Child’s Emotional Development At The Age Of 6-12 Months

Emotional development begins as a person is born and progresses progressively as the child grows and connects with his or her environment. The first emotional bonds created determine the way a child expresses and interprets both his or her own and other people’s feelings. During the first months of life, the child is able to express basic feelings such as satisfaction and dissatisfaction. From the age of six months, she begins to feel increasingly complex emotions, allowing parents to notice significant changes in her emotional development.

Emotional development of a child at the age of 6-12 months

It is important to note that each child is different and develops at their own pace. However, when talking about emotional development, certain stages can be identified that each child goes through at a certain age. Next, we describe each stage of emotional development that a child goes through between the age of six months and their first birthday.

6-7 months of age

At 6-7 months of age, the baby begins to develop an attachment system. A child of this age shows an interest in familiar people and especially their primary caregivers and can reject strangers. A baby may experience fear, tension, and anxiety in new situations and situations where he or she has to spend time apart from his or her attachment characters, that is, usually his or her parents.

8-10 months of age

From the age of eight months, the child shows clear communication intentions. He wants to connect with other people and the surrounding social world, as a result of which he learns to recognize, interpret and even respond to the feelings and expressions of other people – especially acquaintances. In this way, he learns to regulate his reactions and behavior according to situations. A child aged 9-10 months is easily able to express their joy, dissatisfaction, anger and rage.

10-12 months of age

A child aged 10-12 months can already be found to regulate and express their feelings better. The child becomes more aware of their own feelings and expresses them with gestures, attitudes, different tones and gazes. At the age of one, some children are able to express in words certain emotional states they experience. In this way, the child makes himself part of his environment, which helps to build a richer and closer communicative and emotional relationship with the people around him.

About the emotional development of the baby

From birth, a baby has a need to create attachment relationships that provide a safe platform to explore both the physical and social environment. This helps the child’s emotional development gradually towards overall development. American psychologist, journalist and author Daniel Goleman has stated that “Emotional intelligence begins to develop in a child’s first years of life. All the interaction a child has with their parents, teachers and other people carries an emotional message. ”

For this reason, mother, father, and other primary caregivers should strive for enriching and stimulating communication in an atmosphere that promotes love and mutual respect. In this way, the child acquires emotional skills more easily and learns to better deal with different social situations, develop their self-confidence, and build their identity and positive self-esteem. The child also grows more autonomous and independent. Thus, the processing of emotions from the first months of a child’s life is very important for a balanced overall development.