Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Women's Health - Child Development
Fact of the Day: It’s never too early to start reading to your child. This is a great way to help your child practice language,
listening, and problem-solving skills.
Children of mom’s with epilepsy have a slightly increased risk of developmental delay, learning disabilities and mental retardation.
This risk ranges from 1.2% to 6.2%, according to different studies. Multiple factors affect fetal growth and development including:
- Type and severity of mother’s epilepsy – epilepsy that is associated with an inheritable brain abnormality or prolonged grand
mal seizures are more likely to effect fetal development.
- Antiepileptic medications – ideally, you should be on the least amount of medication that controls your seizures. Sometimes
AEDs can be reduced or temporarily stopped during the first trimester, the time when the baby’s brain and other organs are
forming.
- Other health history (such as additional health problems or difficulty with past pregnancies).
- Genetics
- Labor and Delivery
- Birth weight and birth order
- Age and educational level of the mother
- Social environment
- Fetal metabolism
Womb with a View-From conception to Birth
Beginning of 4th week of pregnancy (1 wk after conception): egg implants in uterus, placenta begins to form
End of 5th wk: neural tube forming, tubular heart begins to beat, rudimentary eyes
End of 6th wk: Backbone formed, neural tube closed. Brain growing. Arm and leg buds visible. Dents in skin where eyes and ears will appear.
Tail visible.
7th wk: chest and stomach formed, lung buds appear. Eyes beneath closed lids.
8th wk: Face and teeth forming, jawbone well formed. Toe and finger buds, genitalia, and skeleton are forming.
9th wk: Face completed. Legs, arms, hands and feet partially formed. Stubby toes and fingers.
10th wk: Heart changers and veins/arteries forming. Heart beating 120 to 160 times/minute.
13 ½ wks: Limbs, feigners, toes and ears fully formed. Nails appear. May kick, bend arms, make a fist, and swallow amniotic fluid.
18 wks: Eyebrows and lashes appear. Fine hair all over body, mom can feel fetal movements.
22 ½ wks: Hair on head. About 12 inches long, weighs 1 pound.
27 wks: Wrinkly skin, eyes open. 14 inches, 2 pounds.
31 ½ wks: Now 16 inches, almost 4 pounds.
End of 8th month: 18 inches, 5 pounds.
End of 9th month (40 wks): Happy Birthday!
Guidelines for developmental milestones are listed below. If you feel your child is not progressing normally, speak to your
pediatrician. Children who are delayed in infancy often “catch up” before they are school-aged. Remember, all children progress
at different rates.
Welcome to the World
Babies can see, hear, and smell at birth. Their senses become more developed over time and with more exposure to new stimuli.
From birth to 3 months babies like to look at faces, are alert when spoken to, and prefer the human voice (especially Mom’s
voice) to other sounds. Infants easily notice strong contrasts (black and white).
Making Faces
Between 1 and 2 months, your baby will start to smile. By 4 months, she will begin to smile consistently at familiar people
and laugh or gurgle when happy. Around 5 months she will smile at herself in the mirror, and by 9 months, she’ll know she’s
looking at herself in the mirror. Other facial expressions, like frowning, are mastered from 6 to 9 months.
Body Building
An infant’s muscle and nervous systems are not complete at birth. The brain will continue to grow and your baby will become
stronger and more coordinated over time. Around 2 months, babies can lift their head and shoulders off of the mattress. By
3 months, he can hold up his head a little longer, kick, and grope toys. Head control is pretty good by month 4, and most
can sit up assisted by 9 months. Babies learn to roll (back to tummy or vice-versa) between 2 and 6 months. Beware, a rolling
baby can cover a lot of ground quickly! Briefly reach or hold objects.
On the Move
Around 6 months, babies may attempt crawling movements. By 8 to 9 months, most are crawling and may also attempt pulling themselves
into a standing position. Eventually, they feel bold enough to “walk” around a room while holding on to furniture. This is
known as “cruising”. Once your baby is an expert cruiser, walking is usually not far behind. Some infants go from rolling
to cruising, and skip the crawling phase entirely. Most babies learn to walk between 12 and 15 months.
Baby Talk
Those soft sounds made by your baby at one month will gradually evolve into human speech. Vowel sounds and cooing (2 to 3
months) are followed by consonant sounds (4 to 5 months). It may not sound like it, but language development is well on its
way. Your baby responds to speech and begins to actively listen to others. Babbling of work-like sounds appear around 9 months,
and words or sounds are associated with specific objects, people, or events.
Perception
By 2 months, infants can track objects from side to side with their eyes. At 3 months vision is clearer, infants can locate
sounds, and fingers and toys become interesting. By 4 months colors, shapes, and sizes are distinct and it is possible to
coordinate looking and listening. After 5 months, babies start to pay more attention to small objects and roughly manipulate
toys, aided by better depth perception. By 8 months toys will be examined with great curiosity, shaken or dangled, and inevitably
put into the mouth.
Social Graces
Babies make eye contact at 2 months and react to both new and familiar situations at 3 months. By 8 months, baby is affectionate
with certain people and will try to influence the actions of others. Games like peek-a-boo and singsong rhymes are favorites
at this time.
Learning and Behavior
Babies are always processing information. They gradually become aware of cause and effect; as early as 2 months, they stop
crying when the breast or bottle is near. By 9 months, they have made the leap to simple problem solving. Babies can remember
more without cues, recognize pictures of faces and distribute their attention.
