Growth & Milestones
Age by which a healthy infant typically doubles birth weight.
What is 5–6 months?
Consistent caregivers who respond promptly to an infant’s cries support this stage.
What is trust vs. mistrust?
Piaget’s stage from birth to about 2 years.
What is sensorimotor?
Separation anxiety is most intense in this age group.
What are toddlers? (Peaks from about 6 to 30 months.)
The age when whole cow’s milk can be introduced.
What is 12 months?
Any bruise on an infant who is not yet this is a red flag for abuse.
What is mobile? (Not yet cruising or walking.)
This fontanel closes between 12 and 18 months of age.
What is the anterior fontanel? (The posterior fontanel closes by about 2 months.)
A toddler shouts “I do it!” while getting dressed.
What is autonomy vs. shame and doubt?
A 9-month-old pulls off a blanket to find a hidden toy.
What is object permanence?
The three phases of separation anxiety, in order.
What are protest, despair, and detachment?
This sweetener should never be given before 12 months because of infant botulism.
What is honey?
No two-word phrases by this age is a speech red flag.
What is 24 months?
Around 9–10 months, an infant picks up a piece of cereal with the thumb and forefinger.
What is the pincer grasp?
A 4-year-old invents games and wants to “help” the nurse. Overly harsh limits can lead to this feeling.
What is guilt? (Initiative vs. guilt)
A preschooler insists the stuffed bear feels sad when left alone.
What is animism?
A toilet-trained 3-year-old starts wetting the bed after admission.
What is regression? (Expected with hospitalization; reassure parents.)
Infants should be placed in this position for every sleep.
What is on the back (supine)?
Losing skills a child once had, at any age.
What is developmental regression? (Always needs prompt evaluation.)
By about this age, most toddlers walk on their own.
What is 12–15 months?
Keeping up with schoolwork during a long hospital stay supports this school-age stage.
What is industry vs. inferiority?
A 9-year-old knows a ball of clay holds the same amount after it’s flattened.
What is conservation? (Concrete operational stage)
Toddlers play beside other children, not with them. This type of play.
What is parallel play?
This reflex must fade before an infant is ready for solid foods.
What is the tongue-thrust (extrusion) reflex?
A burn with sharp “stocking” or “glove” lines suggests this mechanism.
What is an immersion (forced dunking) burn?
By about 2½ years, a child’s birth weight has done this.
What is quadrupled? (Doubled by 5–6 months, tripled by 12 months.)
A 15-year-old tries on different styles and roles, and peers matter most.
What is identity vs. role confusion?
This stage, beginning around age 11, allows abstract and hypothetical thinking.
What is formal operational?
Two of the biggest concerns for a hospitalized adolescent.
What are privacy and body image? (Also accept separation from peers or loss of control.)
Children should ride in this car seat position for as long as the seat’s height and weight limits allow.
What is rear-facing?
Nurses must report suspected abuse without proof because of this legal duty.
What is mandated reporting?