What affects your baby’s temperament?
Some babies sleep easily, play peacefully and never seem fazed by anything. Others however, wake 20 times a night, cry for hours and keep their parents on constant alert. What makes a baby’s temperament cool and calm or high-energy and demanding?
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Forty-five years ago, a very important long-term study began in the United States. The survey looked at the behaviour of a large number of babies according to their parents’ observations. The whole study was guided by experts and based on lengthy interviews.
This study – called NYLS (New York Longitudinal Study) – still the most significant investigative work on babies’ temperament to this day – established the following categories to babies’ behaviour:
1. Activity: Babies who were in constant movement versus those who remained quiet and calm the majority of the time.
2. Regularity: “Routine-loving” babies who tended to eat, sleep and fill nappies at the same time each day versus “unpredictable” babies.
3. Initial reaction: Some babies overtly reject new experiences (first bath, unknown foods, etc.) while others enjoy new situations.
4. Adaptability: A baby’s ability to adapt to new routine or any type of change.
5. Intensity: A measure of the degree of intensity or reaction, both when crying and laughing.
6. Sensitivity: The level at which a baby responds to stimuli: for example, very sensitive children can be woken by the slightest sound or bothered by the tiniest speck of light.
7. Mood: Some babies are always joyful and happy, others are always grouchy.
8. Distractability: How easy it is to distract a baby from needs or demands. For example, a hungry baby may simply stop crying when given a dummy; another may not stop crying until given food.
9. Persistence and attention span: The ease and speed with which a baby loses interest in something, for example a specific toy.
The authors of this study concluded that behaviour individuality appears as well established as early as 2- or 3-months old. Naturally, the majority of babies do not have extreme temperaments. They are usually somewhere in between and their temperaments can also vary depending on the situation. However, like any parent, you can check whether these character traits lend to one temperament or the other.
Why is my baby behaving that way?
Various factors influence a baby’s behaviour. These factors can be grouped into 3 types: genetic factors, environmental factors and variable factors such as illness or behavioural disorders.
- Genetics: studies show that our personalities are 50% genetics-based and environment-based. However, when it comes to very small children, we can say that genetics undoubtedly play a bigger role as babies have not yet lived long enough to be “modelled” significantly by their surroundings.
- Environment: Although the influence of genes dominates at this age, you shouldn’t underplay the effect that environment can have. Babies are highly sensitive to their parents’ emotions and react to them in different ways.
Surroundings can also play a determinant role in behaviour. A baby who is well-cared for, whose basic needs are met and who receives all the stimulation necessary for development (without overdoing it) will often behave in a calm manner, despite the occasional irritable outburst.
- Other factors: Some disorders and illnesses can make a child both agitated and irritable, or very calm (sometimes excessively so). For instance, in some cases, babies who are habitually very calm may possibly suffer from hearing deficits. Babies suffering from colic or other pain can show themselves to be particularly irritable.
Do remember that despite the influence of these 3 general factors, your baby’s temperament during the first months of life will not necessarily be the same as later on in life.
Copyright © 2010 Doctissimo
Posted 18.01.2011
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