"Was She a Good Baby?" Don’t Ask!

It was a common question after my daughter was born.

“She’s very good at being a baby,” I’d respond curtly. 

Instagram may tell you that infants are supposed to lay quietly in their adorable swaddles, a peacefully snoozing burrito while you drink your coffee next to them in a sun-lit room peppered with leafy green plants and coordinating wallpaper. My reality—and many women’s reality—was far different.

We lived in a cramped apartment where there was no escaping my daughter’s fussiness. Soiled burp cloths piled up next to a cardboard box with nappys and wipes. Discarded dummys were sprinkled on every surface. My daughter cried—a lot. The root cause? Likely my own inexperience, coupled with unrelenting exhaustion and a child that just needed a little bit more. 

Was she a good baby?

She was great at being a baby. She cried, she slept (never long enough), she was gaining weight, she was occasionally focusing her eyes on an object for a few seconds. She, however, was not easy to soothe. She required constant rocking and shushing. Six o’clock in the evening announced what we called “the witching hour,” where it was guaranteed tears for entirely too long.

But there was nothing wrong with her. She was not a bad baby. As she grew up, I learned her personality, and she taught me what she needed to feel comfortable. She does not like loud, sudden sounds. Groups of new people make her nervous. She needs her parents close by. She’s shy, and also very smart. There was never any fooling her. As a preschooler, this hasn’t changed too much. She’s slow to warm up, but once there, she’s game to play.

When you ask, “Is she a good baby?” you’re insinuating that there are bad babies. There are no bad babies. Sure—some may be easier to soothe than others—but babies all want the same things: comfort and food. Needing those things does not make them good nor bad. Their method of expressing those needs is not good nor bad. Babies are simply babies, giving out clues to their personality as early as can be, and it’s our job as parents to figure them out.

Descargo de responsabilidad: La información en nuestro sitio NO es un consejo médico para ninguna persona o condición específica. Solo se proporciona como información general. Si tiene alguna pregunta o preocupación médica sobre su hijo o sobre usted mismo, por favor contacte a su proveedor de salud. La leche materna es la mejor fuente de nutrición para los bebés. Es importante que, en preparación para la lactancia y durante la misma, las madres lleven una dieta saludable y equilibrada. La combinación de lactancia materna y alimentación con biberón en las primeras semanas de vida puede reducir la producción de leche materna y es difícil revertir la decisión de no amamantar. Si decide utilizar fórmula infantil, debe seguir las instrucciones cuidadosamente.