KNOWING YOU, KNOWING METake our quiz and discover a whole
loadaboutyourbaby – andyourself!WHAT ARE YOUR BABY’S TEMPERAMENTS?
1Yourboss hashireda new teamfor
a projectyou’llbecoordinating.
She’s organisinga meet-upsoyoucan
allget to know eachother.Whenyou
gettheinvite,doyoulookforwardto it,
ordreadit? Do youtendto approach
newpeopleorsituationswithinterest,
orwithdraw,cautiouslybackingaway?
Now, consideryourbaby. Howdoeshe
re actto new people, places,orobjects?
Doeshecry?Is hefearful?Or eagerto
explore?On a scaleof oneto five, with
onebeingfearfulof new peopleand
situationsandfive beingcuriousand
interestedin new experiences,how
wouldyourateyourselfandyourchild?2 If you’veevertriedto learna new
instrument,wereyoupatientor
didyouget frustrated?Youandyour
childmay varyonhow quicklyyouget
irritatedwhentryingsomethingnew.
Somechildrenwillworkona new task
fora whilebeforethey get frustrated,
others willworkonit withoutany
irritationat alluntilthey havemastered
it. On a scaleof oneto five, withone
beingthemost quicklyfrustratedand
fivebeingtheleastirritatedandmost
eagerto tacklea challenge, how doyou
andyourchildtendto react?3Doyousmileorget excitedwhen
a new songplaysontheradio,or
doyouwaitcautiouslyto seeif you’ll
likeit, orswitchto somethingmore
familiar? Parentsandchildrencanhave
differenttendenciestowardreactions,
likesmiling,laughing,andaneagerness
tocheckoutnew things.Doesyour
childshow pleasurewhenexploring
newthings? Or donew people, places,
orthingscausehimconcern?On this
scale,onerefersto a childwhois eager
tocheckoutnew thingsandfive refers
toa childwhois discomfortedorupset
bynew things.4Whatwouldbetherhythmof the
drumbeat thatwouldmimicyour
paceorstepsasyouwalk?Wouldyou
walkto a reggaebeat – slow andsteady- orwouldyourwalksoundmore like a
marchingband? Eachindividualhashis
owntempo,a desiredactivitylevelhe
is bornwith.Whatis yourchild’s tempo?
Doeshelike high-energyactivities? If
he’s asked to sit still, does he get
restless? What about talking speed –
fast or slow? On a scale of one to five,
how quickly (one) or slowly (five) do you
andyourchildpreferto move?5Do you tend to land on a radio
station and stay there, or do you
switch stations frequently, checking out
every possibility? Though we begin
building our skills in focusing attention
in infancy, we are born with a tendency
to want to focus our attention and
persist in something new, or to skip
around and change our attention. What
about your child? Is he able to focus his
attention on a toy for some time or does
he move from thing to thing quickly?
On a scale of one to five, with one being
that he can stay highly focused and five
that he constantly moves his focus,
wheredoesyourchildtendto land?6If you had a sound-track playing in
the background for the movie of
your life, would it be mostly calm with
moments of excitement, or high drama
with moments of calm? What’s the
intensity level of your reactions and
emotions? Was your child born with a
tendency to be intensely emotional
when problems arise, or does he roll
with the changes, taking them in his
stride? On a scale of one to five, with
one being the most calm and even-
keeled and five being the most highly
sensitive reactions, how would you rate
yourchildona levelof intensity?7Does a loud rock band get your
head bopping or hips swaying,
or would you prefer quieter, more
peaceful instrumental sounds – or even
no sound at all? Sensory sensitivity
is our biological reaction to sounds,
sights, tastes, or touches that are
new, different, or abrasive. We are all
born with differing levels of sensory
sensitivity. How does your child react
to loud noises? Does he have sensitivity
to scratchy clothing, or shrink away
quickly from disturbing sights like a
hurt animal? On a scale of one to five,
with one being the most sensitive
to any new sensations and five being
the least sensitive, how would you rate
you and your child?54 | April 2020 | motherandbaby.co.uk