Relationships with Peers During Infancy and Toddlerhood

Infants and toddlers actively show interest in peers of similar size.

From 6 to 12 months, they increasingly touch, smile at, and babble to other infants.

Around age 1, children begin sharing objects, making eye contact, smiling, and sometimes hitting or touching other children.

Between one and a half and three years, toddlers grow more interested in what other children do and better understand how to interact with them.

As children enter their second and third years, cooperative behaviors develop as their social understanding grows.

Conflict also arises during this time, helping children learn to negotiate and resolve disputes.

Between ages 3 and 5, children prefer kind, cooperative playmates of the same age and gender. They tend to avoid children who are disruptive, demanding, intrusive, or aggressive.

As children grow, they choose playmates less by physical traits, such as gender, and more by prosocial qualities, such as caring and helping.

Beginning around age 4, children start to conform to peer pressure and may go along with the group even when they personally disagree.