Monday, August 2, 2010

Baby Quiz Answers!

Last week, we posted 5 quiz questions. Here are the answers!

1. At what age do babies usually begin pretend/imaginary play? Answer: Research shows that pretend play begins between 12 and 18 months, although many experts agree that it is usually closer to 18 months. When pretend play begins, it can be hard to distinguish between imagination and imitation. For example, if a 12-month-old picks up a cup and puts it to her mouth, she could just be imitating what she knows others do with cups, rather than really imagining that she's drinking.

2. True of False: Recent research shows that babies and young children can not differentiate between reality and fantasy? Answer: False. Although early psychologists believed that young children were unable to tell the difference between real and imaginary, more recent research indicates that even very young children can tell the difference. Similarly, it used to be believed that young children spend so much time pretending because their brains are immature, but experts can now explain that the opposite is true.

3. True or False: Outgoing children are more likely to have imaginary friends than children who are shy? Answer: True. In addition, only children and older siblings are more likely to have imaginary friends than are younger siblings. Although having imaginary friends seems strange to most adults, it is very common and beneficial for young children. For example, children with imaginary friends have been shown to be better at predicting the feelings of others compared to children without imaginary friends.

4. How should babies be put down to sleep? Answer: B. Babies should always be put down to sleep on their backs. Putting babies down to sleep on their backs helps reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and promotes brain development by increasing the amount of time spent dreaming. When babies are on their backs, they are more likely to wake up if they are having trouble breathing. Once your baby is able to roll over on his own, it is ok to leave him on his tummy if he rolls over in the night.

5. True or False: Eye color does not change after birth? Answer: False. Many babies are born with greyish colored eyes and the color tends to change over the first year of life. It has been suggested that almost half of young children experience lightening or darkening of eye color.

If you have questions you'd like to see included in our next quiz, please send them to us. We'd love to hear from you!

Next Time: We'll answer a reader's question about the risk of choking when babies are put down on the backs to sleep.

No comments:

Post a Comment