Infant States and Temperament

Infant States and Temperament

Infant States

According to psycologists, infants can be viewed in terms of being in one of six states of consciouness. The six states are further broken down into two states of sleep. These are quite sleep and active sleep. There are also three awake states. These are the quiet alert, active alert and crying. The finalt state is drowsiness. This is a transition between sleep and wakefulness.

States of Consciousness

Quiet sleep The infant's eyelids are closed and still, and face is relaxed.

Active sleep Eyes are closed but may flutter from closed to open. Infants make funny faces, chewing movements. This occurs in 30 mins cycle.

Quiet alert state This state is when newborn are fun to play with. They pay attention with their eyes wide open. Newborns are in this period averaging 40 minutes.

Active alert state Newborn's movement are frequent. They move with special rhythm which serves as an adaptive purpose.

Crying state Newborns cry when they are hungry or uncomfortable. Mothers may have to pick up the baby, sooth them, and put them to the shoulder. The movement toward to the position changes the baby from crying state to quite alert state.

Drowsiness period This is the state when babies are waking up or falling asleep. Their expressions may be smiling, frowning, pursing the lips, and dull glazed up.

Temperament

A newborn baby that comes into this world is NOT born with a blank slate. They have some type of personality or temperament. When a baby cries, squirms or laughs they can be thought of as easy going or high-strung, tough or vulnerable, meek or bold, playful or serious, sociable or individualistic.

Temperament involves three categories: emotionality, sociability and activity level.

The first is emotionality. This is the tendency to be distressed. During infancy, distress can be separated into two emotional responses: fear and anger. Fearful infants try to escape things that are unpleasant. Angry infants protest it. The next is sociability which is the tendency to prefer the company of others to being alone. This matches a tendency to respond warmly to others. The last category of temperament is their activity level. Activity level involves tempo and vigor of movement. Some children move at a faster pace. They like high energy games, and also enjoy jumping and bouncing around. Others are mild or very serene.

There are also different types of temperaments. They are the easy child, the difficult child and the slow-to-warm up child. These temperaments entail the components noted above.

The easy child is generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, and adapts easily to new experiences.

Easy children are generally called "easy going" or "playful babies". These babies are in a happy positive mood and love to interact with others. They don't need to be pushed into activities, they generally love to be a part of change.

The difficult child tends to cry frequently, engages in irregular daily routines, and is slow to accept new experiences.

Difficult children are oftentimes labeled as "strong willed" or "high strung" babies. They require an extra dose of patience and gentle guidance. They don't adapt to change very well and can get upset if you push them too much.

The slow-to-warm-up child has a low activity level, is somewhat negative, shows low adaptability and displays a low intensity of moods

Slow-to-warmup children are frequently known as "shy" or "sensitive" babies. They also require special attention.They may get overwhelmed with activities and don't like to be pushed into doing something. The best thing to do for these children is to have them observe on the sidelines until they feel comfortable to join in.

Temperament does vary from child to child. "Infants may be percieved as "easy" and give their parents a sense that they are doing a wonderful job. By contrast, "difficult" infants cause even the best parents to question what they might be doing wrong." This means that parents need to be patient and flexible and use different parenting interaction with each child. This can be difficult, but is rewarding in the end.

References

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Quiet sleep	The infant's eyelids are closed and still, and face is relaxed.
Active sleep	Eyes are closed but may flutter from closed to open. Infants make funny faces, chewing movements. This occurs in 30 mins cycle.
Quiet alert state	This state is when newborn are fun to play with. They pay attention with their eyes wide open. Newborns are in this period averaging 40 minutes.
Active alert state	Newborn's movement are frequent. They move with special rhythm which serves as an adaptive purpose.
Crying state	Newborns cry when they are hungry or uncomfortable. Mothers may have to pick up the baby, sooth them, and put them to the shoulder. The movement toward to the position changes the baby from crying state to quite alert state.
Drowsiness period	This is the state when babies are waking up or falling asleep. Their expressions may be smiling, frowning, pursing the lips, and dull glazed up.