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Have you ever experienced having an infant who demanded all your time and attention? An infant whose soul purpose in life was to cry at will and could only be consoled by you, their parent? If this sounds familiar, welcome to the club. The high needs baby club, that is.

Babies are wonderful little creatures that light up the lives of many, not just parents, but grandparents and even strangers who pass them by, but once in a while, those little bundles of joy turn into little bundles of tears. Exactly what is a high need baby you ask? A high need baby is a baby who demands attention. These babies crave interaction and aren't content with the normal soothing activities that we as parents are taught. I should know because I became very familiar with what a high need baby was when my first daughter, Kaitlin was born.

I should have known right off the bat that my little girl was going to be a firecracker! After fourteen hours of laboring, she simply didn't want to come out so I ended up having a c-section. She made her way into the world screaming at the very top of her lungs. As they examined her, she continued to scream, all the way down the hall and into the baby nursery. My husband came back a few minutes later with an update and notified me that our little girl was causing a stir in the nursery. She was one of the only babies crying. Fast-forward a few months later and Kaitlin was exactly the same as she was the day she was born. She was crying constantly, always wanting to be held, always wanting my complete attention, always wanting me to play with her and the list goes on.

For first time parents, having a high need baby can become quite stressful. They tend to not sleep through the night and lack of sleep is always difficult enough with a newborn but with a high need baby, the battle for sleep can become ongoing. At first, a high need baby can be confused with a colicky baby, but unlike babies who have colic, high need babies can, in fact, be consoled, mostly by carrying them, and if that's what works, why not? They can also seem extremely active. My daughter would kick and flail her arms all the time. She hated being swaddled because it confined her and she wasn't the type to be confined. High need babies can also be extremely sensitive to their surroundings. One little sound as they sleep can set them off or perhaps one minute, they are as happy as a clam and then suddenly, they're crying like there's no tomorrow! Over stimulation is common in high need babies, which in turn can cause their moods to change dramatically.

To sum it up, a high need baby is a baby who wants their parents a whole lot and they won't settle for anything less. Yes, it can be quite tiring caring for a baby who demands so much of your time and attention but what baby doesn't do that already? No matter how tiring or how stressful it may seem at the moment, just remember, like all phases, this phase will soon pass and pretty soon you're going to remember that at one time, your teenager, who gets mad at you for asking for a kiss or who cringes when you ask them to spend the day with you, was once a high need baby and all they wanted, at one time, was you.

Learn more about this author, A. Goltiao.
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