0-4 Months: Child to Child -- Observation Record

How does the baby show awareness of other children?

In the first few months of life, babies’ responses to other children are not very different from their responses to adults. Brothers and sisters are often the first to elicit a laugh from the baby. Other children's voices are often an invitation to respond.

The baby might do one or more of the following:

• Participate—kick and coo as a sibling or older child tries to tell her all about a game he played that afternoon.
• Give a glance—look in the direction of a nearby child.
• Take to clowning—smile and coo when an older child makes faces at her as she sits in her infant seat.
• Be troubled by fast moves–startle and begin to cry when an older child rushes up and starts waving his or her hands in front of her face.
• Share a laugh–laugh out loud for the first time when an older sibling or neighbor's child sneezes, then does it again.

How does this baby respond to other children? (Include dates.)