Intellectual protection mechanisms at the age of 6 months to 1 year

At this age, children begin to exercise caution when seeing dangerous items or in dangerous situations. But in all children the degree of this caution is different, so do not count on it.

Feeling of height. About a year, children begin to feel the height, as shown by the classic experiment with a visual break. During this experiment creeping children were put on a long table with a glass top. Directly under the glass on one side of the table lay a sheet of paper with staggered cages. The same picture was also under the second half of the glass table, but lay 1 m 30 cm lower on the floor. The children were put on that half of the table, under which there was a chess pattern, and put their mothers on the other side of the table to stimulate the children to crawl to them. When the children reached the end of the first sheet with a chess pattern, their hands still touched the glass, but their eyes told them that there was a pit in front of them, and the children stopped when they reached the apparent cliff. This experiment demonstrated that children at this age really have the mental ability to determine where the edge and where high, and that they are able to make the right decision and not to approach the precipice. But do not leave your child to play on the table! In especially impulsive children, who are not afraid of any obstacles on their way to the goal, temperament overcomes the sense of danger, and they can rush right over the edge.

Maternal resolution. An interesting twist in this experiment with a visual break: when the children crawled to their mothers and their mothers expressed a calm attitude and made it clear that there was nothing to fear, most of the children crawled through the visual cliff. When the mothers expressed fear, the children remained, as if dead, in place. Conclusion: the mother plays the role of an emotional regulator for her child, who can understand the signs she gives her face, or receive her own signals from her face and react to the situation depending on the echo received.

Children judge by our faces about everything, especially what has to do with them. If you have chronic heightened anxiety or depression, your child refers what he sees to your face, to yourself and to life in general. A person who radiates the sincere joy of life is the best gift you can make to your child( and yourself).