Personality - when did your baby start to show theirs?

[tigermoth]

My oldest son as a foetus seemed to spend most of his time dancing on my bladder. From day one he was a lively little tyke.

I could distinctly feel my yungest son's roving fingers a few weeks before he was born. Days after his birth he showed an early fascination with his hands. He is a pretty dexterous two-year old.

My oldest son smiled broadly at anyone who took notice of him from 5 days old, and loved meeting strangers. Yes, I know experts would put the smiling down to wind, and yet I can't help wondering - my son was and still is very outgoing and people-orientated.

Call me mad -I don't care what developemental experts say, I just know my son was being his inimitable self even before we left the maternity ward.

I just wondered if anyone else here with toddlers and older children feel they too have witnessed sure signs of an emerging personality at the newborn stage?

Defnitely. My dd used to go berserk kicking me and it really used to hurt. People used to think I was mad but when they see her now they understand. She's very strong and loves using her legs, she's always kicking around and loves jumping in her baby bouncer. I definitely recognise her activity from the womb. Also she has a real little temper on her - she had that the day we brought her home. I used to say to people that's her angry cry and they used to think I was being ridiculous and say she's hungry, dirty, tired... and she certainly may have been but she has a certain cry of frustration and general pissed off ness that she has had from day 1.

She was also definitely smiling from 4 weeks, not wind smiles but real smiles. Her wind smiles were different and her eyes didn't light up like they did / do with real smiles.

My 2 were very different as newborns - dd a right little aactive thing right fromthe word go, ds very realxed, laid back. In fact dd is just like me and ds just like his dad. This has certainly continued into toddlerhood for dd - she is exactly the same! Suppose we'll have to wait and see with ds but he is the most laid back baby I have encountered for a long time!

Tigermoth, my ds also smiled at three weeks of age, it was a definite smile although quite a few people didn't believe me. He used to look right into my face and then his little face would break out into a big smile. He's almost two now, still smiles constantly and is very social & friendly. At four weeks old, I remember a clinic nurse coming to visit me and she couldn't believe how alert he was - he was calmly watching everything and listening to our conversation. Needless to say, he's still very much the same way and figures everything out very quickly. So I think you can definitely get an idea of their personality quite early on.

Dd was clingy right from the word go...didn't want to come out in the first place and still hates leaving mummy

Glad I'm not mad I was worried no one would post here!

I've heard you can predict your baby's sleeping habits by timing their active kicking periods inside your womb. Both my sons are late risers, given half a chance. When pregnant, I felt few kicks from them till the afternoon.

My dd very similar to your dd Tillysmummy. She kicked for Britain when I was pregnant. From about two or three months whenever I put her down on the changing mat in the bathroom before her bath she would have a kicking frenzy and used to squeal with delight, so much that dh would appear upstairs to find out what all the banging was - he thought I was trying to attract his attention! She still has very active little legs at 11 months but is not at all impressed with being put on the changing mat now for her nappy change!

My two's personalities were definitely formed in-utero. Son kicked almost constantly and emerged into the world as an extremely angry red ball. He proceeded to spend much of those early months screaming with fury if a breast wasn't available to him immediately. 2nd pregnancy, daughter literally barely kicked at all. She came into the world serenely and spent her early weeks smiling and sleeping. At almost 3, our son remains very impatient and energetic while at 7 months, our daughter is incredibly content and easy.

My ds was quite quiet while I was carrying and was very calm while I was delivering him, he still is. He is very laid back, sociable although likes his mummy and daddy to be together. He studies things closely and picks things up very quickly. As a small baby he used to stare at people, as if he was trying to work them out, sometimes unnerving them. Even now you can seem him going into his own world, just thinking. He has a great sense of humour, always a laugh or smile ready, he too was smiling within weeks.

No2 is alot more active than ds was and will play for ages if I follow it around in my tummy, so we will see if No2 is going to be as easy as ds has been.

I have twin boys, two and a half years old, and they have had their personalities definitely since conception well, at least since I could feel them kicking.

We have one relaxed, calm one who always slept beautifully, fed very well, was quiet and always looked quite content. He was quite placid in utero as well.

Then we have the other one, who kicked me constantly during pregnancy, moved around no end although there was hardly any room to move. He screamed loads, kicked and fussed, didn't want to sleep, wouldn't feed after he was born.

Both of them continued in exactly the same fashion as they started in utero, and they are still like that.

I wonder if anyone has found the opposite to be true? so far all messages support the idea that personality starts being formed early. Being the devil's advocate for a minute, I wonder if we are merely projecting these ideas onto our babies in the same way we say a cat or even a budgie has a personality. Of course lots of pet owners will now throttle me

Speaking for myself, I'm sure I could see the beginings of a personality in my babies before their eyes could even focus.

Maybe we do often program my kids... but if anything, I was trying to program them to be the same.

My two look very much alike, so I really thought they'd be alike. And they just ...are not! DS is a doer, DD is a watcher. DD continues to do things that "amaze" me because DS wasn't like that, and I just assumed all my babies would be like my first. For instance, she likes meat, stuffed animals, babies, faces, touching things DS wasn't into any of that. I can wake DD up early from a nap without screaming. She hardly ever laughs DS laughed all the time. So very very different -- and they were different right from birth. I was amazed by the difference in the first nursing experiences, etc.

Zebra, I know exactly where you are coming from. In many ways, my two sons were unalike as babies right from day one - and before. The differences were't merely physical, they had different mental attitudes. Certainly not programmed by me.

soo....IF babies personalties begin to form very,very early, should we start positive parenting when the baby is still inside your womb? ie, no hard kicks against your ribs and they get to listen to lots of soothing music! Only joking