The Health Assessment of Infants
QUESTION
1.The developmental markers a nurse should assess for a 9-month-old female infant
2. The recommendations I would give the mother
ANSWER
The Health Assessment of Infants
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The Health Assessment of Infants
The developmental markers a nurse should assess for a 9-month-old female infant
The developmental markers for a nine-month-old baby can be grouped into physical, emotional, and cognitive (Rosas-Blum et al., 2018). The physical markers for development include; the infant’s height, weight, and head circumference. The average weight for a nine-month-old girl ranges between 6.6kg to 10.4 kg. For height, the average value for this age is from 27 to 29cm. Lastly, the head circumference should be approximately 44cm (Rosas-Blum et al., 2018). the other indicators in this category include the various developmental milestones, such as sitting without support, crawling, and standing while holding a supporting object. Other developmental milestones for this age include; the ability to copy sounds, use the fingers to point, make simple sounds such as mama, and understand the word no (Rosas-Blum et al., 2018). Lastly, the cognitive markers for this age include; ability to play certain games such as peek-a-boo and hold cereal between the thumb and their index finger.
The recommendations I would give the mother
The mother came with an infant with a weight that was below the normal recommended range. This could result from various causes, which form the basis of my recommendations to the mother. Firstly, I would suggest that the mother enhance the infant’s nutritional intake and ensure that any nutrient lacking or inadequate is provided in plenty. I would also recommend she continue breastfeeding the baby, as this is essential in promoting the baby’s immunity (Bixby et al., 2016). Additionally, I would recommend the mother to ensure the baby is immunized, as illnesses could be a possible cause of failure to thrive.
References
Bixby, C., Baker-Fox, C., Deming, C., Dhar, V., & Steele, C. (2016). A multidisciplinary quality improvement approach increases breastmilk availability at discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit for the very-low-birth-weight infant. Breastfeeding Medicine, 11(2), 75-79.
Rosas-Blum, E. D., Granados, H. M., Mills, B. W., & Leiner, M. (2018). Comics as a medium for parent health education: improving understanding of normal 9-month-old developmental milestones. Frontiers in pediatrics, 6, 203.