After you have fed and changed your baby, is she still crying? Does she seem unusually fussy for long periods of time? Did you put a mobile over her crib, and although she was interested, did she get quickly get bored with it? If she is laying in her crib or on the bed, does she get cranky after a while?
Is she just a fussy baby? Or might she be gifted?
You may want to look at some of the more recent research that focuses on babies and toddlers to see what parents of gifted children had to say about them when they were infants and toddlers. You may be surprised at what you find out. Your child may be exhibiting some of the same signs of giftedness.
There have been hundreds of narratives of recounted events and dozens of studies of gifted children that show giftedness can reveal itself at different times and in different ways.
Some parents reported that their baby’s advanced cognitive development was evident at 2 months of age while other parents didn’t see it until the fifth grade. Giftedness was sometimes seen as a family trait while at other times and for other families, it was a total surprise and those parents had no clue why their children were so smart.
Sometimes, twins were total opposites in their intellectual potential while other siblings of different ages had very similar academic strengths and aptitudes.
Some children were twice-exceptional (being gifted and having learning disabilities). These children frequently didn’t show characteristics of high intellect until later on because of their unique duality.
Some gifted children learned to speak very early while others didn’t speak until they were 4 years of age or read until they were in second grade. Sometimes brilliance doesn’t show early in school and parents become frustrated by the lack of challenging curriculum or methods of teaching.
However, recent research has identified the characteristics that are now considered common to gifted babies and toddlers; thus, observing these in your children can help you understand why they act in certain ways, as well as the extent of their giftedness. These signs have been reported by parents of children, under 2 years of age.
Gifted Children Need Plenty of Intellectual Stimulation
If your baby has been fed and changed but is still fussy or “demanding,” it could just be a personality trait – or it could be a sign that she is frustrated by a lack of stimulation. Babies see what is in front of them and cannot move on their own to see something else. Even a mobile placed over her crib will be stimulating for only a short time. If she is gifted, she will seek newness, novelty, and constant discovery.
Parents of gifted children noted that they would have to turn their babies to face a new direction to keep them calm, and said they had to do so as often as every twenty minutes to keep them from crying.
Another way to keep them calm was to introduce a new sound or song. That worked for awhile but over time, it became less effective. Reacting to the newness was a characteristic of giftedness and so was the relatively quick boredom that followed.
There are many other characteristics to look for:
Gifted babies need less sleep than other babies. They are extremely alert and are always looking around, looking for something unfamiliar. They want to know their surroundings. They want to see “the bigger picture.”
They are sensitive to smells, sounds, tastes, and textures. They learn to mimic sounds earlier than other babies. They may learn to speak much earlier (but not always).
As they grow, they learn to count objects without using their fingers or toes. They use advanced vocabularies and words they were never taught. They conduct conversations in complete sentences. They often act like “adults” and favor the company of adults as well as older children.
They have excellent memories and can remember people, places, and events vividly. They retain information easily and without the need for constant repetition.
They reveal artistic talent and imagination before twelve months of age, and later, can draw and illustrate stories using greater detail than other small children.
As they grow, they get interested in how things work. They can build complex structures using blocks, bricks, or Legos.
They learn about people and relationships, have empathy, are concerned about fairness and justice. They exhibit a sense of right and wrong. They develop intuition about other’s feelings and reasoning.
They become obsessed with certain topics like those related to earth or physical science, animals, art, music, another language, or math.
They always want to be challenged and seek perfection in coming up with solutions. They ask a lot of questions to get as much information as they can. Some of those questions can be quite philosophical, like “what is dirt made of?”
All of this starts with babies that want stimulation and newness, that show alertness and awareness of all that is around them, that seek to observe and mimic adults, and can’t wait to shed the boredom of their infancy and begin to explore and interact with this fascinating new world they are experiencing.
Recognizing and Nurturing Giftedness in Babies
If your child does exhibit some of these characteristics, what should you do? The answer is “keep doing what you are doing.” If your toddler shows interest in letters, buy simple, illustrated books or toys that feature letters, like magnetic or foam or plastic ones.
If she likes stories, read stories to her and introduce her to animal stories or classic children’s tales. Keep your child interested. If she gets bored with an activity, put it away. Follow her lead in whatever she does show an interest in.
Some parents think they should get their toddler tested. They want to help develop the child’s gifts. But that urge should be controlled and gifted toddlers should just be nurtured and loved. There is no need for early teaching or pushing the child. The desire to learn should come from the child, and all you have to do is respond and support that urge.
There will be a time for possible testing in the future but not during the toddler years.
