3 Infancy, Toddlerhood, and Preschool 61eight hours or so by 6 months. By preschool, children need to sustain sleep for
about 10 hours to avoid impulsivity, obesity, and learning challenges (Jones,
Owens, & Pham, 2013).
Humans are born with all of their sensory abilities, but some require more
development and coordination than others. Vision is limited by newborns’
inability to focus beyond 11 inches. This promotes the stares of interest when
held by a caregiver whose face is at the best point of focus. Other senses appear
to be relatively intact at birth, but the infant requires experience with the world
in order to make contextual sense of the stimuli. By 3 to 5 months of age, gen-
erally, infants can manipulate objects in front of themselves (called midline
behavior) because they have learned more control over their own stimulation.
By 5 years old, healthy children master control of most, if not all, of their
bodily functions. They can run, skip, manipulate objects, and use words to
express desires. They can bathe themselves, feed themselves, and generally
provide basic self-care; they have a sense of autonomy (Erikson, 1980).
Individual differences of “handedness” and interest in being more sedentary
or more active are revealed more fully by this age.Psychological Development
The physical development that underlies greater independence strongly
influences the psychology of a growing child. Being nurtured in a secure
and trustworthy environment in infancy sets the stage for an ability to feel
safe in beginning explorations of the world (Mahler, Pine, & Bergman, 1975;
Winnicott, 1965, 1953). Indeed, Winnicott (1965) was one of the first to artic-
ulate the concept of the “good-enough mother” who adapts to the infant’s
needs, but allows “optimum frustration.” She is not “perfect” and does not
meet every infant or toddler desire. She allows the child to be frustrated and
“fail” occasionally, within that child’s capacity, in order to allow him or her to
develop new skills.
Winnicott’s thinking represents a critical transition from the Freudian
idea that the mother is responsible for disturbances of the child’s psychologi-
cal growth. Freudian theory implied that a mother must be perfectly attuned
and informed about optimal ways to help the growing infant discharge drives.
Winnicott (1965) believed instead that mothers need to “fail” to be perfectly
attuned occasionally as this allows infants and toddlers to learn to self-soothe.
He asserted that “good enough” parenting would promote good mental
health. He articulated the concept of “transitional objects” that toddlers could
use to maintain a symbol of the calming presence of the mother without hav-
ing her actual presence. Transitional objects (such as a special blanket) allow
the child to develop a sense of self separate from the mother, while still feeling
the security of the mother’s presence (Winnicott, 1965).
Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall (1978) asserted that patterns of abil-
ity to tolerate separation from a primary caregiver set the template for future
attachments. These patterns were defined as Secure, Insecure (with sub-types
of anxious avoidant and anxious resistant), and Disorganized. These attach-
ment styles are said to develop as a result of the mother’s (or caregiver’s)
attunement and adequate care giving. Children from infancy to age 4 or 5 are