According to an STL Health (the St. Louis Health and Fitness website) article, the internal clock of an adolescent may shift by approximately two hours after puberty. The article suggests that scheduling waking and sleeping hours appropriately can prevent undesirable developmental effects of sleep deprivation, which may include poor academic performance and cognitive ability. A person undergoes other physical and psychological developments prior to this time shift that transforms him into a sexually mature adult at the end of puberty.
Newborn
A child develops the ability to make basic visual, auditory and tactile distinctions during the first month of life. Newborn children can make basic distinctions based on smell, taste and temperature before the first birthday. According to the Child Development Institute website, children under the age of 1 month are helpless, self-centered and dependent on being fed by the mother or nurturer. You must feed these children five to eight times per day and they may sleep 20 hours a day.
Four to Six Months
Children develop color perception and the ability to control the eye muscles and lift the head during the second and third months of life. A 4- to 6-month-old child localizes sounds in her environment. Children this age may babble vowel sounds, develop the ability to control arm movements and purposely grasp objects. You must feed 4- to 6-month-old children around three to five times per day.
Seven to 12 Months
At the age of 7 to 9 months, children develop control over the trunk of the body and may sit without support or crawl. These children achieve control over the hands and feet. They may "creep" or hold the thumb and forefinger in apposition and wave goodbye. The Child Development Institute website recommends that you feed 10- to 12-month-old children three meals and one or two snacks a day. These children may sleep 12 hours and take two naps each day.
Toddlers
Children between ages 2 and 5 are classified as toddlers and have a vocabulary that exceeds 200 words. A toddler may be emotionally negativistic and display angry emotional behavior. Toddlers may have a mischievous sense of humor and "play tricks." They start to control and explore their environment with language by using short sentences. A toddler may mimic parental actions, give orders or insist on routine. These children develop motor skills like jumping off a step and riding a tricycle. You can let toddlers use crayons and building blocks to help develop motor skills with activities like constructing a tower out of nine or 10 cubes.
Puberty
Puberty begins at around age 8 to 13 in girls and 10 to 15 in boys. The pituitary gland begins releasing hormones that develop sex characteristics at the onset of puberty. Hormones travel from the brain to the testes in boys and trigger the production of testosterone and sperm cells. Hormones target a girl's ovaries and trigger the production of estrogen to prepare her body for regular menstruation. These kids start growing hair in pubic areas and under the arms. They have growth spurts that bring them to their adult heights. Your 8- to 15-year-old's feet may grow faster than other parts of his body and some kids may gain as much as four inches of height in a year.
