Okay not quite, but if you have a child that is cranky, with a little extra TLC he may just be at the top of his class when he gets to the 1st grade.
I find this study interesting on several levels because I have had one of those cranky babies. But I’ll get to that in a minute. The study will be published tomorrow in the Journal of Child Development. Basically, they took approximately 1,300 families and followed the infants from 6 months of age through 1st grade. The hypothesis was that babies who were easy going would do better in school and babies that were higher maintenance would do worse in school.
What they actually found was that babies who were easy going were less affected by good or bad parenting and did about the same in school. However, while you might expect that difficult babies and toddlers would derail more easily, what they found was that these babies, with the right parenting, actually excelled and had better social skills. To sum it up, high strung babies are more affected by good or bad parenting.
Ironically, I have stopped and re-started this article about five times. Why? Because my four year old’s world is ending. It is ending because her siblings want to play their own game. So I’ve stopped, helped her calm down, and helped her get a grip. This is a regular occurrence. To the casual observer, she might seem a little out of control. What the casual observer doesn’t know is that she’s much better than she used to be.
She has always been high maintenance. She was a needy baby and while some people around me said she was spoiled for wanting to be in the sling, I slung anyways. If I’m going to spoil my kids, then let it be with affection.
She was a needy toddler and the fact that I was pregnant with twins at the time didn’t help. Temper tantrums were consistently met with consequences. . .every time without fail. And in fact, the very same consequences that worked on her older siblings. . .took at least a year to take hold with her.
I remember in the midst of crankiness and difficulties thinking that somehow, I must’ve lost it with this child. I had parenting down to a science. Then I came to realize that she is how she is for a purpose. I believe she was made that way for a reason. The strengths of being strong willed, high maintenance, or whatever else you want to call it, are starting to show themselves just a little. . .a short five years later!
So if you’re struggling with a cranky baby. . . you can take heart. With your love and good parenting, that cranky baby can really shine!
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