So, what's the feature of a high-need baby? Here goes :
1) Can't be put down - crave being held and touch. (Naomi will yell non stop till you pick her up)
2) Seperation sensitive - slow to warm up to strangers or new place. (Chinese New Year was a nightmare to me when we went back to hometown up north, she scream and scream and scream when other relatives carried her, and stuck on me only all the time)
3) Demanding - demands instant gratification for attention, feeding or carrying. Loudly. (Hrm... I think the whole block of residents know that there's a baby in this unit because Naomi always cry out so loud for attention or feeding, like she's in so much pain, and she actually'd stop immediately after we pick her up or stuff my breast into her mouth.....)
4) Frequent feeder - tends to demand more feed than usual because breastfeeding is comfoting as well other than the source of nutrition. (I have to keep running in and out the room at night because she kept waking up looking for her nan-nan
5) Intense - Everything she does is pronounced. Cries loudly, feeds voraciously and protests powerfully. (Bingo! Naomi is all of the mentioned above)
6) Sleeps differently - due to her curiosity and awareness, high-need babies need help falling asleep and when they do, tend to awaken frequently. (Naomi's nap time will only be 45 mins longest in the day and she had not once fall asleep on her own, either mummy rock her on the arms or grandma cradle and swing... our hands are about to be paralised)
7) Slow to wean - besides breastfeeding frequently, high-need babies are notoriously to wean. (That I am yet to find out, have no plan to wean her till at least 1 year-old)
8) Unpredictable - what works to comfort her today may not work tomorrow. (Ha! That's why me and my mum have to take turn to put her to sleep, she wants different styles all the time!)
See, she just fit into all the symptoms! But I am not upset over it all because the expert also says, " You may not have to feel that at teen age, she won't be close to you because the baby you couldn't put down, the toddler who clung to you and the child who shadowed you has learnt to trust you, depend on you and go to you for help when needed."
Of course there are still other good points of a high-need baby but most of all, this is the most important to me.
Stuck on me.
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3 Muaks:
It'll be nice when she's older, that she can come to you! Many of these things actually seem like good things.
Nice post!
hi there,
i would highly recommend this book called 'The Baby Book' by Dr Sears and his wife who's a nurse, Martha Sears.
it is an excellent book (in my opinion of course ;)) which details all you need to know about your baby till she's 2 years. And they mention about high-need babies there.. it is an excellent reference!
OMG! I have myself a little Naomi too .... ok, she's not that little anymore and will be 3 years old soon. Anyway, as a baby, she was exactly what you described here. She's always wanted to be held, she cried really loud, very determined, always curious, took very short naps, very active and was very advanced in her development. She crawled at 5 1/2 months, walked at 10 months .... she's hard work but worth every second!!!
Your Naomi is really cute.
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