People are different. You will not find any two persons identical in all aspects. Some people have a strong character and some are weak. Some are bold and some are shy. There are many cases where a male behave just like a female and vice versa. Yet some people are short tempered and some are cool. It is interesting to study how the character of a person is developed. From a baby to a grown up, a person’s character is influenced by many, starting from parents to a distant relative or a friend. Sometimes one’s character is influenced by another person whom the first person may not have seen.

If we look at it, the character development starts from the pregnancy time. The mental state, health and the living conditions of a mother affects the new born baby. Pregnant ladies should never be under pressure or stress. If mother does not have time or chance to take care of her own health then we can imagine the condition of the baby. She must be eating nutritious food at proper time and having enough (sound) sleep. It is good if the pregnant lady do meditation and simple yoga postures so that it keeps her mind and body in shape.

If a baby is born to a couple who always fights for some reason, it will reflect very much in the new born baby’s character when he/she grows up if not in the beginning stages. The first twelve months are very crucial in the life of a baby where he/she is building up the foundation of his/her future.

The first month after birth is very much important in a new born baby’s life as this is the stage where the baby looks at mother’s face and identifies her from others. At this stage the baby must be fed mother’s milk which gives immunity to the baby and keeps it healthy. Try to avoid baby foods as much as possible.

From there onwards at various stages baby smiles, the neck starts to become firm and steady, starts to lift its head up, responds to nearby sounds and so on. The baby then starts to concentrate on things and start reaching hands to get them. It is this time which is perfect to start interacting with the baby.

When teeth start to grow around 7th month, babies start putting things into their mouth. This is a critical situation where parents should be very careful so that they don’t gulp unwanted and dangerous things and get infections due to unhygienic reasons. Here parents can start intervening and correct their actions. They will also start responding to your calls and actions. So, at this stage parents should be more observing and correcting their misbehaviours little by little.

Babies start crawling and standing up without anybody’s help slowly. They will try to reach anywhere they can and attention of parents must definitely be there at all times. Parents will have a tough time here onwards. They don’t have any fear in them and so they will venture out to do anything according to their limited knowledge. Parents can start giving some warnings at this stage. It is not advisable to create fear in them about something which they are not supposed to do because; it will get registered in them and can be problem later in their life.

Around 12 months babies start speaking small words probably some funny names for their mother and father, in their own language. Parents should not correct their words at this stage but should respond to their calls and try to introduce new words by showing things and making them to say the words. We will be able to identify any issues with babies’ phonetics at this stage.

etween one and two years, the kids show signs of aggression. They may bite you, pull your hair, hit you and do various things like these and if they don’t do such things at this stage, parents should be concerned about their behaviour. Instead of being rude to them, parents should be patient enough to divert their attention from such activities and correct them wherever necessary by telling some good stories. Many times kids will be aggressive while feeding to making them to sleep. Instead of beating them or punishing them severely, parents must take them to some place of their interest, show birds, vehicles and similar to divert their attention. Try to feed them when they are ok. Story telling can be very helpful. But make sure that stories must not be aggressive ones. Parents can give mild punishments at this stage like taking away their favourite things and giving it back only when they take the food or they stop their aggressive nature. However this will not work always.

Curiosity arouses in children at this stage about everything they see and hear. They start asking you questions of all kinds. The common question would be “why”. They learn things by asking questions and hence give them proper answer which satisfies them. Don’t keep away from their questions because that will hurt them and they may later become introverts.

Kids start speaking new words as days pass and by around three years they may have few words in their vocabulary. Some kids will show preference to left hand over the right hand during this stage. It is not to be worried and doctors advice not to change this. Kids will show more enthusiasm in playing outside rather than indoor plays. They try to mingle with children of the same age. Some of course show interest to make friendship with kids elder than them. By this interaction, they get more knowledge about things around them and also increase their vocabulary. Care should be taken to see that kids do not mix with other kids who are more aggressive or having fighting mentality.

Between three and four years of age, kids show interest in reading books. Observe the kid and find out which type of books he/she is interested in it. They may like books having colourful pictures with big letters. Parents should always encourage kids to reads books and books are really assets at any age.

By the age 3 ½ to 4, kids will be physically ready to go to schools. Start with play schools and see how the kid likes the new experience. New friends, new activities and in between little studies will make a big difference in their character. It is at this stage children start learning things positive and negative due to the mixed culture of children in the schools.

From there onwards, every day is different and you can see the character formation happening at a much faster rate. Parents should advise children to be in the good gang rather than getting into children with bad habits. Out of inquisitiveness many will venture out to explore unknown areas and land up in problems. Parents should be more like friends with their children so as to gain their confidence and they also will have a secure feeling which will help them to open up to you whatever comes in their mind or whatever happens to them.

During these stages, watch out for any abnormalities in physique as well as behaviour and consult a paediatrician or counsellors accordingly.