Super alert babies.. did you make it through?

[Catheroooo]

I have a very lovely but super alert 8 month old DD. she's been awake since day 3! She needs constant activity to keep her happy and is not a drop off in the car seat, pram or anywhere apart from her cot kind of girl as long as it's dark and quiet. She's tuned in to the drop of a pin... I watched a baby 2 months younger than her simply drop off today, and lay in a bouncer quite happily... things mine woukd never do.

It's hard but equally I can see all her cogs turning in her brain. I just wondered if you had a similar alert baby in the past how they turned out? Sleep is erratic and I'm signed up for it of course but I just was curious what the future will be like! I can't imagine sleep being easier until she can understand what I'm saying.

Mine was like that. He was born like it - wide eyed and demanding! I just couldn't understand how the other babies all seemed to be content to sit and look at the world and actually sleep if they were tired... He is nearly three now. Active, difficult, charming and seemingly pretty bright (although it's still a bit early to tell, of course). He is certainly harder work than average, but has so much personality and spark. Sleep is good (touch wood!), after being a real struggle for the first ten months or so.

I absolutely wouldn't change him, although if we have a second I wouldn't mind trying one of those placid, easy going, sleepy ones next... Best of luck with your baby - she sounds great.

I have an 11 month old like this. It's not got an easier, in fact I'd say it's worse currently as he is super into everything.

Mine's seventeen now - the first year was by far the worst, once she could talk it got so much easier!

My now 6 year old was like this...we used to joke that she was super nosey & afraid to miss anything. She never slept, even feeding was a bloody pain as she was constantly head turning & her eyes darting all over the place.
DD is at school now & still into everything, she has to know the ins & outs everywhere we go. Get ready to hear the question WHY for the next god knows how many years & never being able to quite satisfy with an answer 😂 she does at least sleep now albeit never silently so that's a bonus

Yep, mine is 6 now. He was a very angry, discontented baby, but got a lot happier when he was able to crawl, and even more when he started walking and communicating. Nowadays he just needs to know everything, which makes it hard for DH and I to have adult conversations (because we have to keep stopping and explaining everything). He's also maddeningly pedantic! Sleeps through though, so I can forgive the rest

My six year old is like that, I remember him as a newborn being awake for 6 hours in the day once! He's still awake now but the great thing is he loves bike riding, running, scooting etc.

Mine was very alert and required a lot of stimulation from the beginning. 6 to 18 months he didn't stop moving (crawling, climbing, walking, running). He was able to focus on activities like puzzles and duplo and not require so much input from around 18-20 months. Sleep was very easy from 2, except when nursery let him nap, then he wouldn't sleep until 9-10pm (only occasionally needed a nap).

DS was like that and it almost broke me in the baby stage. On the plus side he became mobile and learnt to talk early and since then he has been a delight. He is always on the go, interested in everything but because he has excellent language skills for his age it is much easier because I know what he wants. Physically I am so so tired but I am no longer emotionally tired as I was when I couldn't understand what the issue was.

Sleep wise he only sleeps around 9 hours a night and has one to two hours nap during the day. In the evening I sometimes fall asleep before him and then he is up at the crack of dawn!

My super alert baby was also a terrible sleeper, would not be put down and was in to everything, commando crawled at 4 months, walked at 9 months and never stopped, he was exhausting! He began sleeping more consistently at around 14 months. From an early age he enjoyed any kind of structured group activities (with and without parent participation). In his reception class he told his teacher his brain just never switched off and ideas just kept whizzing round and round.
He is now 21 and has just graduated with a first class degree from a Russell group university! He has remained super alert and is, most importantly, a really lovely person. He still has trouble switching off and sleeping as a young adult and if he has one weakness it’s having major FOMO and he tries to do too much. He began playing piano at age 6 and this continues to be a major part of his life, we always used to say that it was the only time he was still, as both hands and his brain were engaged at the same time! Hard work but worth it, good luck!

Mine is now 6 too. Hyper alert from his early birth - the NICU staff thought I wanted the screen during bfing for my modesty, but really it was to stop him being distracted by everything going on, and staring round at it all. He is still terribly interested in EVERYTHING. Though if it’s a help, he does sleep pretty well, as he lives life at such a high octane pace that he’s out cold by 8 every night!

Smiling at all these tales.

My two are all of this. It never ends....

Thank you for this thread @Catheroooo!
My 10mo DS is exactly the same. He gets major FOMO so he gets his curious little face in everyone's business. The park, the bus, the cafe, everywhere we go he's wriggling away to crawl over to something or someone to have a nosey. He's only just sleeping now and I'm expecting that to all go tits up again.
Reading everyone's anecdotes and tales of their now much older kids is so, so lovely.
So again, thanks OP. I too love my sparky boy.

Apparently I was that sort of baby. I didn’t sleep until I was 5. My DS is the same - DM regards it as my punishment for the torture I put her through!

DD was the same- often too nosy to finish her milk. Now she’s 2 nothing gets past her. Nothing- there is no fooling her.

I found getting her into art and making helped. She’ll now do puzzles, duplicating and Brio on her own. Otherwise I am being asked who everyone is, what they are doing and to sing her favourite Disney songs on demand.

YES! I have a nearly 6mo who is so alert, she came out wide eyed and hasn’t stopped. I marvel at these babies that sit happily in prams/bouncers. My daughter is only content when she’s on my knee and looking/touching the world.
I hope as she grows she’ll entertain herself, currently needs me to sit and chat to her, even in the jumperoo etc. Oh and let’s not talk about sleep...

Mine was born trying to walk, forget anysort of additional trimester - he was ready to start life. He hit all his milestones early but life for me for a lot easier once he could walk (steps at 8m, walked across the room on his 10m birthday). He just seemed much more content when he could get about properly and explore the things he was interested in rather than constantly needing to be entertained. He talked early too and comprehensively which meant far fewer tantrums than my friends experienced. By about 3 he was level with other kids but def those first few months were so so hard.

Mine is 16 now. Extremely clever and with a completely normal teenage sleep pattern (ie don't expect to see her until lunch time on a normal weekend, but is currently pulling an all nighter movie marathon with her buddies).

Yep, DS2 is like that. He was never at rest in my womb, came out with what the midwife described as 'the loudest cry I've ever heard' and hasn't stopped demanding things since!

He's a terrible sleeper, can practically hear the grass grow, so nodding off in the pram or car seat or wherever was just not going to happen. He never stops moving, wants up, down, tries to climb everything and is very shouty.

He's 16mo now and very tiring, I also have a quiet, shy, sensitive three year old who sleeps like a log, so completely different. DS2 is a lot of fun though and he's everyone's favourite baby (in my friends and family) because he's such a livewire. Not many offers to babysit though...

Yup. Alert from birth. No newborn sleepiness. Just came out, eyeballed the world and made his opinion known...

18m later he slept for more than an hour, which was great. He’s now three and a fabulous, very smart little chap. Loads of fun, still very demanding and I wouldn’t swap him for the world.

The early months nearly broke me. Hang on in there.

Yes! She's so content. Had never been difficult bar a little sleep issues.

Can take her anywhere and she's a well behaved toddler - sociable, curious, excellent at various events. Only ever drops off somewhere if she's ill which is very rare- like twice in the history of forever has she just dozed off on the couch. Can handle staying up very late on holiday, weddings, etc.

Carried a lot as a baby and is still my shadow but mainly in a nice way. Likes to be involved in whatever I'm doing and is happy as long as she knows what I'm up to. I think if you accept it and go with their personality it's fabulous - take them on adventures!

Both of my girls are like this.

Not great sleepers, constant questioning and fascination with the world, always needing someone in their face to entertain them.

Too early to say with DD2 but DD1 is a bright button, doesn't miss a trick and was an early talker.

Oh, this is DD2 to a tee! I didn't realise it was a thing! DD1 has always been so chilled, happy to sit and watch the world go by, sleeps like a dream (too much, if anything), but DD2 barely sleeps at all and is into everything all the time. She's not quite a year so isn't talking talking yet but has been chatting and shouting constantly for months. She needs constant attention, can never be left, and is happiest interacting and crawling, standing, cruising, dancing, climbing - she never stops! Did I mention the not sleeping?! Never down before 11pm (can be as late as 1am), up again at 7, naps sporadic. But she seems fine on it while I'm on my knees! I REALLY hope the sleep improves once she can walk and talk.

DD 14 months is the same. She made it to two weeks though before the dozey napping stage ended. I genuinely cant fathom who put their babies down and they go to sleep- it's like a whole different world to me!!! She napped for 30 mins max for the first 9 months- sometimes I would have spent an hour and a half getting her to sleep first. Now though she seems to have 2 naps a day and one is at least an hour usually. It's still a battle to get her to sleep but once shes there shes fine. As others have said- these alert ones are way more aware of whats going on (I've taken it to be intelligence, maybe to make myself feel better at the lack of daytime rest....)
?!), her language is also really really good which is useful now as her tantrums start to add to the fun.

DC1 was exactly like that. Wide awake from birth. Would only sleep if breastfed to sleep in a darkened, silent room, or in a sling if I was walking quickly. She didn't sleep through consistently until around age 3. Needed constant stimulation and social interaction during the day.

Anyway... she is now 7 1/2. She is very energetic, does several sports, learned to read early and and does well academically, and is very creative. She has also been described as having 'exceptional social skills' and is popular in her class. She is very much well worth all the years of sleepless nights as a baby and toddler!

DS1 was like that. 22 now, and perfectly able to stay in bed until lunchtime. However, he is delightful! He's not super academic, he's on the autism spectrum, but he is very bright- just has some processing problems that make life harder than it should be.

Life didn't get easier until he was about 11, sorry!

I used to watch DS2 in wonder, when he was asleep. I swear he used up all the sleep his brother rejected!