| "Primary emotions" are a set of emotions,
which first emerge in infancy and from which all other feelings
are derived later in life. The emotions of happiness, sadness, fear,
surprise, anger, disgust, and love are often defined in cross-cultural
and developmental studies as being the primary emotions. BabyEQ
has chosen to emphasize the following six emotions in its early
childhood curriculum. Research and clinical experience affirm that
infants are emotional beings. In the first year of life, your child
will come to feel and express each of these emotions: |
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| Social smiling usually
occurs by 6-8 weeks. Laughing should start anytime between
3 to 4 months. |
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| Pleasure is
one of the first positive feelings babies experience. Happy
babies smile, babble, and coo in relaxed pitch. With excitement,
they may kick, squirm and squeal. |
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| Singing, playing,
laughing and reading to your child will not only encourage
joyful feelings, but will lay the foundation for secure bonding
and attachment to occur. |
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| Sad feelings are experienced before
one year of age. Infants experience distress from birth.
They cry in distress because of physical discomfort.
Later on, sadness differentiates from simple distress. |
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| Sadness is marked by crying, inner
corners of eyebrows lifted, corner of lips down. In
verbal children, speech is slow and steady pitched. |
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| Comforting your baby by holding, rocking,
singing, and labeling the emotion validates the sadness.
Address the reason for the sadness. |
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| Shortly after birth, babies begin to
experience the feeling of love in the bonding process
of their Primary caregiver. |
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| Love is a social expression in infancy
with many of the physical manifestations of pleasure. |
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| Infants learn love by having their
physical, emotional and social needs met in a consistent
manner. They learn love by feeling the genuine love
of their parents. |
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| By the time a baby is 6 months old,
parents will notice that their baby can tense their
body and open eyes in response to a new sight or sound. |
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| Surprise is elicited by an immediate
novel circumstance, or when the infant’s expectations
of what should happen are different from what actually
happens. Parents play an important role by the way they
handle surprises themselves. |
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| Good surprise: one that startles a
child but brings a positive feeling. Bad surprise: the
unexpected brings a negative feeling such as fear, sadness,
or disgust. |
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| Anger is usually experienced before
12 months and is derived from distress. |
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| Anger is seen in lowered brows, tense
lower lips, and staring. Verbal children display abrupt
and often loud speech. |
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| Anger is an important and valid emotion
that needs to be expressed in healthy ways. Parents
have an important role to play in the modeling of their
own anger management. Children who are taught positive
outlets for this strong emotion are more likely to transition
to a positive emotion more quickly. |
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| The emergences of stranger and separation
anxieties are often when this emotion is first seen.
These usually happen between 6 and 15 months. |
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| Fear is indicated by tight brows, raised
and drawn together. The emotion is often accompanied
by high-pitched vocalizations. |
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| Fear has an adaptive function, which
can alert a child to a dangerous situation. As such,
a child’s fear should not be belittled. The successful
management of fear in childhood helps prevent impairment
from future anxieties. |
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