Writing Homework Help

Parenting choices are often based on what we are familiar with from our own family or childhood experience.  However, decisions are often made without any regard to why we are responding a certain way.  Babies do three primary things in the first couple of months after birth; they eat, cry, and sleep. 

For this post, I want you to assume that I am a new mom who knows nothing about child development or caring for a child.  Assume you are my nurse, or mentor, and advise me on how I should respond to and care for my new baby using at least two different theoretical approaches.  Be sure your advice is based on learning from the readings, or presentations, and not based solely on your personal experience. 

You may have a personal preference toward a particular theory and that is fine, but your advice should start with a statement such as, “Based on Erik Erikson’s theory of development……….”  Please note that Learning Activities are intended to promote critical thinking within the course.  I am looking for you to connect theory with practice for this blog entry. 

Do not just describe the theory, but rather how that theory would guide the daily caretaking of a young infant.  Based on the theory, how should I respond to the baby’s needs in the area of eating, sleeping, and crying?  What specific strategies would each theorist recommend and why? 

Attached below is the link to Chapter 2 text. Scroll down and click next to access the next page to find the theorists.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-ss-152-1/chapter/lesson-2-introduction-to-developmental-theories/

Based on Erik Erikson’s theory of development, the very first stage of development occurs from birth up until about 1 year old. During this specific stage, the conflict is basic trust vs. mistrust. When a baby is first born, they depend completely on their parent or caregiver to respond to their needs and to take care of them. Since newborns/babies do not talk, crying is their only form of communication to let us know they are either hungry, need to be changed, or just want to be held and comforted. A cry can also represent illness, pain, not feeling well, or any other mood the baby might be experiencing. When a baby cries, the resolution is known as hope. The baby will be hopeful that the caregiver will respond to the cries and if so, the baby develops trust for their caregiver. If a parent does not respond to the cries of the infant and instead allows the child to continue crying, eventually the baby stops crying not because they “get used to it” but because they figure no one is coming to take care of them, and this leaves the infant feeling hopeless.

As a new parent, I would recommend responding promptly to your infant crying. A new baby is supposed to be awake every couple of hours, eats frequently, will require frequent diaper changes and will also want to be held and soothed, this is completely normal. A baby’s cries should be tended to and although sometimes frustrating, just know this is your baby’s way of trying to communicate their needs to you. If a baby becomes overwhelming and you need to take a minute to yourself, I recommend putting baby in a safe place such as their crib, and then taking a couple minutes to yourself, and then tending to baby after. There are many misconceptions and false information that goes around telling parents how to get a child to stop crying or to sleep through the night and while doing so, the parent may/could be neglecting the baby’s needs. An example that is popular today is the “cry it out”method. Many parents are under the impression that their baby should be sleeping through the night early on and in order to get them to stop waking, the parent will just leave the baby to cry themselves to sleep. The misunderstanding is that the baby will learn to self-soothe but the baby is really learning that no one is coming to meet their needs. The cry it out method is a controversial topic here in the U.S. but many pediatricians do not recommend it until the baby is 6 months old or older. If the baby does not accomplish the first stage, trust vs. mistrust, according to Erikson, it may be very difficult for the child to move on to the next stage of development.

Erikson’s theory of development differs from say, Piaget’s theory because when you compare, Piaget’s theory says that from birth to 2 years of age, this is known as the sensorimotor stage where the child differentiates self from objects, the child will begin to act intentionally, and will achieve object permanence where they realize things continue to exist even if they cannot see them. Piaget’s theory has more to do with the child’s surroundings while I think Erikson’s theory is more based on emotion and the care we receive from parents or care givers to shape our development.