High Need Baby

These articles are feeding my soul today....

12 Features of a High Need Baby

Parent-to-Parent: 20 Survival Tips for Parents of High Need Children

What High Need Means - A story about our high need baby
12 Lessons Our High Need Baby Taught Us

Here's a link to them all...

Here is a clip from one:

10. "CAN'T PUT BABY DOWN"

High need babies crave touch: skin-to-skin contact in your arms, at your breasts, in your bed. They extract whatever physical contact they can from their caregivers. They also crave motion. Holding is not enough; the holder must keep moving. If the holder wants to sit down, it had better be on something that rocks, glides, or swings. This constant holding may be particularly difficult for new parents who expected to have the magazine model baby, the one who lies quietly in the crib gazing at expensive mobiles. This is not the play profile of the high need baby. Parents' arms and bodies are his crib; mother's breasts are his pacifier, and a bouncing lap is his chair. Most high need babies choose to upgrade their accommodations from the crib or playpen to the baby sling. They like to be worn many hours a day because they like the physical contact and they like to be up where the action is. Smart babies.

More clips I love:

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I was so tired of hearing the term "good baby." According to the norms of the neighborhood, my baby wasn't "good." I then decided that a baby is "good" when he cries and lets you know what he needs. (In other words, all babies are "good.") That really put a new perspective on fussy babies for me. They cry more because they need more.
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My advice to parents is that if you had a sick child you would give that child the care that it needed; so if you have a high need child, give her the extra attention she needs. She needs it for a reason.
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Once I learned that she has high needs for a developmental reason, it was easier for me to respond accordingly.

Loves to be around people, noise and activity

While some high need babies do best in quiet, calm environments, what I hear from many, many parents is that their baby actually prefers being in crowds, surrounded by people and activity. They may cry and fuss significantly more in the quiet of their own homes. The activity and drone of crowds or traffic seem to soothe them, and they may even fall asleep. Friends and family may not believe your stories of crying and fussing because these babies appear so easy-going and content when in public.
http://www.thefussybabysite.com/causes/high-need-baby


Thank goodness for baby bjorn and white noise soundtracks!