Thursday, April 7, 2011

The High Need Baby/Child


You have your first baby and bring it home to love and snuggle and be in bliss with. Then people start to ask, is he/she a good baby? What does that mean really? Does it mean that he sleeps through the night, sits content in the shopping cart, smiles all the time, never cries? If the answer to that is yes, then no I didn't have a good baby the first or second time. So then what do I refer to my little ones as bad babies? That is just terrible!
My friend Monica shared with me the term high need baby. I love it, because it fits my kids. They are so easy on so many levels yet can be pretty high need. Cole was never a good night sleeper as an infant and then even into toddlerhood. He hated being strapped in most anywhere. He also hated when he was left by me, he'd cry for hours. However, he loved the bath, smiled almost all the time, ate any kind of food and was our joy! Cecily cried a lot her first few months and threw up everywhere all the time. She napped, but her night sleep is still a challenge. She is busy as can be! She is so fun though and a trip to watch try to keep up with her brother. She will sit in her high chair for a really long time, which means I get to eat sometimes:) The thing is that I don't know if any child can be "good" or "bad" and are there really babies out there that aren't high need? They are babies and designed to have needs. I love my children just the way they are even though on occasion I crave that extra sleep. They are designed for me and challenge me to be a better mom every day. So today I am grateful for my high need kids, this may be inspired by the fact that they are currently playing wonderfully together across the room. You may want to check with me on this one tomorrow, I may change my mind!

How is your child a challenge?

5 comments:

  1. Right now my biggest challenge has been getting Haley into her carseat!!! It is such a struggle and of course we are usually under some sort of time constraint but she could care less. She is so strong, she arches her back, all the while screaming so loud that it would be hard not to stare. I really have to take several deep breaths while restraining her in hopes NOT too completely lose it!! It is so exhausting, that I know that I can not make several trips in and out of places in a day b/c I no the kind of stress it causes for us all. So, she is the one who hates to be strapped down. And, then their is my 5 year-old who would still be pushed around in a stroller if I would let her. Many time she wants to be in the shopping cart, but than I have no room for anything else!

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  2. This is truly wonderful! And has put some stuff for me into perspective!!!! Today Rob and I are proud parents because of Holden's amazingness this past weekend! From our understanding he was the talk of the church staff meeting this week... Its amazing to think there is a community of people he doesn't even know rooting for him!!!

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  3. Hey I can post now! People always asked me the same thing -- and I would NEVER say that they were "bad" babies --how could a baby be bad? Were they difficult at times? YES! Was it very stressful at times? YES ...but did i enjoy every second of it? YES ;)) I actually sometimes miss my middle of the night snuggle so enjoy it now!!

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  4. My son is starting to have temper tantrums over everything! You take something away...tantrum. He doesn't get his food fast enough...tantrum. Time to get out of the tub...tantrum. It's annoying and tiring, but just a phase...we hope!! Thankfully, his tantrums consist of him rolling around and crying for about a minute, so it's not too bad, but it's definitely a challenge!

    PS I'm with Val... Although at the time I was SO tired when Ryan was waking up during the night, I do sometimes miss holding him in the middle of the night and snuggling with him!

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