Welcome to Part 4 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. In part 2, I discussed baby temperament trait, intensity, and in part 3, I reviewed persistence. This article will review sensitivity. At the end of the series, I will give you a quiz to determine your child’s temperament.
Baby Temperament – Sensitivity
Your baby’s sensitivity is how aware your child is to noises and emotions, and also, how aware she is to temperature, taste, and texture. Your child’s sensitivity (or lack of) can come out in a variety of places. For example, some kids might meltdown if their sock is a little crooked on their toes. Another child might complain about loud noise or light being too bright. Your child might also pick up on your stress or emotions, depending on her sensitivity level. You might notice she starts acting “off” if you are under an undue amount of stress.
My first son is fairly sensitive, but probably only moderately so. From even in the womb, he used to wake up and kick when my husband and I went to the movies. After he was born, he’d become over-stimulated in loud gatherings and melt down even when he was just 2 months old. It shouldn’t have surprised me then, 2 1/2 years later, when we went to the Diego Live! show that he told me it was “loud”.
Baby Sleep and Sensitivity
How might your baby’s sensitivity affect his sleep? If your child is sensitive, this means that most likely he will not be the baby or toddler that falls asleep in a room full of people or with a lot of noise. Due to my son’s sensitivity, I had to remove the nightlight from his room because he’d wake up, see the light, and decide to play in the middle of the night. They are too young to be scared when they are a baby. Once he was older, I bought him a nightlight. It was still a bit too bright, but he LOVED this light! I also have always had to make sure I put away the dogs so they didn’t bark during naps and keep the noise down, in general. It used to drive me CRAZY when people would tell me he just had to “get used to it”.
It is important to watch your baby or toddler’s reaction to things, even at a young age. You might start to notice a connection between your daily activities and her emotions. You will want to take her sensitivity into consideration when you set up where she sleeps, what she wears to bed, and how much noise is going on in the house. Some babies will not like to be too hot or cold while others won’t complain either way. As a baby, we couldn’t have a jacket on my son in the car seat because inevitably he would cry in the backseat within 10-15 minutes during every car trip. Being first-time parents, we were especially clueless, but we did figure out that he just would get so hot and be uncomfortable.
Sleep training your sensitive child might be more difficult. You might question whether he’s comfortable, what’s wrong and why no two days are the same. He might become overstimulated easier and need to nap more often. But, your sensitive child’s sleep is ever more important. Sensitive children “take in” a lot around them and that can be exhausting! But, it’s also difficult for him to settle down for the night and therefore, his bedtime routine might need to be longer than normal.
There is a wide spectrum in sensitivity levels. Once you know your baby’s temperament, you can take into consideration when you choose how to help her get more sleep. You may or may not want to use cry it out to help your baby sleep, but once you know your baby’s personality, that can help you come up with a plan that is more likely to succeed. For help in finding patterns and schedules in your baby’s day, you might want to keep track. You may be interested in using an online baby tracking tool.
For more ideas on how to guide your child in coping with her sensitivity, I recommend Raising Your Spirited Child. She also discusses how to distinguish sensitivity from Sensory Processing Disorder, where your child is so sensitive that it’s debilitating.
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.
Browse our list of consultation package options here.
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.
Is your child sensitive or not? Share with us!
Need Baby and Toddler Sleep Help? We Have the Resources You Need!
If you are tired of wading through stacks of baby sleep books that just aren't working, if you are beyond exhausted and just can't solve your child's sleep problems on your own...then personalized sleep consulting is for you. We have been around since 2008 and invite you to tap into our MANY years of experience. Our team of expert consultants will create a Personalized Sleep Plan® just for your family and then support you through every step of implementing your plan. We encourage you to consider our personalized, one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultation packages if you want to see real, meaningful results now. Your consultation package also includes ample follow-up help, designed to help you troubleshoot problems and tweak your plan as needed.Learn More About Services
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
Lily says
Nicole, I really enjoyed this series, and am an avid fan of your blog since I discovered it only a few weeks ago. I can’t wait to see the quiz and how you wrap it up with the last article. I can’t wait so much that I wanted to post on this article. Looks like a baby could really cluster into groups – so I have moderate intensity, energy, not so persistent and good adaptability, etc. But on sensitivity – that’s a tough one for us! When is it your perception of his sensitivity? I swear, as a first time mom, I think I am much more sensitve than he is to his wet diaper or cold room or too loud sleep sheep than he is. He screams during his bedtime routine (prob. overtired) so I just don’t know if the onesie is too tight, the room too cold, etc.? Can’t wait to hear more!
Nicole says
@Lily I’m so glad you’re enjoying this series! Babies and toddlers are hard to figure out, aren’t they? It took us several weeks to figure out our son (as a newborn) got too hot in the car seat when we bundled him up too much. We probably looked like “bad parents” not having a coat on him in the winter but in the car he just got too hot! Of course we put the coat on outside the car! :p It is moderately easier now that he can talk, but even still, they don’t always know how to express what they are feeling. Less than a week and my quiz goes live. Hope you like it!