Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion how old was your child when you suspected...

This was the weirdest tip off. One day when my DD was about 3 a friend said "she finally grew into her head." I didn't realize she was a big-headed baby.

How old was your child when you suspected that might be gifted?

My eldest's pediatrician kept saying "99th percentile!" starting when my son was only a month or two old.

Also, strangers kept saying "What an awake baby!" Being a brand new mother, I had no idea what they were talking about, and would think "Well, of course he's an awake baby, I mean he's AWAKE, right? He's not sleeping!"

Finally, my mother came to visit when he was 5 weeks old and SHE said it. At that point, I verbalized what I'd been thinking all along and she explained that "awake" really meant "alert." I still didn't fully get it and she explained that most newborns aren't terribly interested in their surroundings. Then I took a nap while she gave Mr. Awake a bottle.

The next one was born 3-4 weeks early but met all the milestones for alertness, including the one-month ones. He was different though: he wanted to stare and stare at stuff starting around 2 months for faces and 4/5 months for animals/books. He would look up at my face nonstop for ten minutes or more when I had him in a Baby Bjorn carrier when he was only 8 or 9 weeks old (people would comment on it). I used to worry that he was going to give himself a muscle spasm.

He wanted to learn about dinosaurs from an extremely early age (1 1/2? ) but we didn't fully get it until he was around 2.

The next one was basically alert on the day she was born. I think the first one may have been too, but I was way too out of it to notice or comprehend. I finally knew what to look for by the time she came along.

My kids aren't PG (not self-taught readers at age two for example); they're probably high MG or HG. Though if you can be PG at prehistoric creatures, my six year old paleontolgist might just fit the bill. He could learn from BBC paleontology documentaries before he was 3.

Silly stuff: one of my cats is kitty-gifted. He can open doors and drawers (especially if they contain food) and flip things over (especially if flipping things will result in him getting food). He also learned our (cat food-related) slang terms within a few weeks of moving in with us. He's a bit overweight, yet knows exactly how to convince people that he is just a Poor Starving Kitty in need of a good meal.

He also squeaks when you pick him up. This is unrelated to his giftedness, but is darn cute.

How old was your child when, and if, you had them tested?

Haven't had the kids tested yet. We may or may not do this.

As for the cat, we just hide the food in increasingly difficult-to-reach places as he figures out how to reach each hiding spot.

V.

Oh, do I ever get that. Mine did this with his baby bottles. They had dinosaurs on them (see my post of a few minutes ago).

I want to add that he does NOT have an obsession with dinosaurs; he simply loves them --- so much so that others around him come to love them too. It's the most amazing thing.

V.

DS8 rolled onto his side when he was only two days old. I remember seeing him and thinking "Hmm. I remember putting him on his back. I didn't think little babies could do that, but what do I know? I've only been a mother for 48 hours."

He rolled from back to tummy when he was ~10 weeks old. He taught himself by lying on the floor, kicking his legs, and saying "Ah! Ah!"

He'd roll over in his crib when I put him to bed. I got wound up and would put him on his back and he'd just flip over again. When he did this in his sleep, I finally realized that he hated, hated sleeping on his back, and this was what motivated him to roll so early.

The next one was the opposite: he would scream if we tried to give him "tummy time," so we never really bothered. He never seemed to want to roll over. Then when I was waiting for the doc at his four month checkup, I decided to see what would happen if I laid him on his tummy, and PRESTO! He rolled over onto his back. Trippy.

V.

Okay, I found DD 6's baby book. She actually rolled completely over at 11 weeks!



Val, love your cat! Did you pick him or did he pick you?

Val, did I get this right: Your kids are not PG, you have not had them tested?

I know I was totally shocked when I had them tested and I hadn't even been to this board yet. Don't you *see* them here. It seems like it to me ((shrug)).

Well, that number IS just a number, anyway. Your kids just sound like a real joy.

I was at the vet's office the other day and I heard this baby say CLEAR as DAY; doggie.
I turned around and asked the mom how old. If I recall correctly she said 6 months. I said: "your baby just said doggie!"

She was like, yeah, sometimes it sounds like she is actually saying words....
I told her I was pretty sure she clearly and purposefully said doggie and that she had a very smart baby.
She was so young.......I didn't want to say anything else, but I walked away chuckling....seemed like she was in for a wild ride!

Hmmm... my kids didn't meet any amazing milestones as babies. I knew there was something different about my eldest girl, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. And didn't put my finger on it until we tested a few months ago (when she was 7). And when my youngest started wanting to read at 3, I kinda thought that was normal. It still stuns me that she has a reading age 3 years above her chronological age. I just assume that all kids love reading as much as she does. Apparently we normalise a lot in this household

I wish I had trusted my instincts and tested earlier...

jojo

Yes, jojo, I'm pretty sure there isn't any conclusive proof of babies hitting milestones early and giftedness. I'd assume there are lots of gifted kids whose families didn't notice anything unusual or different. You can't say your child is not gifted if you read this thread like a checklist....no, no, no, maybe, yes, no, no, no. LOL!

The only study I know that studies this baby stuff in connection with giftedness is Ruf's work. If anyone knows anything else, I would love to read that, too.

I so agree! I think you can probably tell your child is GT if they do a lot of stuff early, but I definitely do NOT think you can determine that your child is NOT GT from a lack of early milestones.

Ruling in? Possibly, yes. Ruling out? No!

Wow - i forgot about this - DS was always craning his neck to look at me. I worried about his neck too, and figured the Baby Bjorn must have had some design flaw to allow this! DS's tiny neck could also support his giganto head from day 1.


That's what I thought about my son BT (before testing)... (Actually, just thought MG.)

My DS also turned over early, very early! OK - pulled out the baby book. He flipped himself in the bilirubin incubator at age 2.5 days. He really didn't want to be there! At home, he rolled over officially at 3.5 months.

DK (Dear Kitty) picked me and I picked him. He was a stray; we think someone dumped him. He was extremely shy and so I made a huge effort to persuade him to like me by leaving food for him and calling him. Eventually he warmed up and moved in. Now he's very outgoing and loves to meet new people. He's sleeping in a sunny patch next to my desk right now.

I suppose I'm making assumptions about my kids based on what I read here, but I could have a case of denial!

My kids are a real joy a lot of the time. They are not a real joy when they are beating each other up. That said, my eldest was a real terror when he was three. The child development people talk about the terrible twos, but no one ever tells you that three is worse!

Val