Someone else's posts about observations of their child as a newborn got me to wondering...

When DD7 was an infant, the comments I received most when we were out and about were about how alert she was. She was always wide-awake, kind of intense-looking, watching and taking in everything.

I couldn't take her places and expect her to sleep in her carseat like other infants. It was a challenge to get her to sleep as much as she needed at ALL.

I always assumed it was just a temperament thing. But now I am wondering if that "alertness" was an early sign of her giftedness.

What was your experience?

Our experience was the same. No time to search now, but I'm sure I remember there being a thread on this in the past, and the experience having indeed been very common.

Hah. DS freaked the nurses out by lifting his head up to look around when he was less than 2 days old. I was reprimanded for 'not supporting his head.' LoL. He was always lifting his head up and pushing against us with his feet as if he were letting us know "I'm ready! Let's go do something!"

DD freaked out the nurses before she was even finished being delivered into the world. You can still hear the collective "OH MY GOD!" on the video.

For further evidence, I took pictures on DD's first Halloween, seated next to her 5yo cousin in complimentary princess outfits. They were both watching Spongebob at the time, and while I was snapping pictures, something happened on Spongebob. DD9mos and her cousin were photographed with identical responses.

My PG brother was described as just quietly looking all around the delivery room, taking it all in, making eye contact, while still covered in goo.

DS was sleepier initially, well not sleepy but kept his eyes closed as if light hurt, he'd squint when he opened his eyes. His body and reactions were alert, if that makes any sense, but not his eyes initially. Once he opened his eyes, around his actual due date (he had been early) he he seemed to be able to focus on and be interested in books, images, people's eyes, etc. We read that infants can't focus well early on but this wasn't our experience.

Polly

All three of my boys were very alert from the day of birth.

Aiden was born by emergency c-sec after they tried every drug known to stabilise labour - we have a photo of him quietly staring at DH through the incubator, despite the drugs that the nurses assured us would have him sleepy and quiet for "at least a week"

Nathan was holding his head up before we left the hospital - staring around curiously from birth at every single sound (the sounds in the hospital even interrupted feeding)

Dylan held his head up and looked DH squarely in the eyes before he was 24 hours old. He also stared around after delivery, the midwife said it looked as though he was trying to see out of the bath he was born i,n before crying.

Yes. DD was referred to as "the owl."

yep yep. us too- Nick turned his head to look at the ballgame by 48 hours- much to his Daddy's delight. LOL eyeroll

"Was your gifted child an unusually alert infant?"

Yes. Everyone said, wow, how alert! So focused!

Where else could I say this without everyone thinking I was a total nutjob? DD was making eye contact in the operating room within minutes of my c-section. The next day she was making eye contact and watching people walk across the room. A pediatrician relative visited me in the hospital and confirmed this. "No, it's not physically possible but yes I see her doing it." The nurses told me that she didn't like the lights in her eyes going back and forth to the nursery so she took her little arms out of the swaddling and put them over her eyes. "Wow" "OMG" "Look, look", etc from all the hospital staff.

We were told "She is exceptionally social" at her 4 week check up when she was engaging the pediatrician and laughing out loud. At 8 week check up "Wow this was fun. Most babies this age just lie there!" It continued as an older infant too - watching and laughing out loud at Shrek 2 when she was 7 months old (she LOVED the dinner scene with Shrek and Fiona's father)

So, yes, she was indeed an unusually alert infant and no she never slept...

Both of mine were born with instant personality. The oldest (8) is the only diagnosed one so far, but my 21 month old is showing an amazing amount of promise right now. They are both tall, and people would often think they're older than they are because of their alertness. Both very late talkers though weirdly!

our DD hardly slept and still doesn't sleep much. My mother (lots of grandchildren) said "i've never seen a baby like this" when DD was 10 days old. She still talks about it. DD would cry until we took her up to paintings around our house (middle of the night of course - ugh), she would look and look with these big wide eyes. MD also commented at her 3 day apt bc wide-eyed, looking around, and could roll to her side.

Mr W was a preemie via C-section, but had an Apgar of 9. He went home 3 days after birth. That first week he was home he smiled at me when I woke him up.

By the 3rd month he was no longer an infant. We had to remind the Dr at his 3 mos checkup that he had been a preemie and was only 3 mos old.

I have pics of him at 4 months sitting up and watching Handy Manny and laughing at the appropriate points. He would listen for an hour at Nordstrom's to the piano player. I could name an object and he would point to it. One time I lost my keys while out walking and took him to go look for them and he found them before I did.

And he slept very little. His last nap was around 12 mos.

I've had the same experience with my little girl! Even when I was pregnant, the doctors would say 'wow the baby is really active!' then after birth it was 'wow she's very alert!' Every baby at our local breastfeeding group looked sleepy to me compared to mine, I realized quickly she was different.

For some reason my midwife was wearing gold bracelet that dangled slightly. As she took the baby to the table to suck her out, the baby grabbed her bracelet and would let it go. My mom snapped a picture. I never told anyone but my husband, but I was alone most of the day when I was pregnant and when daddy came home every day, she would kick very hard after being quiet all day. This happened every day. Every day he would poke her back and call her booper. I know for a fact that she knew him before she was born. We used to drive a lot and play music. Over and over she would "dance" when we changed to country music. I swear! Before she was born. Dh and I don't like country music. Today, at age 9, dd is a dancer and loves country music! Lol.

Yes, my oldest and youngest were both born prematurely. The nurses in the NICU always commented on how alert they were and how much eye contact they gave. If I walked into the NICU and talked to them while they were having an IV change, they both stopped crying to look for me.

We have video of my oldest at 8 weeks old with a little toy. It had a white bear on a black background on one side and a black bear on a white and red background on the other. Every time you slid the cover to the white bear, he'd smile and when you switched it to the black bear, he'd frown. If we adjusted for his prematurity he would have been not quite 2 weeks old at the time.

Sounds familiar. Every night from about the beginning of the third trimester I would read aloud to DW and DD, and DW quickly noted that this was DD's most active part of the day.

Each time before I would start reading, I'd call her name twice in a particular cadence and tone. I was doing this on purpose, to see if she'd recognize me on her birthday. Her "OH MY GOD" moment already passed (without boring you too much with details, it had something to do with her deciding to accelerate her own delivery), she was swaddled and placed, screaming, in my arms.

I only said her name once before she stopped screaming and locked eyes with me. I was rocking her side to side, and her eyes were tracking my relative motion. And I stared at her, thinking, "She's not supposed to be able to do this...."

Later that day she was lying on my chest, picked up her head, looked over at DW for a handful of seconds, and laid back down... and again I was thinking, "She's not supposed to be able to do this..."

I never felt they were all that different from the norm, but others remarked on it. DS also had his eyes open while he was crowning, which the midwives said was very unusual, though I can't back that up.

Yes. I clearly remember my mother saying, "This is a really weird baby. She is watching the nurses." Apparently DD was tracking the nurses with her eyes as she was being weighed. At the time, I was rather annoyed since I had gone to all the trouble to gestate and birth her and didn't think she was weird at all. But now it is funny.

When my DS entered the world at 11 lbs 2 oz 22 1/2 inches he was a big boy. The nurses had a special bed that rocked the babies who needed to be soothed. My little guy pretty much owned the bed while I recovered from my c-section. I remember in the delivery room he reached in the plastic bassinet and grabbed both sides. One of my most treasured memories is my 1 day old son being held by my 90 year old grandfather and watching what seemed to almost be a conversation. My grandpa talking and my little guys, eyes wide open cooing back in response to him.

Until I read this thread I didn't really think about how unusual it was for him to be so alert.

We did a 3D sonogram with DD5mo at 30 weeks. Her eyes were looking around the whole time (30+ mins).

The sonogram technician mentioned she had never seen this before, and she said DD must be a genius (?!?)

Yes-
DD9 seemed to be studying her surroundings, particularly people. She seemed to really be listening when we talked to her. Nurses and doctors commented about it. She would also lift her head to look around.

DD5 had an extremely difficult delivery, including inhaling meconium, needing oxygen, and being wisked away. She was conked out when we got her back and spent her first few days wheezing and coughing... I was too worried about her to notice alertness, but looking back at videos, she was the same way.

My kids were also both very verbal... talking extensively very young. That was our first really big clue that they weren't average kids. I realized that when two year olds at daycare were only saying a few words and my 18 month old was using sentences.

my youngest lifted her head on the table moments after birth. She rolled over at three weeks and laughed very, very early. Both girls had bright, aware eyes from day one.