Welcome to Part 10 (and our final temperament trait) of my Baby Temperament and Sleep Series. If you are just joining us, you may want to start with Part 1, where I define baby temperament. This article will discuss your baby’s mood as a baby temperament trait. In the next couple of weeks, I will give you a quiz to determine your child’s temperament.
Baby Temperament – Mood
Your child’s mood is generally how happy and smiley she is versus the child who is more serious in nature or will be more analytical and tell you how to improve something rather than how great it was. According to Raising Your Spirited Child, a specific pattern of brain activity is responsible for your child’s disposition. If your child rarely shows a happy or joyous side of herself, you may want to go to the doctor to test for depression, but overall, she may just be more serious, but this does not necessarily mean she’s unhappy, even as a baby.
My sons are generally very happy boys, which makes me very happy, but my eldest son, who once again inspired this site, has his moods. Almost every day he has cranky moments that can be difficult to deal with. It is particularly difficult when he hasn’t gotten enough sleep and his behavior goes out the window. He has more tantrums and small things upset him more easily than when he’s in a good mood and well-rested. This is very common among many toddlers and pre-schoolers, so thankfully, I don’t think this is an area in which he is extreme.
Baby Sleep and Mood
How might your baby or toddler’s mood affect her sleep? As I mentioned above, mood can be affected by your baby not getting enough sleep, but his mood can also affect how you approach getting sleep for your baby or toddler. If your baby or toddler is more serious or analytical in nature, you might approach bedtime and nap routines a different way. I can tell my son is analytical, just like me, even though he is still young. I give him lots of choices and allow him to choose what we do, when. This lets him have some control that he (and most toddlers) crave, but also, I notice that as he’s gotten older, he is very logical. If this, then that. He will negotiate a lot and I tend to joke he will be a lawyer one day.
Alternatively, if your child is very happy most of the time and isn’t serious in nature, this can make for a very long bedtime routine, especially adding “toddler slowpoke time” in. During some occasions when my son is being very silly and I’m trying to get both boys in bed, it can be frustrating when I want him to be serious! If he was like that every night, I could see how that might drive me bonkers. It’s fun when we are both in the right moods, but in the end, it’s my job to get him to bed on time to avoid the whole over-tired mess that can come into our lives. It’s hard having to be the responsible one, sometimes. 🙂 Add to the fact that by his bedtime these days I’m just beat! His energy never ceases to surprise me!
Lastly, mood has crept into our night-wakings. There was a time when he was around 2 or 2 1/2 when he’d wake up in the middle of the night and be very cranky, yelling and screaming! There is nothing worse than screaming in the middle of the night, especially when you’re getting up feeding a baby. Obviously, by now, he hasn’t eaten in the middle of the night in a really long time, but we finally figured out that he was hungry! He must have been going through the growth spurt. The same way a 4 month old might be able to roll over during the day, but not at night half asleep, or a 10 month old who can replace a pacifier but won’t in the middle of the night, for some reason my son never said, “I’m hungry.” It seems so simple, but he just didn’t do it. For about a week, we left him graham crackers and water in his room, just in case. It was a phase, like almost everything else in the first few years of their lives.
Once again, there are good and bad things about all of these temperament traits. A serious, critical, or analytical child can point out things that you might not notice if you aren’t the same type of person. These children are those that might be able to help you make a chore plan for the family or point out why you shouldn’t buy that used car you have your eye on.
Explore each of the 9 temperament traits, Intensity, Persistence, Sensitivity, Perceptiveness, Adaptability, Regularity, Energy, First Reaction, and Mood, focusing on how they play a role in your baby’s sleep and in the final part, take an assessment quiz to help figure out you and your baby or toddler’s temperament and see how it might be similar or different.
Get Sleep Help Personalized For Your Baby’s Temperament!
Your baby’s temperament influences his or her sleep habits in a big way – and that means that the sleep coaching you do with your baby will need to be suited to your baby’s unique temperament. That can be tricky – but not to worry! Our consultants at The Baby Sleep Site® are experienced in creating Personalized Sleep Plans® that are customized to your baby or toddler’s temperament. Even better, once you have your Personalized Sleep Plan®, your consultant will walk you through each step of implementing it at home.
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Once you make your choice and purchase, you will immediately receive an e-mail with your Helpdesk login information. You’ll be able to log in and start right away – it’s that simple!
Sleep Resources Designed To Work With Your Baby’s Temperament
For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out The 3 Step System to Help Your Baby Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your baby sleep through the night.
If you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, I encourage you to explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 45 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style.
Or, join our VIP Members Area packed with exclusive content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, expert advice, peer support, and more. It actually costs less to join than buying products separately! As a member, you’ll also enjoy a weekly chat with an expert sleep consultant and much more!
What is your baby or toddler’s mood most of the time? Happy? Serious? Share with us!
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For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out The 3 Step System to Help Your Baby Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your baby sleep through the night.
Learn More About The 3-Step System
If you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 45 sample sleep schedules and worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style.
Learn More About Mastering Naps
For those persistent toddler sleep struggles, check out The 5 Step System to Help Your Toddler Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your toddler sleep through the night and enjoy a better daytime schedule.
Learn More About The 5-Step System
Join our VIP Members Area packed with exclusive content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, expert advice, and more. As a VIP member, you'll also enjoy a weekly chat with an expert sleep consultant.
Learn More About VIP Membership
ligia escoto says
My baby had a starring going to daycare, she was sleeping fine, but now does not.
Please need advise on what to do, she is 7 months old.
Thank you,
Lia,
Janelle Reid says
Hi @Ligia Escoto, thank you for writing to us. I am so sorry to hear your daughter has been struggling with the transition to daycare. Any big change like that is likely to bring change, so hopefully as she gets use to her new routine that you will find things balance out. Here is a link to an article that may help: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/how-daycare-impacts-your-babys-sleep-schedule-and-habits/
If you need more help, let us know! We’d love to send over more information or links to other resources that can help, just let us know how she’s struggling – if it’s with her naps, nights or both, so we can better help.
Hang in ther!
Chin Li says
Hi Nicole! Our 10 month old has always seems to be serious. He smiles and laughs when someone comes up to him with a funny face or gesture but on the whole he rarely initiates laughter. Is it possible to tell at this young age?
In many ways, his moods reminds me of me! 🙂 A little skeptical mostly..
Nicole says
@Chin What I’ve learned most is that a baby is born with a certain temperament and some of his personality. True they will change, but I definitely think some they are just born with, so I definitely think it’s possible! 😀
Ashley says
My baby is all smiles until he has to take a nap! We are working on a nap routine and it seems to be helping his resistance level. I get compliments on my smiley guy all the time and even when he’s angry anyone can get a smile out of him. I agree with shauna, it is hard to put a happy baby to bed!
Ashleys last blog post..Question for you…
Nicole says
@Ashley My son didn’t want to miss a thing, either! It’s so hard when they are so smiley. My youngest son is starting to resist a bit more, at times, too even when he’s tired. We still persist and then he goes to sleep pretty easily. Thankfully, he is not as persistent as his brother! Thank you for commenting!
Shauna says
My 7 month old is so happy and smiley all the time, people want her picture when we’re out and about. She learned early on that it gets her what she wants! It CLEARLY affects naptime–if she doesn’t want to settle down, she tries to distract me, her daddy, and her grandma with smiling, laughing, waving, etc. Cute, hard not to laugh or smile back! So I can’t even look at her when I’m trying to convey ‘time for nappers’….
Nicole says
@Shauna Awww! So cute! That will be hard to say no to as she gets older. Daddy, watch your wallet! Ha!
Anne says
My kiddo is either ON or OFF. She’s very content or very done! I think most recently this polarity has to do with needing food or sleep.
Her mood changes based on the environment: when there’s other kids around she’s very cautious and observant. On her own she’s a busy mover, just like mama.
Annes last blog post..Romance is not Dead
Nicole says
@Anne Your daughter sounds like how my eldest son used to be. He would be happy and then BAM overtired and cranky. When he was a toddler he’d be happy and then having a tantrum the next minute. He has outgrown a lot of it. When he gets hungry he does still go from happy to cranky pretty quickly, but it’s much more manageable now. Thank you for commenting!