Although each infant develops at a different pace, both genetic and environmental factors influence infant intelligence. A study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, called the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, showed that a higher quality of child care was associated with increased cognitive and language development during the first 4 1/2 years of life. Developmental milestones can help gauge whether or not your infant is developmentally on track.
Background
Although the Early Child Care and Youth Development study showed that child-care quality affects cognitive infant development, it also found that parent and family traits were more strongly linked with child development. For example, the following parental characteristics were found to affect language, cognitive and social development: quality of the home environment, parents' education, number of parents in the household and family income.
3-Month Milestones
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) important social, emotional and language milestones for a 3-month-old infant include smiling socially, increased face and body communication, imitation of some facial expressions, movements and sounds, smiling at a parent's voice and babbling or making noises.
7-Month Milestones
The CDC social, cognitive and language developmental milestones to look for by the end of seven months of age include social play, finding objects that are partially hidden, attempting to grasp out-of-reach objects, responding to infant's name, starting to respond to the word "no," babbling using chains of sounds and expressing emotions such as joy and unhappiness.
12-Month Milestones
Twelve-month social, cognitive and language milestones to look for, according to the CDC, include stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, imitation of other people, repeating sounds or gestures, the ability to feed oneself with fingers, exploring objects, looking at pictures when named, finding hidden objects, drinking from a cup, responding to verbal commands, responding to the word "no," using gestures, babbling with a change in tone, uses words such as "mama", "dada" or "oh-oh" and imitation of words.
Considerations
Breastfeeding in place of formula feeding has been shown to benefit infant brain development. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, recent research suggests that breastfed babies receive two amino acids not typically available in commercially-sold infant formulas that have been shown to increase scores on intelligence tests.
Factors
Environmental factors can significantly affect an infant's intelligence level. According to the National Women's Health Information Center, lead exposure during infancy can harm a child's nervous system and brain causing decreased IQ levels, and mercury exposure from eating large amounts of fish can also affect an infant's brain development. Malnutrition including iron-deficiency has also been shown to decrease infant intelligence.
References
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Developmental Milestones
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: Research on Breastfeeding
- National Women's Health Information Center: The Environment and Women's Health
