 Head circumference increases rapidly during the infant period.

 Some infants’ heads appear asymmetric until the second half of the first year.
Body Proportion
 The mandible becomes more prominent as bone grows. By the end of the infant period,
the lower jaw is prominent and remains that way throughout life.
 The circumference of the chest is generally less than that of the head at birth by about 2
cm. It is even with the head circumference in some infants as early as 6 months and in
most by 12 months.
 The abdomen remains protuberant until the child has been walking well.
 Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebral curves develop as infants hold up their head, sit,
and walk.
 Lengthening of the lower extremities in the last 6 months of infancy.
Body Systems
 In the cardiovascular system, heart rate slows from 120 to 160 beats per minute to 100 to
120 beats per minute by the end of the first year. Average blood pressure of 80/40 to
100/60 mm Hg.
 Infants are prone to develop a physiologic anemia at 2 to 3 months of age.
 Hemoglobin in an infant becomes totally converted from fetal to adult hemoglobin at 5 to
6 months of age. Infants experience a second decrease in serum iron levels at 6 to 9
months.
 The respiratory rate of an infant slows from 30 to 60 breaths per minute to 20 to 30
breaths per minute by the end of the first year.
 Food digestion mature gradually during the infant year. Although the ability to digest
protein is present and effective at birth, the amount of amylase, necessary for the
digestion of complex carbohydrates, is deficient until approximately the third month.
Lipase, necessary for the digestion of saturated fat, is decreased in amount during the
entire first year.
 The liver of an infant remains immature, possibly causing inadequate conjugation of
drugs (if a drug should be necessary for treatment of illness) and inefficient formation of
carbohydrate, protein, and vitamins for storage.
 The kidneys remain immature and not as efficient at eliminating body wastes as in an
adult. The infant is also unable to concentrate urine as much as an adult, which causes
them to be more prone to dehydration.
 The endocrine system remains particularly immature in response to pituitary stimulation,
such as adrenocorticotropic hormone, or insulin production from the pancreas. Without
these hormones functioning effectively, an infant may not be able to respond to stress
effectively.
 An infant’s immune system becomes functional by at least 2 months of age; an infant can
actively produce both IgG and IgM antibodies by 1 year.
 The ability to adjust to cold is mature by age 6 months. By this age, an infant can shiver
in response to cold and has developed additional adipose tissue to serve as insulation. The
amount of brown fat, which protected the newborn from cold, decreases during the first
year.
 Although the fluid in body compartments shifts to some extent, extracellular fluid
accounts for approximately 35% of an infant’s body weight, with intracellular fluid
 accounting for approximately 40% by the end of the first year, in contrast to adult
proportions of 20% and 40%, respectively. This proportional difference increases an
infant’s susceptibility to dehydration from illnesses such as diarrhea, because loss of
extracellular fluid could result in loss of over a third of an infant’s body fluid.
Teeth
The first baby tooth (typically a central incisor) usually erupts at age 6 months, followed by a
new one monthly.