Not only physical growth, mental growth of a child also goes through different stages. In my previous article, I described about first 100 days of a kid. If you want to refer it, you can go through the link First 100 days of a child. In this article, I am giving a brief description about the mental growth of a child and its stages, which will surely help parents a lot.

"Before 2 months, she smiles at everyone and go near every person. But now,she behaves as if she has not seen any human being. Also cries a lot", motherof a 7 month old kid says. Why it happen so? Yes, a child mingles witheveryone till he is 5 or 6 months old. But, after that he begins to identifypersons and he never goes near strangers. Actually, he has stepped into thenext stage of growth. But, after he turns one, this situation may change. So,parents should identify it and treat him according to it.

When does mental growth of a child start?

It begins in the foetal stage itself. Even mental stage of the mother can deeply influence child's mental growth, studies say. If mother undergo some state of depression or tension while she is pregnant, it can adversely affect her child. So, it remains the duty of a mother to remain happy. Also, her family should support her and give her a tension free environment to get a physically healthy and mentally secure child. Also, she should eat good food to give proper nourishment to her baby.
At each stage, a child shows mental development. Showing interest to human faces, smiling at them, loving female voices more etc are some among them. He even learns to cry to get something according to his wish. Sometimes he may cry to get your attention more. These are all just different stages of his development.

Characters - 4 types

Characters of a baby at the early ages can be divided into 4 categories.
Kids who come easily to our hands and smiles at everyone - 35% kids belong to this group. They easily mingle with others. Also, it is easy to comfort such kids.
Kids who cry as soon as we approach them - They never mingle with others, particularly strangers. 10% kids belong to this group. It is not at all an easy task to look after these kids.
Kids who never become friendly with others easily - 4% kids belong to this group. Gradually, they make friendship with strangers.
Uncategorized group - We can't predict character of such kids. Remaining percentage belong to this group.
At the age of 3, a child will fully develop his character. i.e. The experiences of first 3 years of the child deeply influence his character, emotional and mental development.

For his emotional attachment and development

For the first few days a kid is born, primary care giver should be the mother. If he is exchanged from hands to hands, he can't find an emotional attachment with anyone. Emotional and character development of the kid is primarily obtained by the kid through his mother. He begins to smile at his mother at this time. i.e From early days itself, he attaches to his mother. Gradually, it widens and he begins to identify others. When he feels that someone is there to care him, it increases his self confidence. Studies have already proved that those kids grown under the protection of mother or some elder persons are more active.
He develop friendship with those persons easily whom his mother have relations. That's why, he loves his father more than any other relative.  His key development period is the first 3 years and his experiences really influence them a lot. So, his family environment can also deeply influence him. His relation with other family members can help him to develop good social culture. What he learns from home, his behaviour etc are implemented in his social life too, as he grows. He gets 50% of his character and behaviour through his ancestors while the next half, he learns it from his home and social life. So, give your kid a good and peaceful environment in your family. It will really help him to develop as a better citizen.

How to develop emotional characters in a kid?

When he turns 3 years old, he begins to lose his interest inside home and he begins to like the outer world. He will be mentally prepared to go to nursery. Use this opportunity to teach him new words and new things. You can teach him good habits at this early age. Some of the following points should be noted at this stage.
If he does something wrong, never scold or abuse him. Instead teach him. If he utters wrong words, never encourage him. Instead ask him to pronounce words in correct way.
Spend some time for your kid. You can teach stories or colouring. It will help him to get more concentration and learn the principles of obedience.
If he cries for unnecessary things, just ignore him and turn his attention to some another object. Gradually this bad habit will vanish.
Family situations can really influence your child's character. So give him a pleasant environment at home. Quarrels between couples or family members, drinking habit of father or tension full environment can even affect his sleep and studies. So, family problems should never be discussed in front of small kids and should be solved by senior members without affecting the kids.
Negative characters shown between the age of 3 and 5 are just a stage of his development. So never try to make him obey you with your harsh words or stick. Instead, teach him with kind words repeatedly because scoldings can adversely affect your child's mental development.
If he continues such disobedience after the age of five, it may be hyper activity. If so, consult a councellor or doctor immediately.

If pampering exceeds

At the age of 2 he begins to search new things and goes to other rooms. It is known as separation individuation process. If your kid has to enter this stage, he should complete the building of relation with his mother successfully. If so he will attain self confidence and begins to do things independently. But, if that stage is not successfully competed, he may find it difficult to leave his mother or go to play school. It is known as separation anxiety in scientific terms. If he shows such symptoms even after 2 months of joining it can be considered as separation anxiety. It occurs due to too much pampering. Thus too much caring may also spoil your child. Such kids are prompted to bring bad habits and behaviours. So, pampering is good, but it should never be exceeded.

In this article, I have given a brief description of the mental development stages of a child from its foetal stage to age 5. Hoping, it will help you a lot.