Just like adults, babies have personalities and temperaments. Even from a young age, it is possible to predict how a baby will react to a change in their environment based on their temperament. Assessing and identifying temperament is one of the factors that play into how a sleep plan is chosen for a baby.
What is Personality?
Personality is made up of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. Personality is acquired over time, and can even be worked on and changed over time as well. It is influenced by factors such as socialization, education, and experiences.
What is Temperament?
Temperament is a combination of emotional, physical, and mental traits. It is the way we react to the world around us. A person’s temperament is innate. You don’t learn it and typically cannot change it.
For example, if a child is easily distracted, it is going to be in their nature to notice a person walking past, or the sound of an airplane in the sky. They are easily distractible; this is who they are.
9 Temperament Traits
Activity - How active the baby is: calm, relaxed, or high energy
Regularity - How regular the baby is eating, sleeping, bodily functions
Initial reaction - How a baby responds to a new object or person. Does the baby approach a new experience or withdraw from it?
Adaptability - How well the baby adapts to a new environment. Is the baby accepting of changes or do they need some time to get used to the changes?
Intensity - How intense the baby’s responses and emotions are. Does the baby cry loudly or are they more quiet and subdued?
Mood - What is the baby’s general mood: happy, pleasant, cranky, negative, positive, etc.
Sensitivity - How sensitive is the baby to the world around them: lights, noise, textures, other stimuli
Distractibility - How easily is the baby distracted when they are doing something
Attention span and persistence - The span of a child’s attention and his persistence in an activity
Since personality traits develop overtime, we focus on a baby’s temperament when it comes to sleep training. There are different types of temperaments and often a combination of a few. Researchers have described 3 different types of temperaments: Easy, Difficult, and Slow to Warm Up, and about 35% of babies do not fall into any one category and have a combination of these traits.
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