Infant Observation Report

First name/age of infant observed: Christopher was 7 weeks old when I observed him, but he was born 6 weeks early, so technically it could be seen as if I observed a one week old child.

Infant’s weight at birth: 4lb 8oz

Approximate weight now: 8lbs

General health assessment (one paragraph): Christopher was considered a “drug baby” (Meth) unfortunately, and Denise stated that when he was born, he just seemed to not want to do anything (such as eating). For the child’s safety, when Denise brought him home, she needed to wake up Christopher “every three hours” to check on him to ensure that he was doing okay as he was born six weeks too early, and since “he was not waking up on his own”. In addition to that, he did not want to participate
in feeding, and as a result Christopher was becoming dehydrated. Denise thought it was necessary to taking the child to the ER, in order to ensure that the child was going to be okay since he was dehydrated.
Once at the ER, they tried providing the child with “sugar water”, as well as “Pedialyte”, and finally ended up giving the child an “IV for four days”. After those four days, Christopher finally “started drinking”, and as a result he started to “gain weight”. While they were at the hospital, Denise also mentioned that they “played soft music” for the child in order to “simulate the brain”. She mentioned that they “do not know exactly where he is at” in terms of development, however they are taking actions in order to start “early intervention”. Denise pointed out that the baby was “very stiff”, and did not want to loosen up (especially his arms and legs), which she termed as “hypertonic”, and stated that it was due to the Meth the child was
exposed to. However, since I wanted to ensure that the child was fit for this observation, she did mention that Christopher was “tracking like a newborn baby”, and “is technically performing as a one week old” (D. Blair, personal interview, February 27, 2017).

States displayed during observation (one paragraph, see page 133 of text for “states” descriptions) According to the textbook, at the time of observation, Christopher seemed to be displaying an “indeterminate state” as he seems very calm, relaxed, restful and peaceful. It seemed as if he was very tired and sleepy. Denise allowed me to try to feed him, as she believed that she would be hungry, however when I did try to feed him he did not wanted to eat, and started to become “fussy”. She eventually took him, and tried to get him to eat, and eventually he calmed down (Wittmer, Peterson, and Puckett, 2017).

Evidence of Temperament (one paragraph): For the most part, the temperament that Christopher seemed to display was “easy” as he would lay calmly in his caregivers arms, and seemed to be at peace. However, there were a few moments in time would he would become a little frustrated, and fussy as when I attempted to feed him. One piece of evidence would be the fact that I have never meet him before, and when I held him in my arms (not feeding him), he remained calm and at peace, he did not become fussy even though he did not know who I was. Also, when I check some of the reflexes, he did not show that he disliked like it to an extreme. For the most part, he seemed like a very “easy” and restful child; it could also be due to the fact that he might have just woken up as well (Short, K. 2015).

Evidence of Sensory Capabilities (one paragraph, must address all senses): We started with sight, and he was not tracking objects or people, however Denise mentioned, “he is still so young”, and possibly “in a few more months” he will be able to track more efficiently.
For hearing, Denise said that he did pass the “ABR test”, however when we did clap near him, he did not seem to be responding or becoming startled by the noise. It was very clear in terms of touch as he responded when I touched him foot for the Babinksi reflex. It did not seem as if he hated it, but I could tell that he did prefer that I did not tickle his little foot (as would I). For smell, Denise believed that he was “too young to respond to smell”. However, after reading the textbook, he should be able to recognize some scents (like the mother), however his mother is not caring for him, nor is he getting breast fed, nor is he near a pad with the scent of his mother’s milk. I believe Denise might have been thinking of actual food scents, since that is what I mentioned when we were discussing on how to track it. Finally for the taste, we will say that there is evidence as he does now participate during feeding (Wittmer, Peterson, and Puckett, 2017) (D. Blair, personal interview, February 27,
2017).