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.

I’m making it through op. Ds is 17 months old now and was what they would call a super alert baby and still is as a toddler. It is getting better but certainly has not been easy going. I’ve held off having a second child just yet because I don’t think I could have coped! He’s a great talker for his age but I’m thinking it’ll become much easier again once he can talk properly where we can communicate fully at maybe about 2ish.

Haha! My people :D my 7 month old is tbh at the less extreme end of things but he’s the kind of baby where people say ‘gosh he’s alert’ and look at me with sympathy. Rarely goes more than 2 hours without sleep, sitting up at 5 months, currently obsessed with standing but can’t do it alone. Thinks crawling is for losers. Attempts to breastfeed him when anyone else is present are very funny but futile. My oh says we need a big box for us to cut out the distractions when feeding :)

People also say ‘what a contented little boy’ and I think yeah, if we’re doing what he likes doing. I realise I’ve got quite good at managing him. I felt somewhat vindicated when my very experienced childminder has had trouble leaving his eyeline. He wants engagement all the time. He’s started throwing himself backward and screaming when frustrated. Ummm son, isn’t that something that toddlers do? Stop now! We call him baby smash - his way of engaging with the world is to get amongst it.

I had a bit of an epiphany recently as he’s been very whingy and that’s not been his style so far. But doing, moving very much is. He wants to be walking and he’s not there yet. He was an emergency c-section and I remember the frustration of not being able to get out and walk under my own steam. So maybe we’re quite alike in some ways. That did help me have more patience for the whinging. I won’t lie, I feel a pang of jealousy for those chill babies you can just put down. But that is not who my boy is, and I do get satisfaction from working out what works for him. You can’t problem solve babies, but you can observe and learn.

Oh and all that ‘put them to bed sleepy but awake’ business. Hahaha. No. ‘Enjoy every minute’ sometimes every minute is boring or annoying. I get through by having an involved partner, childcare, always leaving the house every day, not trying to make him do stuff he doesn’t want to do/trying to make him a baby he’s not. Sometimes I lie on the floor for a few minutes. :)

My eldest was like this and we had a real battle over a routine. (Also had to be his cot and deathly silent for him to sleep.) It got a lot better at 9 months when he learnt to crawl. When he was tiny he'd give me my shoes as soon as we got downstairs - before we'd even had breakfast / got dressed. He just had to be on the go / out and about all the time. He's quite similar now, but being a teenager it's a whole lot easier to "manage".

Catheroooo What do you mean by evening? Do you mean dinner out, or late? Could she be offered solids (supper) instead or does she just breastfeed then go back to sleep? I once left DS for 4 hours at 4 months, thought he wouldn't take a bottle, but he did once he discovered he could hold it himself! When I left him in the day at 9 months he just had solids and water.

So glad I started this post. You've all been so reassuring and it's so good hearing people with similar babies, and frustrations and understanding!

She's not great with solids, we're doing BLW and she's a bit perplexed with textures still. So doesn't take much. I'd just like a trip to the cinema or a meal out. Nothing overnight or past midnight.

We couldn’t go out on an evening together for about two and a half years. Or in the day for that matter he was so much hard work we couldn’t leave him with someone else he’d never feed or sleep 🙄

It comes though. We left him for a weekend with his aunty and had two lovely days away recently- he had a great time too (he’s 5.5 now)

I mostly did BLW with DS but he was also spoonfed greek yogurt and apple puree when he was being babysat at about 9 months and I wasn't there to breastfeed him.

@mol1628 did you go to work?

I tried to go back to work- I worked nights but with his non napping and being up in the night I only lasted 3 months before I went insane so became a sahm. Which was never my plan but no one told my baby that!!

Hello All,

I Know this post is old now but I am so glad I found it, I thought I was the only one! This is my DD to a T ! I have never seen a baby like it ! She is so full on, so so Alert ( she doesn't miss a trick ), always wants to be held, only ever catnaps, will only relax and go to sleep by being BF to sleep in a dark room with white noise, can't self settle yet, always needs to be entertained and is into everything. I'm actually quite jealous of those who have chilled babies. I've just started to get a little worried about her as all the other babies I've ever come across have always been so chilled and basically text book babies. So I just started assuming something might be wrong as to why she is so different, And whenever you Google anything related to an Alert baby it comes up with Autism which now has me worried and can't seem to forget about. Catheroooo my daughter is the same : she does babble but very small amount, she gives eye contact but doesn't stare at you like other babies do. She laughs but not had any belly laughs yet. She reaches out to things she wants and also puts her arms up to be picked up and She looks when I point at things. We have started weaning but she really isn't taking to it well. I know you shouldn't compare babies but when you have friend who's baby is three weeks older than yours and sleeps through the night, loves her solids, babbles a lot, is so chilled and will go to anyone really doesn't help the situation.
It has been such a massive shock and has brought me to my knees a few times. The lack of sleep isn't helping ( which people still comment about ) ! Im just curious to how your little is doing now Catheroooo?
Really hope I get a reply. Could do with the reassurance.

I came out of lurking and finally made an account so I could comment on this thread. My baby is 14 weeks, and the last 7 have been SO hard. I am so glad to see so many positive stories of these super alert babies growing up to be normal children! I am at breaking point after nearly two months of every nap and bedtime being a multi-hour, screaming-filled struggle. I think the fact that baby guides all say that babies reach their peak of fussiness around 6-8 weeks and get easier after that really set me up for despair since that’s exactly when mine “woke up,” and she’s been hyper alert ever since. She won’t be put down and hates any suggestion of sleep. I’ve started co-sleeping out of desperation, but that just results in her spending the entire night obsessively seeking the boob and trying to feed. Like many others on this thread I’m baffled when I see babies contentedly snoozing away in their strollers or in their car seats. My baby has never spontaneously fallen asleep on her own, anywhere, since she was 6 weeks old! This experience has broken us and we will not be rolling the dice on a second child.

9 years old now and bedtime still a battle. Being assessed for ADHD. Hard work but good company (best 1:1)

Mine was like that, super alert walked at 9 months, talked fluently by two, gave up naps at 16 months, never slept. Always into everything. Was a right pain in the arse. He’s now a Dr in A and E.

Dt1 was like this and was diagnosed with autism aged 6…she was also hyperlexic, talked very young and reading at 3.
Dt2 is also has autism but was opposite as a baby, very placid and an excellent sleeper.

@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.

Yup my first was. It almost broke me and my DH. Literally slept 4 hours in every 24 but wasn’t crying just awake. Wouldn’t sleep in the pram or car for more than maybe 30 mins. Awake at the slightest thing. Wide eyed from week 1. Thankfully was better from 6 months but still super alert. Turned out she was very bright. Knew numbers to 10 by sight before she was 2 and could have full conversation before 2. Could read novels by 5/6 and write very well from Y1 She’s 13 now and at grammar school- still finds academic work pretty easy. I had 2 more children and they weren’t the same at all. Sleeping so much better

DS(12) was like this. He always wants to be doing the next thing and sat up, crawled, walked, talked etc early. He didn’t sleep through til he was 2 1/2. He was a nightmare baby but turned into an excellent child and although he’s starting to display grumpy teenage behaviour, he’s still easy compared to a lot of our friends’ preteens. He’s turned out clever, he goes to a grammar school but the poor child did not keep up with his precocious physical development 🙈.

Sounds like dc2, trying to hold their head up from the start, watching everything, rolked at 10 weeks, commandi crawling at 5 months, didn't sleep through til 14 months(and then only about 9 hours max), dropped all day time naps by 18 months.
Now a teenager,v bright, never still and only sleeps about 6hours a night(may be 8-9 on a weekend sometimes)

Mine was an alert one. I remember my dm visiting when he was 8mnths and ill. She commented that she was enjoying him being ill as he was all snuggled up and asleep on her for the first time ever.

Hey everyone,

Nice to see others replying and sharing stories of how their LO turned out. It’s very reassuring.

@JaneEyress, I did the same thing. After googling everything my DD did I came across this post and how similar my DD is, it’s such a shame the OP hasn’t kept everyone updated on her LO. Seeing as I didn’t get a reply I started a new thread. Called super alert baby. I’ve received mixed messages but most of them are reassuring.
I too feel broken by this experience. I imagined it completely differently in my head. Well I imagined my baby would be like the ones I see at group where they’re so happy and contend and so chilled.
Just got in contact with my doctors as I’m so broken and after talking to all the mums on here they recommended me to tell them how anxious I feel about LO being so different.
Hope you’re ok. I feel what you’re going through too.

i am going through the same thing. Really struggling physically and mentally. I was wondering how your little one is doing now? Really needing some reassurance and hope here…

@lykfay i am going through same thing. My little one is 14 weeks. I have been homebound most of times and is really struggling mentally and physically. How is your little one doing now? Really need some reassurance here …

@Hellogc
Hey there !
being home bound is so hard , I feel you 😞 I didn’t leave the house with my little one until she was well over 4 months old. I couldn’t stand her screaming all the time and people judging. I didn’t understand how everyone else’s babies were so chilled and happy and yet I couldn’t leave the house with mine.
the hardest thing I did was change my perspective on how I saw my baby. Instead of thinking why is she like this she should be like that etc. I attended to her personal needs. She wants to be held all the time ok so I’ll hold her, she likes contacting napping ok I’ll take a nap with her, etc. she wants to eat her dinner sat on my lap ok then, she naps better when I’m there, she’s more content being held and being so close to me. She eats more dinner sat on my lap. I do what makes her happy. She is a high needs baby apparently my husband was too. Would have been nice to have known this. I’ll send you a link for a Facebook group with babies just like ours. Makes you feel like you aren’t the only one out there.
The best thing I did was to stop googling and stop coming on these chat sites. Most of the time they are very helpful but you don’t always find the answers you’re looking for and they used to set my anxiety off.
hope you’re ok. ❤️

facebook.com/groups/fussybabysite/

My now 7 year old was like this. We even got stopped on a bus in Oxford by a child development expert telling us how observant she was as a 9 month old. Never bloody slept. Didn’t sleep through the night until 6 and still requires way way way less sleep than peers. Very hard work. Early speaker. Very determined/ obstinate/ stubborn toddler. Into everything. Still wants to know everything and is very bright and active and never stops. Is generally a delight, though requires a lot of attention still so still quite tiring for us. Doing well at school academically and socially.