Baby Development: Your 10-Month-Old
Baby Development: Your 10-Month-Old
Now, let's consider your baby's temperament. By now you, no doubt, know she has one. For example, is your child:
It's may be a bit too early for you to have recognized all of these temperamental traits, but they will become clearer in the next year. Still, I wanted to discuss temperament sooner rather than later because I think the whole concept is so important to think about, especially since it is often an unnecessary cause of great parent-child strife.
Temperament is the "how" of your child's behavior: how she tends to respond to the world. If you have more than one child, you probably already see their inborn differences.
You can see by the list of temperamental traits that some are a lot easier to deal with than others. Most parents would like an easy, mellow, predictable child. Children with easy temperaments are, of course, simply easier to raise, at least when they are little.
But imagine a child who is very intense, always on the go, is sensation-seeking and fearless, hates changes in routines, is completely unpredictable in moods and physical needs. This is the "difficult" or "challenging" or "spirited" child (pick your favorite euphemism - one author simply calls them "mother-killers"). That child, although perfectly normal, is going to be harder to raise, even for the most patient of parents. As a colleague of mine once said, a difficult child is born and looks up at his/her parents and says: "I'm going to make you look bad. However you try to raise me, I'm going to make it hard for you and butt heads every step of the way." Lots of luck!
Baby Development: Your 10-Month-Old
Your Baby's Temperament
Now, let's consider your baby's temperament. By now you, no doubt, know she has one. For example, is your child:
- Intense in all things or mellow and laid back?
- Predictable in daily routines (eating sleeping) or frustratingly irregular (who knows when she is going to be hungry or ready to fall asleep)?
- Active or physically passive?
- Socially outgoing or slow to warm up?
- Easily distracted or has laser-like attention and persistence?
- A sensation-seeking, daredevil risk-taker or cautious?
- Adapts easily to changes in routine or gets totally bent out of shape?
- Overly sensitive to sounds, taste, touch or easily accepting of any environment?
It's may be a bit too early for you to have recognized all of these temperamental traits, but they will become clearer in the next year. Still, I wanted to discuss temperament sooner rather than later because I think the whole concept is so important to think about, especially since it is often an unnecessary cause of great parent-child strife.
Temperament and Behavior
Temperament is the "how" of your child's behavior: how she tends to respond to the world. If you have more than one child, you probably already see their inborn differences.
You can see by the list of temperamental traits that some are a lot easier to deal with than others. Most parents would like an easy, mellow, predictable child. Children with easy temperaments are, of course, simply easier to raise, at least when they are little.
But imagine a child who is very intense, always on the go, is sensation-seeking and fearless, hates changes in routines, is completely unpredictable in moods and physical needs. This is the "difficult" or "challenging" or "spirited" child (pick your favorite euphemism - one author simply calls them "mother-killers"). That child, although perfectly normal, is going to be harder to raise, even for the most patient of parents. As a colleague of mine once said, a difficult child is born and looks up at his/her parents and says: "I'm going to make you look bad. However you try to raise me, I'm going to make it hard for you and butt heads every step of the way." Lots of luck!
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