The Difficult Baby: Caring Tips

At the moment of birth your new baby is perfect to you in every way. Your dreams of the sweet content baby that is easy to care for in every way may change. Boughts of inconsolable crying, temper tantrums (yes in infants) and difficult to adjust babies are sometimes what begins to evolve, easily dismisses the notion of the "perfect baby". Suddenly, your baby is the one who constantly cries, sleeps poorly and just seems to be unhappy all of the time despite your well sought efforts. Suddenly you find yourself wondering what are you doing wrong?

In striving to be the best parent that you can be, chances are you may not be doing anything wrong and its just your baby's personality make up. One of the most amazing parts of the first year that you will discover is that small components of your baby's personality disposition will start emerging, as well you may begin to see some of your own intricate personality traits begin to shine through. The genetic make up of both parents are passed off onto each baby making up a unique pool of traits. In addition that are environmental factors that also contribute to this as well.

As a parent, understanding your baby's personality makeup makes your job much easier

The Difficult Baby:
tend to have sensitivities to: bright lights, wet diapers and even loud noise levels

A Baby's Delicate Senses
Light sensitivity: keep excessive light from coming into the room, use curtains that are heavily lined, dark colored blinds, are all ways to help your baby to sleep longer during nap time and bedtime. Try to avoid exposure to rooms with that are lite with bright lights such as fluorescent/halogen light bulbs. As well limit visual over stimulation with toys/mobiles by only placing a a few objects in the crib at one time. You should choose toys that are subtle in color and simplicity in design, instead of bright vibrant colored toys that are musical and have bright flashing lights.
Sound sensitivity: while you certainly don't have to tiptoe around the house,try to keep the sound level down household items like the television, radio and telephone. Simply take inventory of your home and make any adjustments accordingly.
Touch sensitivity: its hard to resist touching an adorable baby, however some babies are truly more sensitive to touch. Some babies become fussy when their diaper is wet, when certain types of fabrics touch their body, when they are too warm or too cold. In addition some are even some babies dislike even being held and cuddled. If you find that is the case with your baby, don't over handle him beyond what is absolutely necessary for basic care. In such cases you can find other ways to interact with your baby through making eye contact, talking, singing,reading and other non contact activities.
Taste sensitivity: particularly for babies who are breast fed, certain foods that you can consume may elicit an unfavorable taste to breast milk. You may find that he may be fussy, have gas and nurse poorly as a result. Try to keep a breast feeding journal and make notations about your daily meal consumptions,baby's nursing behavior to help pinpoint specific ingredients and avoid that particular food that is causing a discomfort. Babies that are formula feed that are showing signs of discomfort through refusal of bottle,gas or diarrhea may need to have their formula changed. When you begin to introduce your baby to solids, keep in mind that this is a new experience and factors such as color, smell, taste and texture can influence the palate.
Smell sensitivity: babies have a very keen sense of smell and certain odors may be unpleasant to handle. It can be the smell of certain foods, cleaning products, perfumes and colognes that can make your little one happy. If you find that your little ones nose is sensitive try to avoid exposure to unpleasant smells. Today you can purchase many products that are environmentally friendly,free of any perfumes, dyes and harsh chemicals that are released into the air.

So how do you know if you actually have a difficult baby?

Before you make such a determination its important to discuss your concerns about your baby's development and how best to meet all of his needs with your pediatrician. You should write down your questions and be very specific with details about any behaviors that you are ultimately concerned about so that a proper assessment can be made.

While the above is an overview of some of the attributes that may be present, having a through examination for your baby can detect any underlying causes such as allergies or medical conditions that could be present.

If you have been blessed with a baby that is difficult, while its no easy feat, there are some adjustments that you can make to meet their needs and make parenting easier. You should have lots of love, patience,understanding and acceptance of your baby's overall makeup.