why parents of ‘spirited’ babies need support, not judgement

Written by Meg Kant

why parents of ‘spirited’ babies need support, not criticism

Some define a ‘spirited’ baby (also referred to as high temperament, fussy, colicky, difficult) as: a baby with some or all of the following traits: a high needs temperament; challenging to settle; cries often;  struggles with transitions; difficulty sleeping; temperamental feeding;  uncomfortable with new people; typically has a preference for one caregiver over another; and, can be exhausting for their caretaker. 

During my maternity leave with my oldest son, I was very fortunate to have the support of two close friends who had babies around the same time. My friends and I got together often, to laugh, eat and connect about new motherhood. 

Seemingly simple

My oldest son was a very low maintenance baby. He ate well, slept well, had a happy temperament and loved to be social. At the time I thought that was how all babies were, so I found it confusing when one of my friends seemed to struggle with her baby.

One day I was holding my infant on my shoulder while he snuggled into my neck, which was one of his favourite positions. My friend asked “how do you get him to do that?” I had to clarify what she meant because I was very confused. I couldn’t fathom that she wouldn’t be able to hold her baby that way, it seemed like such a simple task because it was so comfortable and had come so easy to me and my baby. 

After explaining the steps of how I held my baby on my shoulder, I couldn’t help but wonder why this was so hard for her.  I assumed that if something so seemingly simple was difficult for her, it must be something she was doing wrong. At that moment, regretfully I judged my friend. 

I had it all backwards

Fast forward 18 months, my youngest son was born, and everything changed. He was difficult in all the ways my oldest wasn’t and pretty much the definition of “spirited.”  He wouldn’t latch for the first ten days of his life, and was always fussy when eating.  It felt impossible to get him to sleep; he didn’t like going to other people; he was discontented much of the time; and he WOULD NOT GO ON MY SHOULDER.

I thought back to the day I judged my friend and so many things fell into place for me about parenting, infant temperament and understanding. Shortly after he was born I called my friend and apologized.

I said “I’m not going to lie, I judged you that day. I didn’t mean to, but I did, though I see it all now. Your baby had a different temperament than mine, and it had nothing to do with your parenting. I am so sorry, I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for you.” She very much appreciated that phone call. 

The meme below seems to sum it up quite nicely, although this could be true for all parents, not exclusively people who identify as mothers.

“My well-behaved first born gave me the confidence to be a good mum. My wild-child second kid taught me not to judge other mothers.” 

You don’t know until you know

Had my youngest not been spirited I may NEVER have understood the different personality and temperament traits of children and infants. It allowed me to intimately understand that even when individuals parent the exact same, their children can/will be different from one another. 

Parents can do everything within their control to support their baby, and the baby may still cry, be fussy, not like going to other people, have difficulty sleeping, hate feeding from the body, etc. Parents are praised or blamed based on the behaviour of their infants, when in reality so much of that behaviour is based on temperament and personality.

Support over criticism

Parents of spirited babies don’t need judgment or criticism, they need support. They need others to understand that they are genuinely doing their best, and what they are going through is HARD. For those who haven’t had a high temperament child, it’s easy to cast judgment on how other people raise/parent their children. But I can attest that parenting a spirited baby is a beast in and of itself.

Read about Baby Essentials and secret to lowering the cost of a baby!

Have you parented a ‘spirited’ child? What helped you the most? Feel free to share in the comments.

why parents of ‘spirited’ babies need support, not judgement

Click here to sign up to have the Hot + Brave blog land in your inbox every week!

Xoxo,