Category Archives for High Need Toddlers
How to Soothe a Spirited Child
While intensity, when channeled appropriately, can be a positive personality trait, more often that not it is a source of extreme frustration for both spirited kids and their parents. Spirited children
Continue readingLetting Go of Expectations: Accepting Your Fussy Baby
For mothers and fathers who are trying to cope with a very colicky baby, the best thing you can do to lower your frustration and anxiety is to accept your child for who she is. Sounds easy enough, right? Who
Continue readingHow to Get Things Done With a High Need Baby or Toddler
High need babies and toddlers are notorious for needing lots of help to stay entertained. When my (not as high need) daughter was a baby, she could sit for up to an hour quietly looking at books. Sammy?
Continue readingJust the Way He Is
When Sam was 4 months old, I remember writing a blog post titled Just the Way He Is on my now-defunct blog. The magical 12-16 week mark had passed, and yet the crying and fussing continued. We had been
Continue readingHolly’s Story: Life with a Spirited Child
The first 4 months of my son’s life were filled with disappointments for me. Nothing had gone the way it was ‘supposed’ to go. My first child was not an easy baby; healthy and cute,
Continue readingFussy Toddler
Fussiness and crankiness are definitely not traits reserved for babies. There are many reasons why a toddler may be fussy, and as many toddlers are not yet verbal, it can be difficult to figure out the
Continue readingPicky Eater
We have an extremely picky eater on our hands! Our 10 month old has a few favorite solid foods, and will not deviate from those. When we try to give her anything even remotely healthy (particularly veggies),
Continue readingTemper Tantrums
Although this site focuses largely on infants 0-12 months old, I wanted to touch briefly on tantrums in toddlers and older children. If a ‘fussy baby’ grows into a spirited or just plain persistent
Continue readingCharacteristics of The Spirited Child
About 20% of all babies born have temperament traits of a fussy or high need, or what we call a spirited child. Spirited children share many of the characteristics you will find below. They require extra
Continue readingTemperament and Fussiness: When Do I Know if My Child is Spirited?
Dr. Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, author of the book, Raising Your Spirited Child, first coined the term ‘spirited child’ over 20 years ago. Being careful not to slap labels on kids (especially babies), she
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