Interview on Happy & Healthy program, during the Health Talk on FM.102 every Saturday from 09.00-10.00 a.m.: Child Development

Child Development

It must be acknowledged that nowadays, child development is an important aspect that parents need to pay attention to. Research confirms that children today have the fastest and most efficient brain development during their primary school years. This means that children under the age of 6 can learn and develop their brain function faster than any other age group, especially during the first 3 years of life, which is the period where children have the greatest potential for brain development. Therefore, promoting child development during this critical period is necessary and important. For example, a 1 and a half-year-old child should practice toilet training, a 2-year-old child should practice self-feeding, and a 3-year-old child should learn how to dress themselves. If we don't train our children in these skills at the appropriate time, it can become more difficult to correct later on after the age of 6.

Nurses play an important role in promoting the development of children by providing knowledge and advice to families. This care starts during pregnancy by promoting the baby's ability to hear the mother's heartbeat and encouraging fathers to talk to the baby through the mother's womb in order to build a good relationship. Sometimes, nurses may ask the mother to move gently to practice the baby's movement skills and development. Around 7-8 months of pregnancy, nurses may use a flashlight to shine on the mother's belly to promote the baby's curiosity and visual development.

After the baby is born, nurses have the responsibility of training and teaching mothers to observe and assess the child's development. If a nurse notices that a child's development is lagging, they will recommend that the mother continue to practice skills. If there is no improvement after a month, the nurse will refer the child to a physician for further examination and diagnosis. Typically, this process starts at 9 months, 18 months, 30 months, and 42 months of age.

Observing developmental abnormalities in children involves looking at 5 aspects of their development:

1. Physical Development: This refers to the body's ability to maintain posture, move, and perform physical activities such as holding the head up, sitting, standing, and crawling, etc. It also includes the development of large muscle groups.
2. Fine Motor and Cognitive Development: This involves the use of touch and fine motor skills, such as the ability to use hands to perform activities such as grasping, manipulating objects, drawing, etc. It also includes cognitive abilities such as problem-solving, memory, and attention.
3. Development in language comprehensive: This is related to the child's ability to understand and use language. Children's language development can vary in terms of pace, depending on their age and stage of development.

4. Language development and usage: Some children may have slower language development than normal if they take longer to learn basic skills such as crawling, walking, or eating. This can affect their ability to speak, but if a child can understand what their parents are saying and can follow instructions, such as pointing to indicate their needs, it indicates that they may still have the potential for complete language development as they grow older. On the other hand, if a child cannot respond to what their parents are asking them to do, cannot imitate or remember different sounds, and is not startled by loud noises, the mother should take the child to get their hearing and listening skills checked. Hearing problems are also a crucial issue in language development. Many children should be able to understand conversations with strangers by the age of 3-4. If a child has problems with this, it is important to consult a doctor or specialist for speech and listening development to help them improve over time.
5. Development of self-help and social skills: This is the ability to perceive and understand one's own and others' emotions, as well as to control emotions in expressing oneself appropriately, in order to maintain appropriate relationships with others. This development starts from infancy, where if an infant receives appropriate responses, they will develop trust in their caregivers, which is the foundation for important social development. As children grow older, their development becomes more complex. They begin to want to play with friends, have close groups of friends, play, express their feelings, and learn the rules and norms of society according to their age group.

Reasons for delayed development are usually related to premature birth, genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome, painful conditions, accidents, and disabilities in hearing, throat, nose, and common causes nowadays are related to child-rearing practices. In this era, modern media and technology are easily accessible. We can observe that parents give their children mobile phones to play with since they are young. Children can have short attention spans, easily become irritable, impatient, and some may become stubborn, resistive, and disturb their sleep. Another case is when children are given time to play alone. Many people often think that they spend time with their children while the children are playing with their toys, while the parents work or do their own activities. However, quality time actually means that parents are playing with their children and making their children laugh.

Playing is a natural activity for all children and it is important for them as it leads to learning and understanding nature and the environment. For parents, their children are everything in life and they are everything to their children as well. Even when it comes to playing, there is no toy that can provide the warmth and trust that parents can offer.

By Wilawan Boonjung

Head of the Pediatric Clinic and Behavioral Development Department, specializing in children's development and behavior issues.