The child has a crisis of the first year: instructions to parents. What to do for parents during the crisis of the first year of life in a child Crisis of the first year of life definition

Almost 12 months have passed since the birth of a newborn child in the family, the baby has grown up, he has additional behaviors and character traits. A maturing baby becomes nervous, capricious, more often refuses to eat and sleep, cries with or without reason, and thereby perplexes his parents.

If earlier mom and dad could afford to put the child to sleep and do daily activities, then by 1 year the task became more complicated. The mentioned behavioral reactions are associated with the so-called crisis of the first year of a baby's life, which most often originates in children older than 9 months.

The duration of this condition varies from 5 to 7 months. In order to understand how to behave with a child in this state, parents need to familiarize themselves with the reasons for the formation of psychological changes.

Causes

During the first year of life, intense psychosomatic changes occur in the body of a newborn baby that affect behavior and reactions to certain events. For a child at the age of 1 year, new perspectives open up.

Now he can study objects by touch, take them in his hands and examine them up close, as well as compare them with other surrounding objects. The period up to 12 months is characterized by the intensive development of the child's body, both physically and intellectually.

Getting the skills of sitting and walking means for the baby gaining independence, which he tries to realize in all possible ways. It is the awareness of independence that is the main cause of the crisis of the first year of a child's life.

When parents express a desire to support their baby in all his endeavors, the child triggers a protest reaction, which further exacerbates the misunderstanding between the child and his parents. A big mistake of parents is a forceful solution to the problem, when the whims and any refusal of the baby are suppressed with the help of screams and slaps. This behavior is unacceptable, and entails serious psychological consequences for the child's body.

Symptoms

From the moment the baby is born, a whole cascade of adaptive reactions is launched in his body, which help the newborn to adapt to environmental conditions. Entering the stage of psychological restructuring, the child becomes whiny, naughty for any reason, shows disobedience. The hallmarks of this condition are:

• The appearance of resentment that was not previously characteristic of the child. If the baby began to take offense at every word and harmless action, then, most likely, we are talking about the onset of a crisis in the first year of life;
• Unwillingness to follow the instructions of parents. The child has learned and, which means that he is sure that the requests of his parents are irrelevant for him;
• Sudden change of mood. Such a child may first kick with his foot, and then run up and start hugging. Such emotional lability is associated with the psychological restructuring of the child's body;
• Desire to always be near mom. Such behavior is not at all a whim for a child, since a child at the subconscious level develops a fear of losing loved ones;
• Requiring more attention. As soon as the parents switch their attention to other objects, the child begins to cry, act up and try with all his appearance to switch the center of attention to himself.

How to behave with a child

Specialists in the field of pediatrics and child psychology have developed key techniques to help parents cope with the crisis of the first year of life without harming the child's body. First of all, they advise not to be led by children's whims.

It is strictly forbidden to react to the inappropriate behavior of the baby with aggression and physical actions. In order for the correction of the psychological state to go smoothly and without consequences for the self-awareness of the baby, medical experts recommend adhering to the following rules:

1. Do not deny the child the implementation of those initiatives that he has in the process of development. If the baby expresses a desire to perform a particular function on his own, then parents should support the baby;
2. Implement a selective ban. From the point of view of psychology, total prohibitions lead to the oppression of the child as a person and the development of an inferiority complex in him. The correct tactic on the part of parents will be to familiarize the baby with the rules that are customary to observe within the family and in society;
3. Refuse force-feeding. When the child begins to experience a feeling of hunger, he himself will let you know about it. It is strictly forbidden to put pressure on him psychologically, to threaten and blackmail;
4. Try to be friends with the baby. It is scientifically proven that being in a friendly relationship with mom and dad, children succeed in intellectual development and have no problems with awareness of their sense of self. Forced communication with a child has never ended positively;
5. Listen to your child's concerns and concerns. If the mother sees that the baby is worried about something, then she needs to carefully go towards him, talk to him, calm him down and offer a joint solution to the pressing problem;
6. Talk to your child as often as possible. The understanding of many things in a child directly depends on the parents. If the baby is interested in certain details, then it is important for his parents to communicate with the baby on topics of interest to him. Thus, the baby develops social adaptation, improves speech and pronunciation of many words, and also improves psychological contact with mom and dad.

If the baby does not stop acting up and crying, then he should be left alone for a short period of time. When a one-year-old child is left alone with himself, his attention switches to other activities, and he becomes uninteresting in crying.

What Not to Do

In order to avoid mistakes when conducting a dialogue with a one-year-old child, medical specialists in the field of child psychology and pediatrics advise parents to pay attention to their behavior, which is often unacceptable. When communicating with a baby who is at the stage of a psychological crisis, you cannot perform the following actions:

• Deprive the child of the opportunity to feel independent. Such children in the process of growing up are formed as infantile personalities, incapable of making decisions and achieving any life goals;
• Show your own superiority, psychological and physical strength. It is important to remember that the child will not always be smaller and weaker, and his oppression in such a crucial period will entail the development of psychological trauma and aggression;
• Lead a disjointed system of education. Having received a ban from one of the parents and permission from the other, the baby may form an incorrect worldview, which will subsequently lead to personality disorders;
• Throw everything and respond to the first cry and whim of the child. If parents indulge the whims of the baby, then a clear understanding is formed in his head that he has psychological levers of pressure on mom and dad, which is extremely undesirable.

In order to raise a child as a healthy and socially adapted personality, parents need to monitor their own behavior. At the age of 1 year and older, children tend to copy the behavior of their parents. In the presence of the baby, one should not sort things out and swear with foul language.

Important! Parents of a baby should not be afraid, since a psychological crisis in a one-year-old child is a natural process that every child faces. For some families, this process is asymptomatic, and for some, the problem is acute and painful. In any case, moms and dads do not need to panic and be afraid of any consequences. Attentive and respectful attitude to your baby is the key to a painless and gentle way out of the psychological crisis.

As you know, after a long storm comes calm. When a baby, together with his parents, comes out of such a difficult period, self-awareness and perception of the world around him is formed in his head. He continues to develop physically and intellectually, to master new skills of relationships with people and ways to overcome certain difficulties.

If young parents managed to adequately survive this period of time, then their reward for their work is psychological stability and harmony in their relationship with the growing baby. A similar opinion is shared by a well-known specialist in the field of pediatrics, Dr. Komarovsky, who recommends being patient and not putting pressure on a growing baby.

Introduction

Crisis, from the Greek krineo, literally means "parting of the roads". The process of child development, first of all, should be considered as a stage process. Most psychologists divide childhood into periods. The most essential thing for child psychology is the elucidation of the transition from one stage (or period) to another. The child develops unevenly. There are relatively calm or stable periods, and there are so-called critical ones. During critical periods, the child changes in a very short time as a whole, in the main personality traits. This is a revolutionary, stormy, impetuous course of events, both in terms of the pace and meaning of the changes taking place. The boundaries separating the beginning and end of the crisis from adjacent periods are extremely indistinct. The crisis occurs imperceptibly, it is very difficult to determine the moment of its onset and end. A sharp aggravation (culmination) is observed in the middle of the crisis. The difficulty of educating children during critical periods once served as the starting point for their empirical study. There is obstinacy, a drop in academic performance and performance, an increase in the number of conflicts with others. The inner life of the child at this time is associated with painful experiences. It is noted that during crises, in contrast to stable periods, more destructive than creative work is done. The child does not so much acquire as loses from what was previously acquired. However, the emergence of the new in development necessarily means the death of the old. At the same time, during critical periods, constructive processes of development are also observed. Vygotsky called these acquisitions new formations. Neoplasms of critical periods are of a transitional nature, that is, they do not persist in the form in which, for example, autonomous speech occurs in one-year-old children.

During stable periods, the child accumulates quantitative changes, and not qualitative ones, as during critical ones. These changes accumulate slowly and imperceptibly. The sequence of development is determined by the alternation of stable and critical periods.

Crises are discovered empirically, and not in turn, but in a random order. First, the period of puberty was revealed, then the crisis of the age of three. The next was the crisis of seven years, associated with the transition to schooling, and the last - the crisis of one year (the beginning of walking, the emergence of words, etc.). Finally, they began to consider the fact of birth as a critical period. A common symptom of the critical period is the growing difficulty in communicating between an adult and a child, which is a symptom that the child already needs a new relationship with him. At present, the following periodization of childhood can be imagined:

* infancy (first year of life) - neonatal crisis;

* early childhood - crisis of one year;

* preschool childhood - crisis of three years;

* younger school age - a crisis of seven years;

* teenage childhood - the crisis of 11-12 years.

Some psychologists have recently introduced a new period into the periodization of childhood - early adolescence.

1. The concept of age crisis in human development. Features of crises

Age crises are turning points on the development curve that separate one age from another. In the history of child psychology, many authors empirically noted the unevenness of child development, the presence of special, complex moments in the formation of personality. At the same time, many foreign researchers (Z. Freud, A. Gesell, etc.) considered these moments as developmental illnesses, and the negative result of the collision of a developing personality with social reality, and also as a result of a violation of parent-child relationships. Developing a view of age-related crises as forms of deviation of mental development from the normal path, some foreign psychologists came to the conclusion that there may not be developmental crises. L.S. Vygotsky developed a concept in which he considered age development as a dialectical process. Evolutionary stages of gradual changes in this process alternate with epochs of revolutionary development - age crises. Mental development is carried out through the change of stable and critical periods. Within the framework of a stable age, mental neoplasms mature, which are actualized at a critical age. The chronological boundaries of age crises are rather arbitrary, which is explained by a significant difference in individual, sociocultural and other parameters. The form, duration and severity of the course of crises can vary markedly depending on the individual typological characteristics of the child, social conditions, the characteristics of upbringing in the family, and the pedagogical system as a whole.

All activity develops within the framework of the "child in society" system, the subsystems of which are "child - social object" and "child - adult".

In the "child - social object" subsystem, the process of assimilation by the child of social methods of action with objects takes place, in the "child - adult" subsystem, the adult appears to the child as a carrier of certain types of social activities, turning it into the "child - social adult" system.

D.B. Elkonin discovered the law of alternation, the periodicity of different types of activity: the activity of one type, orientation in the system of relations is followed by the activity of another type, in which orientation occurs in the ways of using objects. Each time there are contradictions between these two types of orientation. They are the reason for development. Each era of child development is built on the same principle. It opens with an orientation in the sphere of human relations. The action cannot develop further if it is not inserted into the new system of the child's relationship with society. Until the intellect has risen to a certain level, there can be no new motives.

The law of alternation, periodicity in child development makes it possible to present periods (epochs) in a new way at the stage of ontogeny of the psyche.

The neonatal crisis separates the embryonic period of development from infancy. The crisis of one year separates infancy from early childhood. Crisis 3 years - the transition from early childhood to preschool age. The crisis of 7 years is a connecting link between preschool and school age. Finally, the crisis of 13 years coincides with a turning point in development during the transition from school to puberty.

So, age crises are normative, natural phenomena necessary for the progressive development of the individual, the central mechanism of the dynamics of ages.

From the outside, crises are characterized by features that are the opposite of stable, or stable, ages. In these periods, over a relatively short time (month, year), sharp and major shifts and shifts, changes and fractures in the child's personality are concentrated.

Features of crises:

The boundaries separating the beginning and end of the crisis from difficult ages are extremely indistinct. The crisis occurs imperceptibly - it is difficult to determine the moment of its onset and end.

A sharp aggravation of the crisis, which usually occurs in the middle of this age period, is characteristic.

A significant part of children going through critical periods of development, finds difficulty in education. There is an acute conflict with others, an internal conflict. But this doesn't have to happen.

The crisis is a negative development factor. The processes of withering away and curtailment, disintegration and decomposition of what was formed at the previous stage and distinguished the child of this age come to the fore. The child in critical periods not so much gains as loses from the experience acquired before.

So, age crises are a special period of life, characterized by dramatic psychological changes. This process is necessary for normal personal development. There are: neonatal crisis, crisis of 1 year, crisis of 3 years, crisis of 7 years, crisis of adolescence, crisis of adolescence, midlife crisis.

. Crisis of the first year of life

The crisis of the first year is associated with an increase in the child's capabilities and the emergence of an increasing number of new needs. This time is characterized by a surge of independence, as well as the appearance of affective reactions (bright emotional outbursts, such as crying, screaming, stamping feet, fighting, biting, denial). Such outbursts are expressed here as a reaction to misunderstanding on the part of adults. The main acquisition of the transitional period is a kind of children's speech, called autonomous by psychologists. It is significantly different from adult speech and in sound form. Words become ambiguous and situational (depending on the specific situation). The mental development of a child at this age occurs not only in the assimilation of a variety of new actions for him, but also in the formation of the qualities necessary for their implementation. The child gradually masters the forms of behavior characteristic of a person in society and shows the internal features that determine his actions.

According to E. Erickson, who subjected the age stages of human development to serious research, three lines of development correspond to this period, preparing, at the same time, its crisis:

1) the child becomes more persistent and free in his movements and, as a result, establishes a wider and, in essence, an unlimited radius of goals for him;

2) his sense of language becomes so perfect that he begins to ask endless questions about everything, often without receiving a proper and intelligible answer, which contributes to a completely misinterpretation of many concepts;

3) speech and developing motor skills allow the child to expand his imagination into so many roles that he is often frightened.

Further, during the period of approximately 2 years, the prerequisites for male and female initiative are formed, as well as a certain sexual image of oneself, which is clearly expressed in the game; - for the boy, the emphasis is on "doing", and for girls - "catching" in the form of either an aggressive capture, or turning oneself into an attractive and irresistible person.

While an adult is guided in his behavior by conscious motives, a personal system of values, the motives of a child are not yet realized and do not have a system of significance, the inner world is just beginning to acquire stability and certainty. In his actions, the baby mainly relies on feelings and desires, and during this period it is important to develop such feelings that encourage him to take into account the interests of other people. From about a year and a half, the most important source of the child's feelings is the assessment of his actions by adults. Praise, approval of others, develops such a feeling as pride. At the same time, there is a claim recognition from an adult.

It is usually expressed like this: “Look how I can do it!”, “Look how I do it!”.

The child, striving to earn a positive assessment, instills in himself the habit of doing the right thing and well and receives recognition from the adult and himself. Feeling shameappears later than the feeling of pride and is provoked by disapproval, censure from the adult.

Despite the development of self-esteem, a sense of pride and shame, a child at this age does not yet have the ability to consciously control his actions, it is still difficult for him to resist the immediate satisfaction of the desire that has arisen. It is even more difficult for him to perform an unattractive and undesirable action, which, in the opinion of an adult, must be performed (“drop the kaku, sit on the potty, do not take off your slippers - the floor is cold, do not touch the dog”).

Along with this, an important factor in the development of the psyche is the connection of the child with his own name. We can say that the name is the basis of personal perception and statement to the outside world. No wonder the first question addressed to a child is usually “What is your name?”. That is, the child begins to realize himself through the name by which he is called. There is a special interest in literary heroes and people bearing a similar name. Gradually, there is an awareness of oneself as a separate person, the allocation of one's "I". At first, the child begins to talk about himself in the third person: "Vanya wants!", but very soon he discovers that "I" can refer to himself. This is the beginning of the formation of self-consciousness. Often, during this period, the child talks to himself, scolds, persuades, thanks. This usually happens

since 2 to 3 years.

By the end of the third year, under the influence of independence, there is an awareness of various desires and actions that are different from those that are “imposed” by adults. The child begins to say: “Give me”, “I want”, he learns to separate himself from other people, to realize that he has willwhich can be used. The child develops a desire for the expression of will, he strives for independence, for opposing his desires with the desire of adults. He feels that he is able to control his actions and his imagination, he is able to change the world. It is during this period that the “crisis of three years” manifests itself.

. Moments of one year's crisis

The empirical content of the crisis of the first year of life is extremely simple and easy. It was studied before all other critical ages, but its crisis nature was not emphasized. We are talking about walking, about such a period when it is impossible to say about a child whether he walks or not, about the very formation of walking, when, using a highly dialectical formula, one can speak of the formation of this walking as a unity of being and non-being, i.e. when she is and when she is not. Everyone knows that a rare child begins to walk immediately, although there are such children. A more thorough study of such a child who immediately begins to walk showed that usually in this case we are dealing with a latent period of emergence and development and a relatively late detection of walking. But often, even after the start of walking, there is a loss of it. This indicates that the full maturation of walking has not yet occurred.

A child in early childhood is already walking: poorly, with difficulty, but still a child for whom walking has become the main form of movement in space.

The very formation of walking is the first moment in the content of this crisis.

The second point concerns speech. Here again we have such a process in development when it is impossible to say whether the child is a speaker or not, when speech exists and it does not yet exist. This process is also not completed in one day, although cases are described when the child immediately spoke. And here we have a latent period of the formation of speech, which lasts about 3 months.

The third point is from the side of affects and will. E. Kretschmer called them hypobulic reactions. This means that in connection with the crisis, the child experiences the first acts of protest, opposition, opposing himself to others, "intemperance", in the language of authoritarian family upbringing. These phenomena Kretschmer proposed to call hypobulic in the sense that they, referring to volitional reaction, represent a qualitatively completely different stage in the development of volitional actions and are not differentiated by will and affect.

Such reactions of a child at a crisis age are sometimes revealed with great force and sharpness, especially in the case of improper upbringing. Usually a child who has been denied something or who has not been understood shows a sharp increase in affect, often ending with the child lying on the floor, starting to scream furiously, refusing to walk if he walks, kicking his feet on the floor, but no loss of consciousness, there is neither salivation, nor enuresis, nor other signs characterizing epileptic seizures. It is only a tendency (which makes the reaction hypobulic), sometimes directed against certain prohibitions, refusals, etc. and expressed, as it is usually described, in some regression of behavior; the child, as it were, returns to an earlier period (when he throws himself on the floor, flounders, refuses to walk, etc.), but he uses this, of course, in a completely different way.

4. The crisis of the first year of life - the period of autonomous children's speech

The first to describe autonomous children's speech and understand and appreciate its great importance was, oddly enough, C. Darwin (1881), who did not directly deal with the development of the child, but, being a brilliant observer, was able to notice, following the development of his grandson that, before moving on to the language period, the child speaks a peculiar language. The originality lies in the fact that, firstly, the sound composition of the words used by the child differs sharply from the sound composition of our words. This speech is motor, i.e. from the articulatory, from the phonetic side, does not coincide with our speech. These are words that, in their external, sounding form, differ from the words of our language (“pu-fu”, “bo-bo”). Sometimes they are similar to our words, sometimes they diverge sharply from them, sometimes they resemble our distorted words.

The second difference, more significant and more important, which Darwin drew attention to, is that the words of autonomous speech differ from our words in meaning. Thus, we have found two features that distinguish the child's autonomous speech from the general course of the development of the child's language. The first difference is the phonetic structure of speech, the second is the semantic side of children's speech. From this follows the third feature of autonomous children's speech, which was appreciated by Darwin; if this speech differs from ours in sound and semantic respects, then communication with the help of such speech should differ sharply from communication with the help of our speech. Communication is possible only between the child and those people who understand the meaning of his words. Finally, the last, fourth of the main distinguishing features of an autonomous language is that the possible connection between individual words is also extremely peculiar. This language is usually agrammatical, does not have an objective way of connecting individual words and meanings into coherent speech (in our case this is done using syntax and etymology). Here, completely different laws of linking and combining words dominate - the laws of combining interjections that pass into each other, reminiscent of a series of incoherent exclamations that we sometimes publish in strong affect and excitement.

Speech is called autonomous, because it is built, as it were, according to its own laws, different from the laws of constructing real speech. This speech has a different sound system, a different semantic side, different forms of communication and other forms of binding. That is why it was called independent. Thus, the first proposition is that autonomous children's speech is a necessary period in the development of any normal child. Second position: in many forms of speech underdevelopment, with speech development disorders, autonomous children's speech appears very often and determines the features of abnormal forms of speech development. For example, a delay is often expressed primarily in the fact that the child's period of autonomous speech is delayed. Other speech disorders in childhood also lead to the fact that autonomous speech is sometimes delayed for several years and still performs the main genetic function, i.e. serves as a bridge over which the child passes from the non-lingual period to the language. Autonomous speech plays an essential role in the development of normal and abnormal children.

In any normally proceeding child development, we can observe autonomous speech, which is characterized by three moments. First moment. Speech is motor, i.e. from the articulatory, phonetic side, does not coincide with our speech. These are usually words like "pu-fu", "bo-bo", fragments of our words. Sometimes this, as researchers now say, resembles a radical language, i.e. a language in which only roots exist, not formalized words. In meaning they do not coincide with any of our words, not a single meaning of this "poo-fu" or "bo-bo" can not be fully translated into our language. The second feature. The meanings of autonomous speech do not coincide with the meaning of our words.

Third feature. Along with his own words, the child has an understanding of our words, i.e. Before the child begins to speak, he understands a number of words. He understands the words we have formed: "get up", "sit down", "bread", "milk", "hot", etc., and this does not interfere with the presence of a second speech. Therefore, G. Idelberger and others are inclined to think that autonomous children's speech exists alongside or in a certain connection with our speech.

Autonomous children's speech and its meanings are developed with the active participation of the child.

When autonomous speech is delayed in a child who understands the speech of adults quite well, a need arises for coherent transmission, and the child, even in autonomous speech, takes the path of forming phrases. But these phrases, due to the fact that speech is devoid of syntactic coherence, bear little resemblance to ours. They are more like a simple stringing of words or distorted phrases of our language: "You take me," etc.

Autonomous children's speech not only represents an extremely unique stage in the development of children's speech, but also that this stage corresponds to a unique stage in the development of thinking. Depending on the stage of development of speech, thinking reveals certain features. Before the child's speech reaches a certain level of development, his thinking cannot go beyond a certain limit either. The stage with which we are confronted equally characterizes both a peculiar period in the development of speech and a peculiar period in the development of children's thinking.

We said that in the crisis of the first year of life, i.e. during that critical period when the child travels from infancy to early childhood. It usually starts at the very end of the first year, and ends in the 2nd year. In the crisis of the first year of life, a normal child uses autonomous children's speech. Its beginning and end mark the beginning and end of the crisis of the first year of life.

Conclusion

Personality crises of one year are important for the further development of the child. Therefore, it is very important that adults treat the child with understanding and patience at this time. To do this, it is recommended to avoid extremes in communication (you can’t allow the baby to do everything or forbid everything). It is important to coordinate the style of behavior with all family members. It is impossible to ignore what is happening to the child, but at the same time we must try to explain to him that his parents and other relatives have other things to do besides taking care of him. And that it can help in solving some problems. It is important to give the child to do tasks on his own so that he feels his autonomy. It is necessary to encourage his initiative, encourage him to it (if it is not). But at the same time, the child should always feel the support and approval of a significant adult for him. At the same time, the child's self-confidence should be strengthened. But we must remember that the child imitates adults in his behavior and actions, and try to set him a good personal example. However, all this is possible only if the child has a close emotional contact with an adult (parent).

Practical part "Studying attention in preschool age"

The concept of "attention"

Attention is primarily a dynamic characteristic of the course of cognitive activity: it expresses the primary connection of mental activity with a specific object on which it is focused. Attention is a selective focus on one or another object and focus on it, deepening into the cognitive activity directed at the object. Attention is understood as the direction and concentration of mental activity on a certain object (N.F. Dobrynin). The first manifestations of attention can be observed already in the newborn during sucking. During preschool age, the properties of attention and its arbitrariness develop. The child learns to control himself and consciously direct his attention to a certain object. At the same time, he uses external means to organize attention, primarily the word and pointing gesture of an adult, i.e. attention becomes mediated. In preschool childhood, the amount of attention increases, i.e. the number of objects that can be clearly perceived in a relatively short period of time. The stability of attention is changing as the ability to maintain focus on an object. One indicator of sustainability is the duration of focus. The distribution of attention suggests that the child can direct and concentrate attention on several objects at the same time. Switching attention means that the child is able to move the focus and concentration of attention from one object to another, from one type of activity to another. The development of the properties and types of attention of a preschooler significantly depends on the significance, emotionality, interest for him in the material, on the nature of the activity that the child performs. Thus, attention indicators increase significantly in role-playing and didactic games. The development of attention is closely interconnected with the development of the will and arbitrariness of behavior, the ability to control one's behavior.

Development of attention in preschool age

At preschool age, changes concern all types and properties of attention. Its volume is increasing: a preschooler can already act with 2-3 objects. Attention becomes more stable than in early childhood. This gives the child the opportunity to perform certain work under the guidance of the educator, even if it is uninteresting. The kid is not distracted if he understands that the matter needs to be completed. Maintaining the stability of attention, fixing it on the object is determined by the development of curiosity, cognitive processes. So, a child watches fish in an aquarium for a long time to find out where they sleep, or a hamster to see when he will eat his supplies. The stability of attention depends on the nature of the acting stimulus. At the age of 4 - 7 years, long-term distractions are caused by the noise of the game, and the longest - by the bell. During preschool childhood, the duration of distractions caused by various stimuli decreases, that is, the stability of attention increases. The most dramatic decrease in the duration of distraction is observed in children from 5.5 to 6.5 years.

The development of the attention of a preschooler is due to the fact that the organization of his life is changing. He masters new types of activity (game, labor, productive). At 4-5 years old, the child directs his actions under the influence of an adult. The teacher is increasingly saying to the preschooler: “Be attentive”, “Listen carefully”. Fulfilling the requirements of an adult, the child must control his attention. The development of voluntary attention is associated with the assimilation of the means of controlling it. Initially, these are external means, a pointing gesture, the word of an adult. In older preschool age, the speech of the child himself, which acquires a planning function, becomes such a means. “I want to see the first monkeys, and then the crocodiles,” says the kid on the way to the zoo. He outlines the goal of "seeing", and then carefully examines the objects of interest to him. Thus, the development of voluntary attention is closely connected not only with the development of speech, but also with the understanding of the significance of the upcoming activity, the awareness of its purpose. The development of this type of attention is also associated with the development of norms and rules of behavior, the formation of volitional action. For example, a toddler wants to join other children's play but cannot. He's on duty in the canteen today. First you need to help an adult set the table. And the kid focuses on doing this work. Gradually, he is attracted by the very process of duty, he likes how he beautifully arranges the instruments, and strong-willed efforts to maintain attention are no longer required.

Thus, the development of post-voluntary attention occurs through the formation of voluntary, it is also associated with the habit of making efforts to achieve the goal.

So, the main features of the development of attention in preschool age:

· Significantly increases its concentration, volume and stability;

· There are elements of arbitrariness in the management of attention based on the development of speech, cognitive interests;

Attention becomes mediated;

Elements of post-voluntary attention appear.

The development of attention directly depends on the position of the adult in communicating with the baby, as well as on how he organizes the child's activities.

The daily routine is important for the development of the attention of the child. It creates reference points in the life of children, serves as an external means of organizing it, facilitates switching, distribution, concentration of attention. Throughout preschool childhood, the baby is attracted to emotionally rich material. An adult, remembering this, creates a zone of positive experiences, thereby causing and maintaining the involuntary attention of the child.

Games and exercises, including mental and motor activity, require the child to switch, distribute and concentrate attention. The teacher directs the movement of the baby with the help of a word or a pointing gesture: "look, listen, touch." He teaches the child to use external supports to control attention. For example, he places a series of pictures in front of him that reflect the sequence of dressing. The child, moving from one picture to another, performs the appropriate actions and checks himself. This facilitates switching, increases the stability of attention, which turns into an arbitrary mediated process. The development of voluntary attention is the most important task of preschool education. In the future, it will ensure the success of the child's education at school, help him follow the instructions of the teacher and control himself.

An important principle in the development of attention is the requirement for the organization of the child's activities. Attention is maintained when the preschooler is active in relation to the subject, examines it, discovering more and more new content in it. At the same time, the adult demands that the work begun be completed to the end, and it creates in the children an attitude to bring the work begun to the end. Bearing in mind the difficulties of switching attention, the teacher prepares the child for a change of activity, warning him about it in advance: “Play a little more. Soon we will wash our hands and have dinner.” Using game situations, establishing links between different types of activity facilitates the transition from one activity to another.

Diagnosis of attention in preschoolers

Methods for diagnosing attention in preschoolers is intended to study the attention of children with an assessment of such qualities of attention as productivity, stability, switchability and volume. To diagnose the above characteristics of attention, various methodological approaches are proposed. In conclusion of the examination of the child according to these methods, it is possible to derive a general, integral assessment of the level of development of the attention of a preschooler. A suitable environment should be created for the examination (bright, unusual objects that can distract the child's attention from the proposed tasks are undesirable). The examination must be carried out at a table, the size of which corresponds to the height of the child. The preschooler is not seated facing the window so that what is happening on the street does not distract him. To establish such contact, it is necessary to conduct an examination in a familiar environment for the child. It is necessary to create conditions under which the child will not experience negative emotions (fear, insecurity) from communicating with a stranger (unfamiliar) person. Work with the child should begin with the game, gradually including him in the tasks required by the methodology. In case of rapid fatigue, it is necessary to interrupt classes and allow the child to walk or do physical exercises.

It is necessary to take into account the time required for the study. In general, the examination of a preschool child takes from 30 to 60 minutes.

During the examination, a protocol is kept and recorded:

the proposed tasks and the level of their implementation;

nature of contact with adults;

attitude to the performance of tasks;

level of activity when performing tasks;

Object of study:Reshetnikov Semyon, 6 years old, BDOU No. 1 "Teremok", a preparatory group, took part in the diagnostics.

Subject of study: attention in preschool children.

Target: determination of the level of formation of attention in a preschooler.

Tasks:1. Determining the level of development of attention;

Exercise 1

Method "Find and cross out"

Target:determination of productivity and stability of attention in children.

Description: the child works according to the instructions with a picture that randomly shows simple shapes. He was given the task to search and cross out two unequal figures in different ways, for example: cross out an asterisk with a vertical line, and a circle with a horizontal one. The child works for 2.5 minutes, during which he is told “start” and “stop” five times in a row (every 30 seconds). The experimenter marks in the child's drawing the place where the appropriate commands are given.

Material: “a drawing depicting simple figures, a clock with a second hand, a protocol for fixing attention parameters, simple pencils.

Diagnosis progress: “Now you and I will play such a game: I will show you a picture on which many different objects familiar to you are drawn. When I say “begin,” you will begin to search for and cross out the figures I have named along the lines of this drawing. This will need to be done until I say "stop". At this time, you will have to stop and show me the image of the object that you saw last. I will mark on your drawing the place where you left off, and I will say “start” again. After that, you will continue to search for and cross out the given objects from the drawing. This will happen several times until I say the word "end". This completes the task."

Fixed parameters:t - task execution time; N - the number of images of objects viewed during the entire time of work, as well as separately for each 30-second interval; n is the number of errors made (necessary images omitted or unnecessary images crossed out). The data obtained are entered into the formula, which determines the general indicator of the level of development of the child at the same time two properties of attention: productivity and stability:

S = (0,5N- 2,8n) / t

Where S-indicator of productivity and stability of attention of the examined child.

Outcome on Productivity and Sustainability of Attention:

During the examination, and then when fixing the parameters, Reshetnikov Semyon has 6-7 points - the S indicator is in the range from 0.75 to 1.00 points

The stability of attention, in turn, is estimated in points at 6-7 points - all points of the graph are located in three zones, and the curve itself is similar to

a curve drawn with a line like? ? ? ? ? ?. It is a graph of average productive and average sustained attention.

Task 2

Study preparation. Pick up 2 pairs of pictures containing 10 differences;

Materials:Pictures with differences, stopwatch, sheet of paper with a pen.

Diagnosis progress:The child is shown a pair of pictures. For a certain time, he needs to find 10 differences (time 1 minute).

Result:In one minute, Semyon was able to find 5 differences out of 10. Average level of attention.

Diagnosis of attention features

The purpose of the methodology:determination of the effectiveness of attention.

Description of the technique:the child works according to the instructions with single-plot drawings that differ in individual details.

Material:one-plot pictures, a clock with a second hand, a protocol.

Diagnosis progress:“Look at the pictures. Try as quickly as possible to name all the signs that distinguish one drawing from another.

Fixed parameters:task completion time, number of named differences, repetitions, incorrectly named differences, missing distinguishing features.

Level of attention development Time to complete the task, min Number of named differences Number of errorsVery tall 1-1,515 -Above average 1,5-214 - 13 1-2Medium 2-2,512 - 11 3Below average 2,5-310-9 4Low 3 - 3,58-6 7 - 5Very low 3,5-4 Less 6 Over 7

Result:Reshetnikov Semyon's level of attention development is average. The task completion time was 2 minutes, the number of named differences was 11, errors - 3, repetitions - 2.

Conclusions:

In the course of conducting and processing tasks, we found out that Semyon has an average level of attention development. He concentrates on completing the task, but cannot hold it for a long time. The child makes good contact with an adult, behaves calmly, confidently. Tries to be active when performing a task.

1. To carry out purposeful work on teaching the child to plan his activities, to bring it to the end.

Offer the child games, exercises that require strong-willed efforts. Organize didactic games with clearly defined rules.

Organize games, exercises with the child to develop voluntary attention. Give tasks that require long-term concentration.

Train voluntary attention (through repetitions and exercises) in order to develop observation in the child.

Conduct games for the development and concentration of attention.

Conclusion

In my work, I gave the concept of attention, identified its types and features, approaches to the problem of the nature of attention. The study of the human psyche and personality, cognitive processes and methods of their training and development is becoming more and more perfect. Psychologists are inventing newer, more modern models to study these processes. A person, using these models, gets to know his inner world more deeply, which allows him to discover new abilities of a person. Initially, the processes of voluntary attention, directed by the speech of an adult, are for the child rather processes of his external discipline than self-regulation. Gradually, using the same means of mastering attention in relation to himself, the child passes to self-control of behavior, that is, to voluntary attention, to the development of self-control.

According to the test results, children who need a more detailed examination of attention are singled out. Next, categories of children in need of developmental activities are identified. Children who are constantly distracted in class, cannot sit still, have difficulty getting involved in work, it is recommended to attend individual or group sessions with a psychologist. Such classes should take place at least twice a week.

The longer the child can keep his attention on the task, the deeper he can penetrate into its essence, and the more opportunities he has to solve it. At 5 years, the concentration and attention span of the child is still very low.

By the age of 6-7, they increase significantly, but still remain poorly developed. It is still difficult for children to concentrate on monotonous and unattractive activities for them, while in the process of an emotionally colored game they can remain attentive for a long time. Therefore, it is recommended to give any educational information to the child in a playful way. This feature of the attention of older preschoolers is one of the reasons why classes with them cannot be based on tasks that require constant, strong-willed efforts. At the same time, the child must gradually develop the ability to make such efforts, and in particular, in the course of solving intellectual problems. With a high concentration of attention, the child notices much more in objects and phenomena than in the normal state of consciousness. And with insufficiently concentrated attention, his consciousness, as it were, glides over objects, without dwelling on any of them for a long time. As a result, impressions are vague and indistinct.

When entering school, the development of individual characteristics of attention should be taken quite seriously. After all, the success of the child in the future may depend on this.

Bibliography

preschool crisis children's attention

1. Vygotsky L.S. Psychology of child development. - M .: Publishing House Smysl, Publishing House Eksmo, 2006.

Kamenskaya E.N. Psychology of development and developmental psychology. Lecture notes / E.N. Kamenskaya. - Rostov n / a: Phoenix, 2006.

Lisina M.I., Avdeeva N.N. Development of ideas about oneself in a child of the first year of life // Research on issues of developmental and pedagogical psychology. - M., 1980.

Lisina M.I., Silvestru A.I. Psychology of self-consciousness of preschoolers. - Chisinau, 1983.

Mukhina V.S. Developmental psychology: phenomenology of development, childhood, adolescence: a textbook for universities / Mukhina V.S. - 7th ed., Sr. - M.: Academy, 2003.

Obukhova L.F. Developmental psychology: a textbook for universities. - M.: Higher education; MGPPU, 2007.

Features of the mental development of infants. // Ed. D.B. Elkonin, A.L. Wenger. - M., NPO "Education", 1988.

Polivanova K.N. Specific characteristics of development in transitional periods (crisis of 1 year) // Questions of Psychology. - 1999.

Shapovalenko I.V. developmental psychology (Psychology of development and developmental psychology). - M.: Gardariki, 2004.

Elkonin D.B. Child psychology. - M.: Nauka, 1960.

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The first year of a child's life is basic. It begins with the brightest among all crises -. The neonatal crisis is accompanied by the formation of a sense of attachment in the child. This happens in three stages: the search for intimacy with the mother, the ability to distinguish familiar people from strangers, the emergence of a sense of attachment to especially significant people. If the first crisis went well, then the baby continues to get to know himself and the world until he reaches a new stage - the need to separate from the mother and expand his capabilities. Thus begins the crisis of one year.

During the first year of life, the child:

• learns to feel himself and the world around him, to pick up signals from outside and inside, to respond to them;
• cognizes himself and his body (both as a whole and separate parts, for example, arms and legs), the surrounding space (crawls and shows other activity);
• gets acquainted with toys and household items;
• learns to understand speech and speak the first words;
• takes the first steps.

If in the first half of a child’s life there is enough maternal affection and care, communication “just like that”, then in the second half of the year he has to cooperate with his mother, for example, he asks to bring a specific toy, show the device of an object, help to figure it out.

The essence of the crisis of the first year

The first steps of a child are a sign of a break in the dyad "mother-child" and the moment of the beginning of the child's independence. It is no longer the mother who leads the child, but the child indicates the direction of activity, leads.

The crisis of the first year of life occurs on average at the age of 10-14 months. The essence of the crisis is reflected in two main manifestations:

• The child expands its possibilities for mastering the surrounding world and separates from the mother through independent steps. The dyad "mother-child" turns into a cooperation of two independent individuals - mother and child.
• There is a knowledge of the world and surrounding objects with the help of the first words. Speech is at a transitional stage, autonomous, understandable only to close people.

At the time of restructuring of a one-year-old child, characteristic disturbances are observed: changes in biorhythms, sleep and wakefulness, changes in vital needs (hunger), emotional affective reactions (gloom, tearfulness, touchiness). However, the crisis of this age is not considered acute.

Crisis risks

The essence of the crisis is the separation of the child from the mother. Mom does not always understand the need and significance of this department. If the child's need for independence remains unsatisfied, then he immediately reacts with protest and dissatisfaction with pressure from adults, disrespect for his desires.

If the mother regularly ignores the wishes of the child, limits independence, “knows better what the child needs”, then the negative reactions of the baby will not keep you waiting:

• a cry of protest;
• violent motor reactions (waves of arms, denial of the head from side to side);
• resentment and tears;
• demonstrative puffing of the cheeks, etc.

The adult is still needed by the child, but the style of communication should now be different. An adult should contribute to the separation of the child, no matter how hard it is for the mother herself (not everyone is ready to recognize the growing up of children, especially at such an early age).

To successfully overcome the crisis of one year will allow:

1. Respect for the child, his growing up and the need for separation from the mother. Acceptance by the mother of her child.
2. Emotionally rich with the mother, her love and care, warmth. It is important to support and develop the child's desire to communicate. The first social need of the child is the need for another person.
3. Availability of the mother (presence nearby, reaction to the appeal of the child), frequent bodily contact (even when feeding from a bottle), affectionate treatment, gentle touches. Mom should have an inner sense of calm and happiness.
4. Responsiveness, understanding the needs of the baby.
5. The stability and consistency of the mother's actions, giving the child a sense of the stability of the world, allowing adequate orientation in the world. The randomness of the mother provokes the development of anxiety and.
6. Abundant verbal interaction. A child will never learn to speak if adults do not communicate with him. But it is important to avoid pressure and long monologues. Pay attention to what and how you say. The mood and well-being of the child depends on the tone of the mother, which the baby can distinguish from the first weeks of life.
7. Speech, intonation, facial expressions and touch should be gentle, friendly, confident and calm. All three elements are important.

Speech and activity are the two strongholds of this age. It is important to accompany every action with words, especially when a child is watching his mother. Try to avoid situations where the baby becomes a witness to rude words. Don't interact with your child when you're agitated or in trouble.

If it is not possible to ask someone for help, then do not be afraid to talk seriously with the baby, say your condition: “Mom is sad now, but that's okay. It happens. Soon everything will pass, and we will smile together again with you. This will have a much better effect on the child than the false “everything is fine” against the background of tearful eyes and anxiety. Such a contradictory message will cause misunderstanding of the baby, internal tension.

end of infancy

Psychological signs of a positive end to infancy include:

• The child is in a good mood for most of his wakefulness, enjoys close and significant adults, is wary of strangers, is active in search of a new one and trusts the world around him.
• The child likes communication with peers and adults, he tries to achieve it in all known ways, as much as he can actively communicate.
• He can calmly play on his own and be content with periodic “glances” with his mother.

The child has a new activity - play, but this does not mean that you need to overwhelm him with toys. However, one toy will not be enough. The child should always have a choice of subjects to study. If there are too many of them, the baby will be confused and will not be able to concentrate, one item will deprive him of independence and the right to choose.

Thus, the crisis of one year is a transitional stage from infancy to early childhood. The result of successfully passing the crisis is walking and autonomous speech. Autonomous speech is a distorted repetition of adult speech (syllables, letters, sounds, etc.). In addition, speech is situational and emotional. The normal behavior of a child at the age of one year is manipulations with objects in the presence of an adult and with his help.

Your baby, until recently so cute and helpless, suddenly becomes a capricious, stubborn and disobedient little tyrant? This picture is familiar to many parents and it has its own name - the crisis of the first year of life.

This phenomenon is quite understandable, moreover, it is an integral part of growing up a new person. How to survive the age crisis of 1 year of life and should we be afraid of it? Consider the features of this stage of the baby's life and the rules of parental behavior in such a difficult period.

Usually, the symptoms of a crisis of 1 year are pronounced and it is easy to determine it. New features appear in the child's behavior:

• sharply increased independence, the desire to do everything without the help of adults;
• lack of response to prohibitions or their denial;
• tears and prolonged tantrums, if it is impossible to get what you want right away;
• whims for no apparent reason;
• inconsistency (I want and almost immediately - I don’t want);
• a negative reaction to activities that were previously perceived as normal (refuses to dress, undress, eat from a spoon, etc.).

What does the baby feel?

Young mothers and fathers have a question - why did the child begin to behave this way? By the end of the first year of life, the baby makes several important discoveries - it turns out that his parents are adults and can do more than he does.

Of course, this was the case before, but the child begins to think about these differences only now. In a year, the baby realizes that he is a separate person from his mother, and his dissatisfaction with the existing prohibitions and rules grows. It seems to him that his parents limit him just like that, and not because some activities are dangerous or harmful to him.

Causes of the crisis

It may seem to young mothers and fathers that they just spoiled the baby, but this is not the reason for his behavior. The crisis of 1 year of life coincides with the beginning of upright walking and this moment is a turning point in the child's worldview.

For an adult, walking is familiar and normal, but for a baby, it is a real discovery. Previously, he was one with his mother and could not move freely without her, but now the baby can easily run away, if he doesn’t like something, get to previously inaccessible interesting things.

Of course, the child takes advantage of new opportunities. Realizing his independence and his own self, the baby tries to determine where he ends and his mother begins, what he can do on his own and what not.

To deal with such important questions for a growing person, you need to try everything yourself and nothing else. It is the cognitive interest and the need to test the limits of one's capabilities that awakens in the child the spirit of opposition. The baby is not yet aware of the essence of prohibitions and restrictions and defends his rights as best he can - by crying, stubbornness, disobedience.

Also, conflict situations arise due to a discrepancy between the capabilities of the baby and his desires. He cannot completely do without the help of his parents, and if an adult does not understand what the child wants at the moment, the child, who is not yet able to express his needs in words, immediately throws a tantrum.

Stubbornness and crisis

Stubbornness is one of the main signs of the crisis of the first year. It is based on awakening independence. If earlier the baby calmly wore the clothes that you put on him, ate what they offered and played with toys, now he wants to show his will in everything.

Ordinary activities - dressing, feeding, bathing, getting ready for a walk - turn into a real torment. The child does not agree to do what you suggest, demands items that are completely unsuitable for games, and throws tantrums. It is still impossible to agree with the baby because of insufficiently developed speech, but nevertheless there is a remedy for children's stubbornness.

At 1 year old, babies live in momentary desires, so it’s easy to distract them. Switch the child's attention to an activity that does not run counter to your plans, and he will forget about the reason for the conflict.

The elements of the game are also good for overcoming stubbornness. Does your child not want to put on a diaper? Try dressing up a bunny or a bear in the likeness of a diaper together, let him show the baby an example.

What tactics to choose?

The crisis of one year in children is not a one-day phenomenon, so parents will need to choose a tactic of behavior and stick to it until they overcome a difficult stage in the development of the crumbs. According to psychologists, the best solution would be "to be nearby, but not imposed." In other words, the child should feel that you are ready to help him at any moment, but do not try to do everything for him and suppress his will.

It is very important not to punish the baby for excessive, as it seems to parents, independence by ignoring. Situations when a child is hysterical, unable to calm down, and you do not pay attention to this, are unacceptable. But it’s not worth turning into a “brood hen” trying to control every step of the baby and predict all his desires. Only adhering to the "golden mean" can you grow a full-fledged, self-sufficient person.

How to survive the crisis?

When a child is naughty and stubborn, without giving a single minute of respite, any strength and patience begin to dry up. The question arises - how to survive the crisis of 1 year and what to do?

A few tips will help ease the crisis period and distract the child from the whims:

1. MMinimize the number of bans. This may seem strange, but in reality, there is no need to forbid the child to take all things that are not intended for play. Some of them, such as lids, bowls, saucepans, spoons, are completely harmless and can be great entertainment that can captivate a baby for a long time.
2. Don't suppress your child's independence. Even if he's not doing very well, it's time to let him choose and put on things himself, try eating with a spoon without the help of elders, etc.
3. Let the baby be the leader in games. More often take on the role of a playmate, not a teacher, support the child's initiative in choosing entertainment.
4. Don't force feed your baby. If the baby refuses to eat, do not worry, when a feeling of hunger appears, he will definitely eat.
5. Stimulate speech development. To do this, you need to talk more with the baby, voice what you are doing, name the objects around. The sooner the child masters speech, the easier it will be for him to express his desires and emotions, which means that there will be fewer reasons for conflicts.
6. Involve your child in daily activities. He can put his toys or things together with you. If summer is outside, this is a great time to get involved in simple garden work, for example, watering beds from a children's bucket. So you not only accustom the baby to order and work, but also give him the opportunity to realize himself in a new lesson. Be sure to praise the baby for helping.

What can not be done?

There are several reactions that are taboo for parents during the crisis period of the baby. Firstly, you can not shout at the child, call him names and spank him for stubbornness or whims. Although it may seem that he behaves so on purpose, these are just features of the crisis of 1 year, without which it is impossible to grow up.

Secondly, you do not need to indulge all the desires of the baby and pamper him. The crisis of 1 year for the child will end, but the habit of getting his own tantrums will remain.

Thirdly, do not show your superiority over the baby. A child is not a rival to an adult and seeking obedience, ignoring his desires and simply forcing him to do what his parents need, is cruel and dangerous for the child's psyche.

The first crisis in a baby's life is very important for the development of personality. If during this period you “squeeze” with educational measures, you can get a dependent and afraid to make decisions in adulthood.

Duration

Moms and dads, faced with changes in the behavior of the baby, are interested in how long the crisis of 1 year lasts. Starting from 9 to 18 months, it can last from a week to a year.

It is not necessary that the child will manifest all the crisis phenomena. Sometimes a new stage of growing up passes almost imperceptibly. It depends on the temperament and character of the baby, as well as the attitude of the parents. If it is customary to take into account the wishes and opinion of the child in the family, the crisis is milder.

Should I be afraid of the crisis of 1 year?

Noticing the signs of a crisis of 1 year, you should not worry. What is happening is a natural and inevitable process. It accompanies the moment of the child's transition from infancy to early childhood.

Even a pronounced course of the crisis is an absolute norm, but the external absence of its signs is a more alarming symptom. He points out that the child's psyche has not yet received proper development.

All children go through the crisis of the first year, and changes in their behavior are not permanent. After the end of this stage of development, stubbornness, disobedience and whims disappear, provided that the parents have chosen the right tactics of behavior.

The crisis of the first year of a child can be a difficult test for moms and dads. But there is a place in it for positive - your baby is developing correctly, and it is possible to smooth out the unwanted behavior of the crumbs by showing patience and understanding.

Useful video about the crisis of the first year of life in children

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Yesterday, the baby was sweet and obedient, but today he is naughty, does not want to do what he usually loved, does not listen to his parents. It's like he's been replaced. A familiar situation for all parents of one-year-old children. This is how the crisis of the first year of life proceeds.

How to behave in such a situation? The main thing is to be patient and help your child survive a difficult psychological period.

Parents are looking forward to when their baby becomes independent. After all, it takes so much time to carry it, dress it, feed it. It seems that he will start walking, it will become easier.

And now the child is one year old. He already knows how to do a lot himself: walks, plays, eats and more. But new problems are emerging. And it turns out that parents are not so ready for the independence of the crumbs.

The psychology of a child at this age is changing. His worldview is expanding. Typically, jumps in psychological growth are associated with the development of new skills.

So closer to 12 months, the child begins to actively move independently. He has the opportunity to independently explore the many objects surrounding him, which were previously inaccessible to him. These are kitchen tables and a stove, shoe shelves and wardrobes, and much more. Everything he can reach, he needs to touch, explore, try.

At the same time, caring parents, of course, forbid him a lot. Constant bans irritate and offend the baby. He starts crying and freaking out. His behavior changes dramatically. He opposes the will of adults and expresses this protest as best he can: he cries, is capricious, does everything “out of spite”, does not listen to what adults say, refuses to obey. The so-called crisis of the first year is coming.

Such crises are yet to be faced more than once as the child grows up. Developmental psychology distinguishes the following stages of child development: infancy, early age, childhood (preschool age).

Very often, it is the transition to a certain stage of development that is accompanied by a kind of crisis. So the transition from infancy to early childhood is due to the crisis of 1 year of life. Psychologists note crises at 1 year, 3 years, 7 years, teenage (12-14 years).

signs

Not always the crisis of 1 year in a child begins at the same time.

Some may have earlier as early as 10 months, while others 2-3 months after the year. However, age psychology is sure that the crisis cannot be avoided.

The beginning of this state can be determined by the following features:

1. 1. The child perceives all comments very negatively. especially bans.
   2. Baby's behavior is inconsistent

He asks for one thing, then another and immediately gives up.

1. 1. The child is naughty, cries, screams, stamps his feet.
   2. Toddler refuses to follow through, which previously treated calmly

For example, he does not want to dress, bathe, sits on the potty.

1. 1. Quiet sleep is often disturbed
   2. The child tries to do everything on his own even if it fails.
   3. Sometimes the situation is reversed the child does not want to do anything

Even if before that he could.

1. Baby needs more attention to be looked at, played with, and so on.
2. Many one-year-olds develop a fear of losing their mother

They demand that she be there all the time, they don’t let her go anywhere even for a minute.

Each child has his own characteristics and manifestations of the crisis may differ both in terms of signs and in the degree of their manifestation. Therefore, each parent, knowing the nature of his child, will be able to see changes in his behavior.

Usually, at 1 year old, a child masters a very important skill - learning to walk, but for some, the development of this ability is delayed. Read our next post.

Causes

The age psychology of children in the first years of life determines the following causes of the crisis of 1 year:

1. Increasing the motor and cognitive activity of the child;
2. Extra bans on the research activity of the baby on the part of the parents;
3. Child's inability to communicate with adults (lack of speech);
4. Misunderstanding by parents of the age characteristics of the child.

Thus, the grown child is activated and begins to act independently. Parents, on the other hand, are not ready for their baby, whom they are used to patronizing and protecting from everything dangerous, to learn from their mistakes. They begin to forbid him everything. This causes negative emotions in the crumbs. He tries to convey to adults his vision of the situation, but he cannot do it. He still has no speech, and his parents do not understand his urges.

What does the baby feel?

At this age, the child becomes more independent. If before that he was controlled - dressed, fed, worn when his parents wanted, now he himself is trying to manage not only his activities, but also his parents.

The baby begins to walk and reaches for everything that is in his field of vision. He is interested in the learning process. He tries everything not only to touch, beat, disassemble, but also tastes. Parents begin to tell him more and more “no”. The kid does not understand why one is possible and the other is not.

For example, if parents forbid touching wires or collecting cigarette butts on the street, then the baby thinks that they do not understand and do not like him. After all, adults themselves perform many actions that are forbidden to him. He begins to protest, showing his character.

It seems to him that his parents deliberately hinder his knowledge of the world. The kid wants to choose for himself what to play with, when and how much to walk, and even clothes. The speech development of a child of this age makes it impossible to express their desires. Therefore, the baby becomes aggressive, naughty.

Since one-year-old children begin to copy the behavior of their parents, it will be useful if adults calmly show how to perform this or that action correctly. Let him be bad at it.

You don’t need to correct him all the time, because he is only learning. In order for a child to grow up as an independent and responsible person, able to make decisions at the right time and be responsible for them, it is necessary to educate him accordingly from childhood - to give him more independence, the opportunity to learn from his mistakes.

Whims and tantrums at 1 year old are not uncommon

Duration

How long does this crisis last? This question is asked by many parents. But there is no definite answer to it. The duration of the crisis is influenced by many factors: the characteristics of the child, the method of educating adults, how much they listen to his needs. Therefore, someone does not notice the crisis of the first year at all, for someone it lasts several weeks, and for someone it lasts several months.

Is it worth it to be afraid?

Parents should not be afraid in advance. The main thing to understand is that the crisis of 1 year of life is a completely natural phenomenon, which is provided for by the child's age psychology. If someone's crisis is more acute, and someone did not notice the signs at all, it does not mean that the first option is worse. After all, these transitional stages (crises) are important for the psychological formation of personality. Therefore, those who do not change the behavior of the child with age should rather think about possible problems.

Far from all parents manage to find an approach to a child who has a crisis of 1 year. Many simply begin to strictly suppress the disobedience of the baby, often scold him and even punish him. This is unlikely to be helpful. Rather, it will only harm the fragile psyche of the child. He is not able to draw causal conclusions and punishment for anything will not work. The kid will simply decide that his parents do not love him.

Some adults, on the contrary, follow the whims of the child, indulge him in everything. Such permissiveness is harmful to the formation of the personality of the baby. He becomes even more capricious, the crisis deepens.

To survive this difficult period, without going to extremes, the following recommendations of psychologists can help:

1. 1. Try to limit the number of bans

Say "no" as little as possible, only in cases where the baby's actions become dangerous to his life. At the same time, it is necessary not only to say it is impossible, but also to explain why. For example, you can’t run out onto the carriageway, a car can run over. If possible, do not limit the motor activity of the crumbs, allow him to crawl, run, make noise. This is just what the baby needs. He wants to draw not on a sheet of paper, but on himself - let him draw. So he knows the world.

1. 1. In order to have fewer prohibitions, it is better to hide away in advance what cannot be touched
   2. If the child wants to do something on his own, give him the opportunity

At the same time, he does not need to constantly try to help or rush, because he is still just learning.

1. 1. Baby refuses to eat - do not force him to eat

He definitely won't go hungry. You can't force feed your baby. Let him eat as much as he needs. If the baby does not want to eat some dish, he does not like the taste, do not insist. Everyone has their own preferences in food and the baby is as individual as everyone else.

1. 1. Learn to understand your baby

He cannot yet express his feelings in words, so be attentive to his urges.

1. 1. Try to give your child more time to play with him

Games will help to occupy the child, get closer to him, learn to understand him better. Any unsolvable situation can be tried to be solved in the game. For example, the baby does not want to wear some thing. Play with him from the store. Lay out similar clothes and let him “buy” what he likes. A favorite soft toy or doll will also help. Let her eat with the baby, get dressed and go for a walk.

1. 1. Instead of forbidding the child something, try to switch his attention to what is possible and interesting to the baby.

Everything that can not be taken, it is better to keep out of sight of the baby.

1. 1. If the child has a tantrum and cannot be calmed down or distracted, let him cry for a while

You don't need to pay attention to it. He will understand that hysteria will not help and calm down.

1. Toddlers love to imitate adults at the age of 1 - 1.5 years

Let him help you with household chores. For example, mom cleans up and the baby wants to help - give him a rag, let him wash with mom. Be sure to praise him and thank him for his help.

It is necessary to observe the usual daily routine, but make it more flexible. For example, in order for the baby to get hungry and eat well, take a longer walk, let him play enough and run, but do not let him have something to eat. Then, returning home, the baby will eat and sleep well during the day.

What Not to Do

It will take a lot of patience and love from adults to overcome the crisis. This is not easy, but the behavior of the parents at this stage depends on what kind of personality their baby will become in the future.

Therefore, there are a number of measures that are categorically not recommended for use when raising a baby:

1. 1. You can not shout at the child, call him names, humiliate him

Very often, parents get angry and start yelling at the child. This is the most accessible method of influencing a child, but the most ineffective. Anger does not solve the problem, it only makes it worse. At the same time, the child experiences misunderstanding, fear, rejection. He does not realize why he is being scolded, but only withdraws into himself, does not feel the support of his parents, their love.

1. Use physical violence
2. Take away from the child the item that he took for the game, even if it is prohibited
   Try to change it to something else that will interest the baby. In the future, keep forbidden things out of your child's sight.
3. To indulge all the whims of a child
4. There should be few prohibitions, but they should be strictly defined. They cannot be broken. This is the moment of education, it cannot be canceled. Encourage the child for good deeds, distract from what is impossible, do not scold, but explain.
5. Don't leave your child upset after a fight

He should not think that his mother left him because he is bad.

What to do if the child does not let his mother go anywhere

There are situations when a child does not let go of his mother for a minute. He follows her as if tied and begins to cry if he goes out somewhere. At an early age, children are very attached to their mother. They need confidence that mom will always be there, will not go anywhere. To make it easier for a child to endure separation from his mother, psychologists advise the following:

• • Being with a child, try not only to be physically present, but also to give him your attention.

For example, many mothers like to “sit” on the Internet, and the child plays nearby. It would seem that the mother is with the child, sees him, but the baby feels that he is not with him.

• • Spend time with him intensely, play, talk, talk about everything, and most importantly, that you will always be there.
  • Do not scare the baby that you will leave and leave him alone or give him to someone when he misbehaves

This traumatizes the psyche of the child. Makes him vulnerable. The kid should feel that in any situation, the mother is with him and loves him.

• • Don't sneak out leaving your baby with someone for a while

Be sure to tell him where you are going and why, even if he doesn't seem to understand.

• • Do not go along with the child if he starts to scream

If the mother returns when the baby is screaming and crying, he will quickly understand this and will manipulate the mother.

• Play hide and seek with your baby

So he will get used to the fact that his mother disappears for a short time and appears again and will be less afraid of her disappearance.

It is worth showing a little love and patience, because the baby is growing and changing quickly. Soon he will be able to do without his mother, but it is important that he is always confident in her love and care. This will help him grow into a more confident person.

The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

A well-known pediatrician, the author of many works on pediatrics and child psychology Komarovsky Evgeny Olegovich, notes that parents who are faced with a crisis of 1 year of life in a child should understand it. Learn to understand your child, say the word “no” less, but at the same time, the child must clearly know what exactly is dangerous for him. From an early age, it is necessary to create a system of prohibitions and punishments, strictly observe it, and then the concept of a “naughty” child will not arise.

It is important that the child knows that for some good deeds, parents will definitely appreciate him.

Of course, coping with a situation where a child does not obey is often not easy. Sometimes it is easier for parents to use force, to force the child to act in his own way. But do not forget that it is easy to offend a child, but it is much more difficult to correct the consequences of your actions.

Before taking any action, often remember that you have the most beloved and dear baby in front of you, and he does not deserve negative emotions.

Naughty child - what to do