Parentpedia

What Experts Say

No matter where you may stand on the child development debate of nature versus nurture, it is generally accepted that a baby is born with innate tendencies to react to people and to act a certain way. This is what we call temperament.

Sometimes parents and babies have conflict because their temperaments are so similar or dissimilar, but the idea is that if you understand your baby's temperament you can match your expectations and parenting style accordingly.

In the 1950s two researchers, Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas, refuted the idea that babies were blank slates and instead identified temperamental traits in babies and children. Over three decades, Stella Chess continued this work, helping parents and caregivers understand that a one-style-fits-all approach to caregiving does not take into account temperamental differences.

A proponent of this theory, pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, has helped parents be more tolerant of their children's personalities and feel less guilty about their role as parents.

Nine Temperament Traits

• Intensity: How strongly your baby reacts to things. In the hospital, high-intensity babies bawl when hungry, whereas low-intensity newborns squeak to communicate their needs.
• Persistence: How easily your baby can stop doing an activity. High-persistence babies focus on one task and cannot easily shift gears.
• Sensitivity: How much your baby reacts to sounds, smells, and sights. Things like scratchy clothes and loud noises upset some babies whereas others don't notice them.
• Perceptiveness: How much your baby notices the people and objects around her.
• Adaptability: How easily your baby adapts to a new situation. Some babies hate transitions and surprises and react by fussing terribly. Others don't seem to be bothered by them.
• Regularity: How easily your baby falls into a routine. Psychologists have observed that some babies are hungry and sleepy at consistent times of day while others have inconsistent biological clocks that do not easily conform to a schedule.
• Energy: Whether your baby is always on the move. Some babies are always discovering new things and putting their hands everywhere, eager to move about, while others can sit still for long periods of time.
• First Reaction: How your baby responds to new situations. Does she watch and wait, or does she jump right in? A baby might scream the first time she goes in a baby swing or has a bath because, temperamentally, she needs time to get used to something new.
• Mood: How your baby greets the world. You might have a super smiley baby from day one or a baby who's hard pressed to smile and whose mood is often serious.