A child's emotions begin developing from birth. They learn to express both negative as well as positive feelings based on your reactions and cues to these emotions. Daily activities help promote emotional development, moreover, understanding how this happens will make it easier to figure out the importance of these activities for infants.

Emotional Development in Infants

The emotional development can be explained based on the infant's age growth. Here are some stages that show how infants normally develop emotionally:

1. The First 3 Months

Within your baby's first 3 months, the infant will:

See objects clearly, within a distance of 13 inches
Feel comforted by someone familiar
Have positive responses to touch
Become quiet when you pick her up
Start listening to voices
Begin smiling and responding to social stimulation

2. Month 3 to 6

At 3 to 6 months, your infant can:

Start making warm smiles and laughter
Recognize familiar faces
Seek comfort and cry when uncomfortable
Express excitement by waving her arms and legs
Be able to sense the difference between people based on how they look, feel, or sound like
Smile when looking at herself in a mirror
Enjoy seeing other babies
Recognize her name
Start laughing aloud

3. Months 6-9

At 6 to 9 months, your little one will:

Be able to express different emotions
Play peek-a-boo and other games
Respond when you talk or make gestures to her
Start understanding your emotions (an angry voice, for example, can make her frown)
Show displeasure when she loses a toy
Be comfortable around familiar persons, but anxious about strangers
Start sucking her thumb or holdinga toy or a blanket to comfort herself

4. Months 10-12

At 10-12 months, your infant will:

Begin having separation anxiety
Start to develop self-esteem
Respond to positive affirmation by clapping
Become more aware of heights
Show various moods such as happy, sad, and angry
Try to gain your approval and avoid your disapproval
Display temper tantrums
Sometimes be cooperative, sometimes uncooperative
Start developing a sense of humor
Cling to one parent or both

Want to know more about infant emotional development and what parents can do, just watch the video below:

How to Foster Emotional Development in Infants

How to foster you infants' emotional development is a common concern for many parents. Parents may feel confused about when to start. However, there are some tips that can help you foster emotiondevelopment in infants:

Develop strong bonds with your new baby by responding quickly to her needs. Interact with her by using eye contact, speaking, and singing softly.
Consistently observe your growing infant's behaviors and emotions. You cannot foster your infant's emotional development with no understanding of his behavior meaning.
Familiarize yourself with the typical stages of emotional development in children. Find educational resources that can help you understand age-appropriate developmental changes.
Tantrums or outbursts of intense emotion are normalamong toddlers,but these can be stressful for you. When he calms down, talk to her by using language, which helps him identify his feelings. “It seems like you were angry because Mommy said you can't have candy.” Such words and sentences can help with teaching him to label and understand emotions.
Avoid scolding your child for expressing strong emotions. Instead, teach her better ways to express these feelings without harming herself or others. This will enable her to deal with negative feelings as an adult.
Read stories to your child, and choose stories talking about emotions or feelings for your child. Ask her questions like “Do you think the girl is happy or sad?” or “Why is the girl crying?”
Be a model on behaviors. Children often watch and learn from their parents' examples. Managing your emotions positively will help her do the same.

Other Developments in Infants

Besides emotional development in infants, they also develop other skills during the first three months of life. The chart below lists other development in infants which parents can take as a reference.

Development	How It Develops
Physical Development	Your baby may be overwhelmed by various external stimuli like sounds, shapes and colors. Babies may cry a lot, but avoid shaking them to calm the infants down.
Vision and Hearing	Newborns begin to hear even before they are born. They have underdeveloped eye muscles, so even if they can see at close range, they cannot form visual images with meaningful shapes. By 6 weeks, their eyes can move in unison.Within two months, they are attracted to bright lights, primary colors, stripes, dots and different patterns.The first thing they recognize is the human face.In the first 3 months, they start to recognize particular faces and objects.
Body Using Skills	In the first 8 weeks, babies have no control over their movements. Their physical activities are mostlyinvoluntary or reflex including grasping, sucking, startling and pulling to stand. By 8 weeks, they start to lift their heads and kick their legs while lying on their tummies. On the 3^rd month, they begin watching their hands and feet while they wave in the air. They also try to wave their fists toward you or some desired object.
Speech and Language	Crying is the only means of communication in newborns, so it is important for you to respond to her as soon as possible, which will help her to understand that you are there for them. By 7-8 weeks, they begin to coo and make vowel sounds.They listen to what you say and make noises back while 'talking' to you.

Infants' Emotional Development Stages and Tips