Haha yeah, kids aren't just little adults! The exam, especially the neuro exam, is a different animal in kids, usually requires some tricks and a lot of patience! Gets easier as the kid gets older, and then you can kind of make a game out of it. And for babies and little kids, always save the "scary" stuff for last, like eyes, ears, reflexes or else they're not going to cooperate again after they're upset. Get to know the baby reflexes, when you expect them to appear and disappear so that you know what's normal and abnormal. And developmental milestones are a major part of the exam even through toddlerhood, but these get more familiar as you see more kids.
For a 12 month old, they're likely to have "stranger danger" and may not be cool with you being all up in their face. Unless you're absolutely required to do so, don't wear your white coat. If parent can hold baby while you do the exam, and maybe talk to them for a little bit at a distance, that may help the kid warm up to you. I'll often approach an apprehensive 1 year old by handing them the bell of my stethoscope - they're usually curious enough to take it and hold it and once they see that it's not going to hurt them, they're usually okay with me guiding the bell to listen to their heart, lungs, and abdomen. Or you can demonstrate on mom/dad. If you can get a little toy, you can get their attention and test stuff like EOM and visual fields. I have a little rubber duck keychain that lights up and quacks that works perfectly for this ($3 at CVS!). Bates should have you covered for all the parts of the infant/pediatric exam. One component that I would forget about at first was checking the anterior fontanelle, then getting a sense of what's normal and what's sunken, full, and bulging. Hopefully you'll be seeing a lot of babies so you can get a lot of practice!
