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Your thoughts are inline with the Church.  Among the Eastern Catholics the practice is to baptize, give communion and confirm (chrisamate) the infant.  Infants and very young children receive communion.

In old Spanish colonies, the practice was by indult (Special permission) that all children or infants who were baptized were confirmed and received first communion at the same time.  This was because there was a high rate of infant mortality.  Since they were missionary territories, the Spanish colonies, (Central and South America, and the Phillipines, as well as a few smaller holdings) were granted this permission. 

In the case of the Eastern Catholics, the priest is the ordinary minister of confirmation.  In the case of Latin Rite Catholics the priest may confirm, with special permission (faculties) or if the person is in danger of death, may "presume" those faculties, since there may not be time to obtain them before the person dies, and the priest is fairly sure that the Bishop would grant them.

Another thing that comes to mind is that the practice of reception of First Holy Communion in the fourth or fifth grade is fairly new.  The custom was to wait until much later.  Pope St. Pius X who's Papacy was around 100 years ago encouraged several things, one was daily communion for those who were well disposed, the second was to lower the age of first communion.  This link  to the Vatican webpage discusses what the good Pope did.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congr … nf_en.html