and with
both parents living together happily married, Davy will be growing up in an environment where
much attention is focused on him, since he is a member of such a small family unit. Davy’s
grandparents from his father’s side are also a big influence in Davy’s life, they are over at the
house frequently during the week, and they enjoy spending meal times with the family. Davy’s
mom works as manager of a company, and Davy’s father works in retail, so with their combined
income, Davy is growing up in a middle class family. Since both Davy’s parents are working,
they do not get to spend as much time with him as they would like to, and they confess that they
feel that they are missing out on key aspects of Davy’s development.
Davy will be a member of a conservative and republican household. Neither parent enjoy
much international food, such as Indian foods like curry, sushi, squid, or anything that hasn’t
been Americanized. Currently, the majority of Davy’s food consists of oatmeal, applesauce, and
on occasion cheerios (to be eaten with his one bottom tooth). Although his feeding patterns are
continuously changing, his parents try to feed him on a schedule but it usually is so inconsistent
that they are prone to just feeding him whenever he fusses. He has never had breast milk because
his mother did not produce enough of it, so he has grown up on formula, and still drinks formula
bottles. Within the last two weeks, Davy has tried to hold the bottle on his own during feeding
time. On any given day at the baby sitter’s Davy will fall asleep on a mattress set up on the floor,
and at home he usually falls asleep in his play pin. Once his mother is also ready for bed, she
picks Davy up and lays him down beside her on the bed to co sleep. When she wakes up, Davy’s
mother places him back in the play pin to sleep as she gets ready for work or prepares breakfast.
My main suggestion for the child’s care would be for the parents to spend more time with
their child. I understand that both parents work full time, however, I believe that spending time
with their child is vital for his growth and development, and so much bonding as well as physical
and congenital growth occurs during these first months that I think it’d be a tragedy to miss it.
Other suggestions would be the cleanliness of their home; I never once witnessed them
disinfecting the eating area, bathroom, or his toys. This concerns me because Davy spent the
majority of his time putting whatever he could reach in his mouth, and if those toys and items
aren’t disinfected regularly, it does not surprise me that Davy fell ill. Another thing that I would
recommend would be for the parents not to talk to Davy in a fake baby voice. Although it is not a
huge ordeal, I just believe that the baby will develop holistically better if the parents did not talk
to their child in a baby voice, because they will learn how adults properly talk instead of hearing
a fake voice. My final recommendation would be for them not to feed Davy cheerios. He only
has one tooth, and he sucks on them more than anything. If they would want for him to suck or
ingest a substance like cheerios to help with teething, I would suggest a teething biscuit because I
am afraid that Davy may choke on the cheerios.
Through observation, Davy can be portrayed as an infant developing at an average rate,
with his own personality, likes, dislikes, and interests. My observations were very diverse; the
first watching Davy take a bath, something he truly enjoys, the next being play during a time of
day that he was most active, and thirdly when he was ill, and very grumpy and tired. Watching
Davy as he discovered new things each time, was very rewarding, and gave me a better
understanding of how infants grow and develop.