Relating to myself and others

How do infants come to understand that they are individuals with bodies,minds and emotions of there own,and at the same time part of a social world? Two processes-getting to know oneself and forming relationships with parents,siblings,and others outside the family-develop in parallel during early infancy and beyond. Self awareness is a lengthy process that starts with he infants discovery of how to control his or her own body parts. Such purposeful movements begin around two months, and your baby may spend hours playing with his or her hands and fingers, holding onto his or her feet,opening and closing his or her mouth and eyes.If you see him or her chewing his or her feet, it doesn’t mean she is hungry. Rather, she is investigating how that part of his or her body feels. Becoming self aware and learning to be an individual member of the social world and also involves learning about gender.It doesn’t matter how many dolls you buy your baby son or trains you offer youir daughter, your child will probably turn out to be as conventional as the others,at least in the early years. Gender related play occurs in almost all children, not only as a result of peer pressure in play groups, but also from subtle clues you yourself unwittingly give your child(adults simply seem to behave differently towards boys and girls.)Your infant will pickup on these signs and build his or her own identity accordingly Cuddles and reassurance encourage him or her to explore beyond the limits of his or her enviorment and help him or her build trust in others. This all starts very early int he first year, when infants discover they are appart of a family, be it one parent or two or extended family. Aninfant should feel loved and cared for in a consistent way., from a parent or a care giver who responds sensitively to his or her reactions. As his or her social skills grows the securely attached baby will also experience a couple periods of fear of other people and fear of loosing you.Technically these are called “fear of strangers” and separation anxiety, Both are perfectly normal . reactions s your infant becomes to realize his or her place int he social world and not to distinguish between the stable and the passing relations in his or her life. How does your baby build up mental images of others? Initially babies learn about there social environment almost exclusively via their parents or care givers. By the time your baby is born she will already know your voice, having heard it so often in utero, but after birth she will also rapidly learn about your face and will come to recognize you and other family members.She or he will build up an image of each person from there face gait,voice,and smell,and with time she will react differently to each person showing that she is not only becoming an individual in her own right but also individuating those around him or her.