12 Features of a High Need Baby

So apparently the kinder thing to call my baby is a high needs baby, but I think I'm going to stick with high maintenance because it's too hard to change the name of the blog :)

So I found this website that highlights the 12 features of a high needs baby (click here for the link).  I find this helpful and fascinating.  So I thought I would begin blogging by talking about the way my wonderful son fits into each category and hopefully get a few laughs and a little energy out.


The first sign of a high needs baby is INTENSITY.  "You can read the intensity of the baby's feelings in her body language. The fists are clenched, back arched, muscles tensed, as if ready for action."  So that's what it's called... intense... I was calling it a fit this whole time.  If you have a high needs baby you have experienced this daily.  My son likes to tell me what he needs by being very dramatic.  The most recent environments he likes to play this out is in his high chair and car seat.  For no apparent reason, while I'm feeding him solids (which 2 months ago was a cause for intensity telling me he wanted to eat solids; now his intensity is aimed at telling me he doesn't want anymore... seems ironic to me) my son clenches his fists, gets red in the face and grunts loudly.  Sometimes it means he is loving the food, sometimes it means he's done, sometimes the cause is him wanting to take over the feeding.  Almost nothing he does is not intense...sound familiar?  Sleeping... getting tired creates an intense crying baby.  Hungry....intense crying.  Having fun... intense screaming.  Bored...intense crying.  You get the picture (but I'm sure you see the same picture in your own home if you have a high needs baby).  

I have come to realize that I actually love this trait about my little boy.  I guess because he's far from boring.  I am a stay at home mom; and as much as this exhausts me everyday, I also enjoy his intensity because it shows me how passionate he is about life already.  I just hope that this intensity for crying and screaming as a baby will turn into a passion for life and love as he gets older.

I find that it is helpful to revel in the joys of these high needs traits instead of focusing on the negative.  This helps me appreciate the child my son was created to be instead of wishing I had someone else's child. 

Share your experiences of intensity with your high needs baby.  I'd love to hear how this plays out in your home.

Next time... hyperactive!  See you then!