My Child’s Early Temperament
(ages 3 months – 3 years old)
My Child’s Early Temperament
(ages 3 months – 3 years old)
A person arrives into this world with their own, unique temperament. Developmental psychologists look at a range of issues related to temperament. While children grow to develop in lots of ways, many times their underlying temperament is still the same. Even us adults…our temperaments probably reach back to our early, early years. Knowing your child’s temperament helps you modify your parenting strategies. There’s no reason to try to change a child’s temperament. Better, more effective, and more loving to develop strategies to enhance the strengths of their temperaments. Developmental psychologists look at a range of issues related to temperament, including:
| Activity Level | Highly Active: Happiest on the move. Moved quickly from one activity to the next. Hard to stay still.
Normal: Just like others their age. Low Activity Level: Naturally Chose quiet,calm activities. |
| Rhythm | Very Regular: Easy to stick to a routine. Eachday, followed predictable sleep/wake/eat/toilet times
Normal: Just like others their age. Irregular Rhythms: Wasn’t tired, hungry, or active in a predictable way from one day to the next. |
| Sensory Response | Highly Sensitive: Reacted strongly to noises, lights, fabrics/touch, movement, tastes, or smells.
Normal: Just like others their age. Under-Sensitive: Didn’t cry when hurt, never showed preference for noise level, bright/dark settings, fabrics, tastes/smells, or movement |
| Coordination | Highly Coordinated: Great balance, sporty, good hand/eye coordination
Normal: Just Like others their age. Low Coordination: Clumsy, bumped into things, difficulty catchinga ball, skipping, etc. |
| Emotion Reaction | Highly Emotional: Intense reactions to situations. Responses Didn’t fit the trigger. Very Excited about things. Temper Outbursts. “Dramatic.”
Normal: Just like others their age. Low Emotionality: Showed a limited range of feelings, and it didn’t seem right for their age. |
| Adaptability | Highly Adaptable: Transitioned between activities with no problems. Changes in plans/routines were no big deal.
Normal: Just like others their age. Slow to Adapt: Hard time moving from one thing to another.Very upset when playtime is over. Stressed/upset when plans/routines or things around them are changed. |
| Approach New Situation | Eager to Explore: Ran to investigate the playground right away, adjusted to family/friend gatherings with ease, jumped right into lessons and camps.
Normal: Just like others their age. Withdrawn/Hesitant: Shy or watchful in new places. Hung back to adjust. Clung to parent. Reluctant. |
| Persistence | High: Worked hard to figure things out. Aimed for mastery. Practiced and practiced.
Normal: Just like others their age. Low: Easily frustrated. Gave up quickly. Overwhelmed by tasks/challenges. Fast to quit. |
| Distractibility | High Distractibility: Attention went quickly from one thing to the next. Looking everywhere in places that were busy/loud. Short periods of concentration.
Normal: Just like others their age. Low Distractibility: Became absorbed in activities, even in noisy settings. Blocked out many distractions and really focused on what they were doing. |
| Mood | More Positive: Bright, silly, friendly, cheerful, happy, upbeat, optimistic most of the time.
Normal: Just like others their age. More Negative: Subdued, gloomy, sullen, sulky, sad, or negative. |
