Why They [Might] Cry

After Finn had spent an entire afternoon expressing his unhappiness through pitiful moans with each exhale, our friendly, neighbourhood Ontario Early Years Centre lady (Patti) gave me this handout.  It is taken from the book, Why They Cry - Understanding Child Development in the First Year.  Each week in your baby's first year of development is coded (see below).  The idea is that there are seven major developmental leaps that the authors believe ever baby goes through during the first year of life.  Apparently, these leaps allow baby to assimilate information in a new way and use it to advance the skills he/she needs to grow, not just physically but mentally.  These developmental leaps are not the same as physical growth spurts or other common milestones.  Each leap is preceded by what the authors call a clingy period, where baby demands more attention from his/her caregivers.  Each leap brings the baby something new and alters the way he/she perceives the world.

I have no idea how research-based it is as I have not read the book.  But I have to say that at this point I am pretty impressed by how accurate it has been in terms of Finn's behaviour.  Considering that I received the handout when Finn was about 17 weeks I feel like the first portion was a bit of a blind study.  I definitely remember a 'stormy period' at 12 weeks (i.e., needing to know when James was going to be home from work and NEEDING him to be home from work which unfortunately coincided with report cards!) and very sunny times in the weeks following.  Week 17 was stormy (i.e., pitiful moans) and now we are around weeks 20-21 and he has been incredibly happy and giggly.  Given that babies reach other milestones at generally the same times (e.g., smiling, finding hands, rolling over) it would make sense to me that they would develop mental skills at much the same pace.  Regardless of whether or not it is research-based I do feel that it is helpful even if it is only to say, "OH!  It's one of those 'stormy' weeks!".

So take it with a grain of salt and feel free to share with other mommas!