Hi,
This may sound possibly more than a bit strange, however I am somewhat curious after missing all the early signs of our now five year olds early signs of giftedness, which in retrospect were very clear but completely different...
Our second son (who is admittedly tiny at only 13 days old) has shown some very interesting things that I do not remember seeing in our first child - that is not to say they are not fairly common, as I simply don't know - I am curious as to who else witnessed some of these things in their own children early on also and if they ARE common of if we are right in thinking that he will be on the move early on.
1. He learnt within a couple of goes to open wide to latch. After that he did not need prompting to open wide, even in the middle of the night - he just did and hopped right on (He pursed his lips tight after not getting it right to start with and wouldn't try again for quite some time - I think he decided better of it since it was his food source!)
2. He could hold his head up quite well, and choose which direction he was facing when being held or laying down. I had to laugh when the midwife mentioned flat head. We couldn't do much about it anyway as he has a mind of his own and moved it regularly himself.
3. He was born c-section breach with his feet by his head. So to encourage him to stretch his legs out my dh would blow raspberries on his feet each time he extended them. He soon learnt to extend them when someone was near his feet!
4. He rolled from his back to side (and can do it with ease) from day 8, in either direction. But he has been frustrated with his lower arm preventing him from going any further. In saying that he makes much more noise if you get him up in the middle of trying!! He is soooo determined!
5. At 11 days he was starting to push his feet and inch around when placed on his tummy. He goes backwards if there is nothing to push on. He gets his bottom way off the ground, pulls his knees up right under his body and pushes really hard with his feet. Unfortunatly the weight of his head slows him down. He has managed to get it off the floor but not for long enough as his neck and shoulder muscles just aren't there yet.
6. He tracks things with his eyes - toys being moved in front of him, or people moving around
7. He also listens intently. If he cries and hears a sound he will stop and listen, then if nothing happens he will resume again. Likewise he will listen to your voice as you move around the room, and try to follow it with his eyes.
It sounds like you have a very bright & active little boy on your hands. I'm finding it really interesting and would love more updates on his progress as I can relate to some of what you are describing.
From my first scan they had to chase my son around as he would not keep still. He was born early in a great hurry as he just could not wait to arrive, and then had to be pinned to the mattress of the incubator as he kept moving around and managed to squirm down right off the mattress and get himself wedged in the bottom. When he had his first bath he looked like a wee frog and swam like one too. Years later some friends nick-named him Frog for his jumping ability. Once home he never slept at all during the day so we used to prop him up in different places around the room so he could see what was going on. We used to laugh that he didn't want to miss out on anything. Once he started to walk he started to climb and was running when the other children in my coffee group were still toddling hanging on to their Mum's hands. He read very young and created some interesting inventions. He is now at Intermediate and has always been a great athlete. Although young in his year he is still competitive at an Inter-School level. He has an enormous amount of energy and the answer to this has been to keep him busy. He is not hyperactive as such as he can and does focus, sometimes for hours, just an energy to the max kind of kid. The one who has climbed the highest up a tree, or back flipped into the pool, or scambled down a cliff or done a hundred summersults in a row on the tramp. We joke that he was born for the circus!
Hi On Holiday,
Thank you for your post. It was actually was a big releif to read it as we have been struggling to get him to sleep during the day (Although I can't complain as he does sleep at night vs the first one that only slept 5-7 hours each 24 hour period. Howeever he was sleeping day and night well to start with so desperately hoping he keeps the good night time sleeps!!! Just as the first, he doesn't want to miss a beat. It is nice to hear of your experience as opposed to being told by the midwife that we are over stimulating him etc. Not that this is unfamilar just not helpful or encouraging in our current overtired state.
It took us more than four years to figure ou that our oldest requres a lot of stimulation in order to be able to sleep. Not enough and he is awake and often stressed out so it will be interestesting to see if this wee one turns out to be the same or not. In saying that our first was and is not physically inclined like this one.
Since posting last time I have learned that the crawl is a reflex that peaks around one month and fades at about four, but I also read that it requires the soles of his feet to be touched in order for this to happen, so a bit unsure if it is reflex or what, but am guessing probably. Felt like a bit of a twerp posting about it after reading that!
When I had my daughters, I figured it was just normal for babies to lift their heads from birth and was puzzled by the reactions I received when I mentioned it.
I was a bit more clued up with my grandson though .... who did the exact same thing. An hour after he was born he was on the table on his tummy and the midwife (who was standing side on to him) started talking to me ..... sure enough he lifts his head and turns to look at her.
At 3 days old he drew himself up onto his elbows and knees and had a hissy because he couldnt move himself from where he was to within reaching distance of the toy he wanted .... man it was funny. I did try and explain to him the such things are not meant to concern him at his age .... but do you think he would pay heed .... no way!
He slept on his tummy - he simply was not having it any other way. Our midwife was great - what she said to me was "Well we are not allowed to encourage or endorse tummy sleeping but he is a big strong healthy boy who can lift his head and turn it on his own - and sleep is important for everyone so its a matter of weighing up the pro's and con's."
He settled well into a good sleeping routine (more that of a much older baby) once we simply allowed him to sleep in the position he felt most secure and comfortable in.
Well, no that he is 4 months, he is very determined to move. (Even after 8 weeks in a hip brace restricting his movement) We recently had a few days where he was really grizzly and jiggly. He suddenly started, when laying on his back, to push his feet in, raise his bottom and back in the air and push himself around, backwards and sideways. Quite effective and he gets quite a way. He is not after anything, he just wants to move for the sake of moving.
After a few days of this he has started to wriggle forward when placed on his tummy too. He can get his head and shoulders up and keep up for long periods 5mins plus, but he has not got his back legs up yet, however he propels himself along digging his toes in and pulling his kees up beside him like a frog. (as he did in the brace). He has had his bottom up in the air once today so give him a week or two and we'll see what's next. Needless to say we are scrambling to safe proof our lounge!
He is sooo determined! I can see he is going to keep us on our toes! And I must admit I am a bit nervous about this. While our last one has been a challenge this is certainly new territory!
And just because I want someone to share with and can't anywhere else... he is loving his books and gets really animated when you read to him. He tracks amazing well and very quickly. He is quite a serious little fellow as is our older one but when he gets chattering it is just lovely. He has said mama on numerous occasions and even the plunket nurse was surprised when she heard him say dada (and I hadn't said a thing). She had to go back and check when he was born as she was sure he was older. lol.
Over a period of a couple of weeks I sang the same song to him each night at bed time to soothe him off to sleep. I had to get my husband to come and listen after I had shut the door to his room just so I didn't seem crazy,we listened in amazement as he spent about 3 minutes (no exaggeration) mimicing without pause, the rhythm of the song perfectly. I was guttted I didn't have anything to record it with (just for us so we could look back on it one day).
Thanks for listening!! I look forward to hearing from others about similar experiences.
My babies are now 6, 4 and 3 and reading these posts take me back...
One of the things I remember clearly with my first son was when he was only days old and my midwife came around to do her daily check and she asked the obvious question of how he was sleeping. She explained that when he woke, within the hour he needed a nappy change, feed, play and back and bed. For his play time he loved looking at the free black and white book we received from the public library. He was so stimulated that he just wouldn't sleep - for hours! I was beside myself! Well, he never really did sleep well but the signs of giftedness were there right from the beginning for all my boys.
1. Early eye contact
2. Excellent focus
3. Bored easily and cried alot. Everyone thought it was reflux but he stopped crying when he started to move and sit up at 4 months so it was boredom
4. Smiled and laughed early
5. We had to move our eldest around the room from station to station (this was when he was less than 4 months old). I had things set up around the house a) baby einstein video b) mobile c) jolly jumper d) tummy time e) black and white book f) massage g) baby gym....walkign in the pram did not work. He HATED it! Ahhhh the things you do to try and stop your teeny tiny baby from being bored.
Oh dear. It is very late now but I will returning back to this thread.
Hi Natasha,
Thanks for sharing. Doesn't it seem so strange to say a baby can get 'bored'? It never occured to me last time round as everyone kept saying not to overstimulate the baby (as they all presumed as did we, this contributed to the lack of sleep). lol. I remember one of the first things I read on this forum a number of years ago that said that we a means to an end for them in terms of constantly wanting to be with an adult, a way for them to be able to move around and get the stimulation they are seeking. Looking back on things this made so much sense for our non sleeper and is again this time. Although this one has a natural rhythm which makes life a lot easier!
At the moment we are enjoying the holidays as he spends ages just watching what his big brother is doing. And the sunshine has been great as he loves going out and touching the plants and playing with the leaves, checking out the clouds and feeling the breeze. He no longer wants to just chill out on the floor unless their is something new to experience like listening to the piano, watching us play a game or read a story. He would rather be with me so he can move around to explore. Hmm, once bro is back at school and no longer the main source of learning it will be game on!
