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Is my baby gifted?

292 replies

Daddynotmummy84 · 06/06/2020 00:13

Hi all. First time poster, long time lurker.
With this being my first child, and the current issues making it difficult to compare my son to other babies development, I thought I'd ask for opinions here. A little of where my boy is at. He's 17 months, almoat outgrowing his 18-24 month clothes (bloody expensive). He can speak around 80 spoken words and 40ish in sign language. He's able to stack things really well (his best so far was 14 blocks). When it comes to puzzles etc he does the shapes in the slots really easy, same with the animal pizzles etc. Also, he only has to see you do something once, occasionally twice, and he can do it himself (within limits obviously). To this extent he now has to have his own tool kit and power drill out when I do DIY to do his own little project. He feeds himsel, helpa with food preparation, loads and unloads the washer and drier, even walks around picking up bits of rubbish to put in the bin or pulls the vaccum out and uses it (it's always on, the plug is behind a secure lock so he can't get to it. What I want to know, is this normal for a kid his age?
Oh, I feel I should mention he was crawling at 4 months, walking at 7 and a half months. At 9 months he wasn't speaking, other than the odd word, but could make 3 worded sentences with sign language.

OP posts:
GeorginaEstonia · 06/06/2020 09:44

We honestly believed our second child was ultra bright. Eventually we realized she was pretty normal but her older sibling was just a bit thick.

SoupDragon · 06/06/2020 09:49

He feeds himsel, helpa with food preparation, loads and unloads the washer and drier, even walks around picking up bits of rubbish to put in the bin or pulls the vaccum out and uses it (it's always on, the plug is behind a secure lock so he can't get to it.

I don't know about gifted but he's clearly not Male.

#sexiststereotype.

Somewhereinthesky · 06/06/2020 09:52

My child is 12 now. And nothing has really changed. His strong points is still very strong, and his weak points are still weak. So I don't believe it all levels out. It doesn't, if it really is a gift.
I think a lot of children start to get it by yr3, from my experience. So the child who was top 3 in class academically in reception won't stay there without their true ability or willingness to stay on top. I do agree, the time will tell. But if you truly believe your child has something special, just follow your heart and instinct and nurture him accordingly. No one ever catch up with someone with true talent.

Interested in this thread?

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Howmanysleepsnow · 06/06/2020 09:57

My 14 year old knew 150 words at that age (just checked his baby book) and helped with laundry.
He’s since regressed and now communicates in grunts and can no longer even put his socks in the laundry basket.

scheffsm · 06/06/2020 09:59

No, he's not.
I know of a child who could read and translate several Latin words when they were 14 months old.
And there was this guy in orchestra once who told everyone he was playing the violin while still in his cradle.

Megatron · 06/06/2020 10:02

He sounds lovely OP and perfectly usual for his age. Some will be more advanced and some will not but they will all get there in the end.

difficult to compare my son to other babies development You do not need to be doing this. The baby Olympics is really not a thing.

echt · 06/06/2020 10:04

Not RTFT but thought this meant the OP had been given a child as a present.

Which is by far the more likely than this farrago of tosh.

corythatwas · 06/06/2020 10:08

Don't be that parent, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of anxiety over making sure your child remains 'special'

This! Enjoy your lovely little boy, be happy and proud of him because he is yours, not because you're ranking him against others.

The kind of interesting, stimulating environment you'd want to provide for a talented child, with a whole ordinary, exciting world to explore and plenty of time to play on his own and find his own entertainment as well, will be just as right for a child who is less talented.

It doesn't matter, you provide these things because you love him, not because you think they're going to translate into a Leverhulme in 30 years time.

Equally, if he does turn out to be unusually talented, don't assume he's going to struggle socially or have MH issues. Some gifted children do, some don't. Some non-gifted children do too. Just look at him, follow his needs and enjoy him!

MashedSpud · 06/06/2020 10:08

I’m not sure which are funnier. The piss take replies or the ones defending the op. 😂

Somewhereinthesky · 06/06/2020 10:10

hmm, scheffsm, I don't think playing a violin in his cradle is physically possible. But translating foreign language early is not impossible. Gifted children still need input, they don't learn something new without any input. As for my ds, if I said a word in my native language, he would say the word in English. Though obviously I don't speak Latin, so he wouldn't translate it into Latin.

timetest · 06/06/2020 10:10

Your baby sounds fun but it’s too soon to start calling her gifted.

Vinosaurus · 06/06/2020 10:13

Gifted? Seriously? That's nothing, my daughter was doing calculus by 6 months and had invented a new rocket propulsion system for NASA by a year.

bonsaidragon · 06/06/2020 10:19

He's clearly behind, in Japan he'd have already passed his driving test.

c75kp0r · 06/06/2020 10:19

yes

scheffsm · 06/06/2020 10:21

don't think playing a violin in his cradle is physically possible

Well you might not think so, but this guy was adamant that he was able to do this - and who were we to question the veracity of his claims....

handbagsatdawn33 · 06/06/2020 10:26

You let him play with animal pizzles ?!?

That's perverted.

Rabblemum · 06/06/2020 10:28

Being a late bloomer runs in my family. I went to my daughter’s nursery open day/report day and I felt terrible as another child’s painting was held up and mum was told “she’ll go to university” where I was told my daughter hardly spoke and zoned out a lot. The “child genius” got pregnant at 16. You don’t know how a quick or slow child will turn out so just go with the flow. My daughter is now incredibly bubbly and capable, so who knows how kids will turn out.

Also don’t show off, when I had my first daughter I lived in a very middle class area. One mum had 5 kids, looked perfect and was “concerned “ for my daughter’s development, another lovely woman had a child who didn’t do anything on time and it really upset about it, tactless people showing off about their kids really upset this poor woman. Some people don’t have early bloomers but every child is incredible with their own talents and personality.

acocadochocolate · 06/06/2020 10:30

It's so hard to tell at that age OP. It will become clearer over the years.

My DD who is 18 was identified as gifted at 11 at secondary school. I always assumed she was bright before that but I didn't even know gifted was a thing. She did not stand out at primary school but that might have been because she was the youngest in the class.

I knew she was bright because of the questions she asked and her eagerness to learn absolutely everything. Also, her drawings were very detailed from an early age and she was (and still is) incredibly mature in her dealings with other people.

She did talk early. Although she did not learn to read early but perhaps that was because I read to her every single day.

When she did learn to read, she "inhaled" books (as one of her teachers put it) and still does. She is extremely academically successful and I think the constant reading has been one of the keys. (And incidentally she did A Levels in maths and science).

Somewhereinthesky · 06/06/2020 10:32

Anyone with sane mind can if he was exaggerating or not, but clearly you can't. Best not comment on threads related to your unknown territory.

Lordfrontpaw · 06/06/2020 10:33

@GeorginaEstonia

We honestly believed our second child was ultra bright. Eventually we realized she was pretty normal but her older sibling was just a bit thick.
That made me laugh!
SarahWinston · 06/06/2020 10:34

It sounds a bit early to tell, but I'm sure we've all been a bit hopeful that our child was extra special. Better to hold off and maybe see again in six months time. It's not like you can get him into Xavier's school for gifted students at this age!

corythatwas · 06/06/2020 10:34

Somewhereinthesky, I missed a trick there! I do actually know Latin quite well, I could have taught my children some words to translate and then they would have been gifted! Oh well, too late now, they'll just have to stay mediocrities. Grin

Typohere · 06/06/2020 10:34

"PhilCornwall1 Sat 06-Jun-20 09:01:05
On MN however, he merely sounds average  And if he doesn't have a job earning over £50k a year, he's deffo a failure according to MN."

Only £50K Phil? My, your standards are low 😉😉😂

Well I still struggle to do all the things he does, so to me he is gifted 😂

PhilCornwall1 · 06/06/2020 10:37

Only £50K Phil? My, your standards are low 😉😉😂

😆 I know, I've never set a high bar for myself.

scheffsm · 06/06/2020 10:38

@Somewhereinthesky

Anyone with sane mind can if he was exaggerating or not, but clearly you can't. Best not comment on threads related to your unknown territory.
Completely and utterly missing the point.....