Out of all the development-physical, mental, emotional and social are prominent. These developments are marked as per their stages of development. Infancy is the first stage of one’s life where maximum concentration is highly essential for a perfect balanced development.

1. Physical development:

In infancy, physical development takes place at a very rapid rate. The size increases rapidly ten inches in the second year, in the case of boys.

Generally, the child is between seven and a half pounds in weight, the male child being taller and heavier than female. Height increases about 50 per cent in this period while the weight doubles in six months. In due course, the trunk grows faster than the head, and the proportion between head and trunk changes.

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The bodily functions tend to become more stable. The body controls the new situations of change in temperature, air, sugar, salt, work, balance and equilibrium. During the period from one month to two years, there is gradual development in the coordination and control of bodily movements.

2. Mental development:

During infancy, the child learns many things quickly. During the first three years of his life special attention should be paid to such needs of the body as hunger, thirst, excretion and urination, because these are not only physical phenomena, but are intimately related with the mental development. They should be given food and water at regular intervals. The physical urges of the body are closely related with its feelings and emotional life, which have deep relationship with his mental development.

As the mental development, it proceeds further during infancy, the child insists on the fulfillment of his desires. Because of rapid development of his mental powers, the child begins to learn many things very early.

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Within the first 2 or 3 months, he is able to recognize his mother and the person who attends to him very often. By the age of 3 or 4 months, he is able to acquire some control over many of his activities involving the use of feet and hands. By the end of 2 years, he can play with balls and can handle and manipulate many things. When he is two and half years of old, he can talk and is able to express some of his ideas and feelings. After the fourth years of age, he can recognize and memorize many things and the parents are sometimes surprised at his behavior reflecting his mental powers.

3. Social development:

Mother is the first company of the infant. The father and other members are the next. The only social experience he gets is in the company of the family members and later in the company of a few children in the neighborhood. It is only at the end of the period of infancy that the child begins to take notice of other infants and to play with them.

For a balanced development of the child all the above phases of development are to be taken importance.