How was your child as a baby?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2005
How was your child as a baby?
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Thu, 04-10-2008 - 9:26pm

Looking back at it, were there "signs" when your child was an infant? Did they have sleep problems? Food problems? Bad eye contact?

Gray was a terrible sleeper as an infant, but is a great sleeper now. Food was always the hard part. Still is. He will eat PB sandwiches and Nuggets. He hated his car seat/swing etc.

Magnus is totally different. He will take a paci/bottle/formula (Gray NEVER DID) Likes his swing/carseat/bouncer. I wonder how much of Gray's quirks as a baby were sensory related? What did you see now that you look back?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2008
Thu, 04-10-2008 - 9:55pm

yep she was definitly a bit different, she had bad reflux and was a screamer, bloody murder screamer. my husband deployed 9 days after she was born, so i moved back in with my parents. and only me or my mom could hold her, she wouldnt allow anyone else, only occasionally my dad. but if u handed her off say to my sister she would FREAK out.. even the sound of certain peoples voices would cause her to tense up and ball her hands into fist!


and she just couldnt be still she was rolling at two months and army crawling at 4 months. she was never ever still . haha the best time to get her to be still would be to strap her into a swing and still she was getting motion ya know!


then at around 7 or 8 months of age, we noticed the "Face smashing", in a pillow on the couch, or her teddy bear she just love to smash/bang her face into that stuff. and then at 11 months when she was walking, she thought it was awesome to run with her eyes closed! her then


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Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 04-10-2008 - 9:59pm

Tom was a dream baby for the first 6 weeks.

                                

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
Thu, 04-10-2008 - 10:16pm

Hmmm three kids, three babies:

Liam-wanted to nurse 24/7, thus we weaned at 3 weeks. he had horrendous reflux, awful sleeper, ear infections galoresensory seeker, but hated the swing and car seat too

Cian-Bad sleeper at first, better nurser, quieter, more mellow, no reflux, ear inefectons too. After Liam we dubbed him the "stepford baby."

Roan-Miserable sleeper, WILL NOT wean, sensory seeker; loved her swing, hated the jumper, crawled and walked latish, never ever took a bottle, only took a sippy at 15 months and then only juice or water.

In essence, I think Liam's infancy is more typical of his dx; Cian and Roan are not so typical. I mean we thought Cian was fine, then before I know it he has EI, spec ed preschool and two dx....sigh.

All three made eye contact ok as babies btw.

Dee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 10:48am

My kids as babies are poster children for why you have problems diagnosing things in babies!

DS1, (dx with Asperger's aged 8, problems showed up aged 3) was a Dream Baby. Although a nightmare delivery - 54 hours, forceps, but he was never in distress (*I* bloody was, but that's another story!) - he took about a day to get the hang of nursing, then fed on the dot every 4 hours, slept through the night from 10 weeks, was allergic to dairy, eggs and sesame but we didn't figure that out til later, other than excema and the odd rash he was the most contented baby you've ever seen. He had a couple of convulsions following fevers (not vaccination related, ear infections) and I always wondered....but of course, looking back, the red flag was that he was 'too good'. Everyone was always jealous of me because he ate and slept and was happy in his own little world. But always fine at eye contact, speech fine, slight delays on sitting up and walking but within normal range (8m and 16m), IQ clearly very high as soon as he learned to speak, very loving, fine with other kids until he hit 3 and starting biting them....(!!! because, as it turns out, they weren't following 'the rules' but we didn't know that then). All along I had a gut feeling he was a bit strange but all the health professionals dismissed me until real problems at school starting showing up.

DS2 comprehensively failed to meet all his milestones. Wouldn't smile at anyone, didn't babble much, had a floppy head for ages, his creases didn't line up, had terrible reflux (screamed solidly for about 3 months), wouldn't sleep through the night til 15m, weaned himself at 13m, we were in and out of so many doctor's offices until he hit 3 and it became apparent that he was about the *most* NT child on the planet. In fact, if you look up 'normal development' in any paeds textbook you'll see him there. His social, emotional, physical and educational development are so 'normal' it's a bit scary. He's even the right amount of naughty for a testosterone-surging, high IQ boy starting school. He's a complete PITA but he's also really made me re-evaluate DS1's babyhood and toddler development. Til I had him I honestly thought all my exhausted mothers-of-boys friends who were complaining about the energy levels, the football crazes, the cars, the inability to sit still, the making guns and running at anything that moved (and lots of things that didn't move) with large sticks yelling a lot were just making it up....boys surely just sat quietly in the corner drifting off into their own world all the time, didn't they?? They don't bug you for hours to let them join the soccer team and put sticky notes on your door while you are asleep saying 'I luv yoo mummy, luv Rohan' accompanied by a drawing of a boy with very large soccer boots on and a big smile

DD was also a complete PITA as a baby and even more so as a toddler - Terrible Twos rule our house - but is also clearly as NT as it is possible to be. The only physical difference appears to be that she is the only one not allergic to anything (except doing as she's asked first time without having a tantrum about it).

Of course, looking back, red flags all over the place for DS1, but really didn't recognise it at the time - had a mummy gut instinct that something was strange but wish I'd listened to it more. On the other hand, red flags all over the place from the health professionals re DS2 who all turned out to be wrong and my mummy gut instinct was that whatever the current issue was would resolve itself in time (and it always did) and they should just back off and leave us alone (which they now do).

Kirsty, mum to Euan (9, Asperger's) Rohan (5, NT) and Maeve (2, NT)




Edited 4/11/2008 10:50 am ET by kirsty1
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Registered: 09-27-2007
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 11:45am

Gabe was a great baby...quiet...never bothered anyone...hardly cried...unless you put him in his bed....then he would cry till he puked...wait...that hasn't changed!!...he didn't nurse the best but we stuck it out for 13mo...I figured out if I put my hair in his hand he would nurse better....bottle feeding was a nightmare...much worse then nursing...but i had to go back to work at 3mo...so he had to learn...there were days he wouldn't eat till I picked him up....never cared for the swing...preferred to be held tight....needed rocked and patted to sleep....still does...he is 3 years old and still lets me rock him to sleep....never babbled....was awesome to take shopping (not anymore)....and people would always tell me how quite he was....turns out that silence was neurological speech disorder...who would have know then...as gabe got older his sensory seeking became more apparent...but we thought it was just a boy thing...until his case worker said to me...does he always bounce off your walls and people and furniture...and does he always fall down like that? and then we strated OT and learned all about SID....so yep I think there were signs from baby on up with gabe....but we just didn't realize it...till he stopped talking and lost almost all the words he knew....and we sought help....and we are still seeking answers...but i have a feeling we will get them soon...at least I hope we get them soon...


Jessie Mommy to Gabe (5.8 yrs old ASD, CAS, SPD) and Zane (1.10 yrs old ESD)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-19-2004
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 11:47am

Let's see if my horrible memory can recall my kids as babies. For the most part I think all three of my boys were typical up to the 18-24mo mark, then we noticed changes.


DS1 (11yo now): perfect baby, always happy and content, slept great starting at 6wks. Nursed until he was 10mo and then self weaned. One ear infection. He never hit the typical terrible twos, however I do joke that he hit the terrible twos and never realized there was a step after it. He started to become very afraid and sensitive to certain things. Bathtime was hell, he would scream whenever the water would touch him and would react the the same with any type of wind. Very smart was able to do 100pc puzzles by himself at the age of 2. Started speech therapy at 2yo. Dx with ADHD when he was 5yo, started meds and OT in school and continued speech. Took 3 yrs to get him on track, but now is a very gifted student with a high IQ, one of the top players on his baseball team and also amazing self taught chess player. Still has short memory skills, but advanced in every other area. Has never been a cuddler or affection seeker.


DS2 (5yo): shortest and easiest birth of all my boys. Colicy for 3 months, screamed to the point of turning purple. Had severe ear infections, one ruptured ear drum (never fussed so I didn't know until I saw fluid draining), and a double ear infection that he was on meds for 2 months to try and treat. Loved the baby swing, would get upset when it would stop moving. Horrible sleeper, up every 3hrs until he saw a chiropractor at 10mo, then up only once nightly. Nursed until 13mo and self weaned. By age of 15mo hated his crib and refused to stay in it. We would lay next to him on the floor for over an hour every night while he screamed and kicked about bedtime. Would show up in our room every night until 3yo. Thought falling off the couch repeatedly was hilarious. Started collecting matchbox cars by 2yo and would line them up meticulously for hours. Obsessed with anything transportation related. Has always hated food and still hates bathtime, obvious variety of sensory issues. Very mom attached. Took 5wks before he would

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-05-1998
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 12:42pm

Oh, yeah, there were signs. We just didn't know what they were signs OF at the time.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-15-2006
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 12:48pm

From the day Chloe turned 2wks she SCREAMED non-stop.

- Christina mom to-

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 1:03pm

All three of my kids, two on the spectrum- one NT, were fabulous babies.

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Registered: 02-28-2008
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 2:24pm

Our oldest son was the worst baby in the world. A friend of mine was amazed that we decided to have another baby after what he put us through. For weeks the only thing that calmed him was being slinged, walking upstairs and downstairs. We both lost weight during those months. He was a voracious nurser and would nurse for hours if I let him. Basically he could not regulate himself at all without external support. The swing got a lot of use too. Even up to 2 years of age, we would have to walk him to calm him. DH was known to go walking the neighborhood while wearing him in a sling. He was colicky until 3 years old and then he tantrumed frequently. He still rages when he's off his meds. Things are better now with therapy, meds, and a bit of maturity.

DS2 was a normal infant. I don't remember anything unusual about his infancy, but we were comparing it to DS1.

DS3 was a happy babe altho he had feeding issues. 3 weeks on an NG tube with me trying to BF, then bottle feed, then pour the rest down the feeding tube until he got the hang of breast and bottle eventually moving to exclusive BF. He did go thru a period of failure to thrive from about 9 mo to 16 mo where he didn't grow much, but he's growing now. Today he's still a little tyke but he's happy and regulates well.

Andrea

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