Child Development and Family Relationships: Milestones, Family Types, Parenting
Child Development and Family Relationships covers growth and development in stages, milestones, the family's role and types, parenting styles, and adolescent concerns. Expect milestone tables and "what would you do" questions.
Stages and domains
Infancy (0–2 years), early childhood (2–6), middle childhood (6–12), adolescence (12–19). Development is studied in physical/motor, cognitive, language, social-emotional and moral domains; it proceeds head-to-tail (cephalocaudal) and centre-outward (proximodistal).
Milestones to memorise
- Birth weight about 2.5–3 kg; doubles by about 5 months, triples by 1 year.
- Social smile 6–8 weeks; head control about 3 months; rolling over 4–5 months.
- Sitting without support about 8 months; standing with support 9–10 months; walking 12–15 months.
- Pincer grasp 9–10 months; first words around 1 year; two-word sentences 18–24 months.
- Primary teeth begin erupting around 6 months.
Family and parenting
Family types: nuclear, joint, extended. Functions: reproduction, economic, protective, affection, socialization and education. Parenting styles: authoritarian (high control, little warmth), authoritative (firm but warm, usually best outcomes), permissive (warm, few limits).
Worked example
A 10-month-old cannot sit without support and does not bear weight on the legs. Sitting without support is expected by about 8 months, so this is a two-month gap in a core motor milestone: record it, ask about birth history and feeding, and refer for assessment. Reasoning: milestones are judged against a range, and a clear delay in one domain is a red flag, not something to dismiss.
Traps
- Treating milestones as exact dates rather than ranges.
- Ignoring the doubling and tripling weight rules.
- Confusing authoritative with authoritarian.