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How to tell if your baby is gifted or not

How to tell if your baby is gifted or not

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - September 18th, 2023

As parents, we all believe our babies are special and unique. Still, some children exhibit certain traits and behaviors that might indicate they are gifted. ‘Giftedness’ refers to an advanced level of cognitive and intellectual abilities, often evident from an early age. If you’re wondering whether your newborn to two-year-old baby could be gifted, here are some common signs to look out for.

Top Signs Your Baby May Be Gifted

1. Exceptional Alertness:

Even as newborns, gifted children often display a high level of alertness. They are keen observers, attentively absorbing their surroundings and stimuli.

2. Advanced Motor Skills:

Gifted babies often reach physical milestones earlier than their peers. This can include holding their head up, rolling over, crawling, or walking. They display better coordination and balance, showcasing advanced motor skills.

3. Early and Extensive Language Skills:

Gifted children frequently develop language skills at an accelerated rate. They might start babbling, speaking, and even forming simple sentences earlier than the typical age range. These children often have a larger vocabulary and more complex sentence structure than their peers.

4. Excellent Memory:

Gifted babies often exhibit a surprisingly good memory. They remember small details, recognize faces, and can even remember places or routines. They might also be quick to remember and repeat activities they’ve observed.

5. Curiosity and Fast Learning:

Gifted babies are typically quick to grasp new concepts and are often visibly curious. They are eager to explore, constantly interacting with their environment, and learning from it. Their ability to rapidly understand cause-and-effect relationships is often notable.

6. Problem-Solving Skills:

Gifted children often demonstrate excellent problem-solving skills. Even as babies, they can find innovative ways to reach a toy, open a container, or maneuver obstacles. This showcases their analytical thinking and creativity.

7. Sensitivity and Intensity:

Gifted babies can be more sensitive and responsive to their environments, demonstrating strong reactions to sounds, colors, or changes. They might also be intensely focused, exhibiting high levels of concentration for certain activities.

8. Advanced Social and Emotional Development:

Gifted babies can often display advanced social and emotional development. They may exhibit empathy or understanding of social cues at an unusually early age. They might show signs of self-awareness and understanding of others’ feelings beyond their age.

9. Preference for Older Companions:

Gifted babies often prefer the company of older children or adults over other babies. They enjoy more complex play and conversations, which older companions can provide.

10. Exceptional Creativity and Imagination:

Gifted children frequently exhibit heightened creativity and imagination even at an early age. They may engage in complex pretend play or come up with creative solutions to problems.

It’s important to remember that these signs can vary greatly among gifted children. Just because your baby does not exhibit all these characteristics doesn’t mean they aren’t gifted. Every child develops at their own pace, and it’s essential to celebrate their unique journey.

If you believe your baby is gifted, consider having a conversation with a pediatrician or a child psychologist for professional guidance. They can help evaluate your child’s abilities accurately and provide recommendations on nurturing their potential.

Identifying giftedness early can help cater to your child’s unique needs, providing them with an environment that challenges and nurtures their potential. However, whether gifted or not, every child is unique and extraordinary in their own way.

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18 Responses

Prisca

My son is 8 months old and he exhibits all the above mentioned traits I’m afraid he’s gifted and I have no fund to seek assistance of a child psychologist.

TestingMom.com

You can always ask your pediatrician for their thoughts on this!
Just follow his lead regarding interests (while still maintaining discipline and some structure- even gifted kids still need loving boundaries). If he loves books, give him lots of books and read a lot. If he loves music, provide lots of exposure to quality music. Make his environment interesting and content rich. Talk to him a lot, show him things, take him places, expose him to lots of people and new experiences.
I hope this helps!

Jennifer

My son is exhibiting all of these expectations

Ronald

My baby is a girl 7months now, though she’s not crawling by now. Why

TestingMom.com

This is something you can ask your Pediatrician! Children develop at different rates so there is no need to worry!

SJ

My boy is 13 months he can say over 30 words make animal noises, follow instructions, been walking since 10 months, can say two/three words sentence like “good boy” …”I did it” count from 1-5 but can also say 13, 16, 18 and 20 but only when I count with him. He can say colours for example “this is blue” he will say blue … he can’t yet identify the colours his self …he can with veg like pea and carrots and apples …for example he will give me a apple and say apple. His childminder says he is sooooo advanced for his age is unbelievable! ……I don’t know if he is gifted or not and I don’t want to go and ask incase I get laughed at or even mum shamed like “oh look at her thinking her kid is special” because we all like to believe are children are ….i mean he rather smart but gifted I don’t know.

Ava

13 month old saids Daddy,Mama, I did that, monkey, uncle, Debbie, gold girs( golden girls) vegetables, Santa.

Jessie

I have a 3 month old. She is super alert and observes everything. Sometimes I don’t know weather it is normal since she is my first one or if she really is advanced because when others see what she does they are all very surprised and say she is so advanced.

Examples include.

1. At 3 weeks she turned over from tummy time. I thought it was a one a time accident and normal because she was so small. But she continued to do it repeatedly.
2. At one month she began to hold her bottle. Not all the time not the full sitting but long enough and often enough to show intention.
3. At 6 weeks she started talking the baby talk. Today at 3 months she will be in her playpen talking and playing by herself. If you talk to her she will talk back or she will just be talking bygerself.
4. At 2 weeks she got a slight fever and stuffy nose. I had to use the baby Frida to clear out her congestion. For the first 2 times she hated it complained after the second time it seems she noticed it was helping her and anytime that I used it in the following days she would just lift her head and let me do it with no fuss. Once I was done she would take a big breath in relief. She only began to complain once she wasn’t as congestion anymore and it got uncomfortable. Same thing with me cleaning out her nose today if it gets boogers.
5. She takes a binki we give it only when she is very fussy. And if she wants it she will keep it I not she will take your hand and push it away from her mouth and fight your hand from giving it to her. But if she wants it and it’s falling out she will intentionally push it back in. If she is tired of it she will intentionally take it out. (Mind you she is not intentionally picking up toys and brining it to her mouth yet).
6. Finally she has held her head and become very observant and interacting with her surroundings since 6 weeks.

Idk if it is too soon to tell but in comparison with other babies we know she definitely seems advanced in these areas

Cheryl

My granddaughter was turning over at 2 1/2 months she can say I love you. Hi baby yeah my Mommom at 4 mths old . she watching everybody looks at everything around her .We talk normal to her likeshe can understand what we say she was laughing one morning and I said to her what’s my mom look funny and she said yeah she’s totally amazing now she’s four months and three weeks I can’t believe how smart she is how observant she is and she pays attention to everybody and everything and she’ll sit with us and watch TV what we’re watching do you think she’s gifted?

TestingMom.com

Your granddaughter sounds delightful! If you believe your baby is gifted, consider having a conversation with a pediatrician or a child psychologist for professional guidance. They can help evaluate your child’s abilities accurately and provide recommendations on nurturing their potential. We wish you the best!

Dawn

My baby girl was advanced like this, at 18 months daycare put her with the 3 yr olds so she fit in & was happier. Our pediatrician was a huge help, she was always 6-12 months ahead, and “play therapy” with a psychologist helped tremendously. Making music instruments and art/craft supplies always available helped when she got frustrated.
In her case, it turned out she is on the autism spectrum, “high functioning.” Having a child psychologist on my team helped SO much!

TestingMom.com

Thank you for sharing this info!

Ivette

My now 22 month old daughter has been counting to 20 saying her ABC’s knowing the names & sounds of pretty much every animal, she’s been talking since she was 13months. As old as 17 months she’s been speaking in full sentences. Not long sentences but a I’ll give a few examples “no mommy I don’t want that” or “can I have it please mommy” she names all the characters from every cartoon, she knows all her families names & who they are to her she even says you’re mommy Ivette, daddy Oscar, auntie Heidy, auntie Melonie, uncle Jaime etc. There’s just so much more than I couldn’t fit in one page. By the way I have proof of it all. I made sure to record as much as I can. Can I get help please.

TestingMom.com

Your daughter sounds delightful! If you believe she is gifted, consider having a conversation with her pediatrician or a child psychologist for professional guidance. They can help evaluate your child’s abilities accurately and provide recommendations on nurturing their potential. We wish you the best!

Ariana

When my son was only 2 and a half weeks old he started saying mom but only would yell mom . But only when he was real upset and wanted to be picked up or if somebody else had him in their arms and he no longer wanted them to hold him he would than yell out mom . When I told my mother about my son calling my name out she didn’t believe me but one day she was over visiting for a few minutes and she was visiting my son in the room but than he started to cry and than yelled out for mom ; my mom heard him speak and when she walked out of the room her eyes were all big from being shocked from hearing my 2 in a half week old baby call for hes mom, so she stepped out of the room with her eyes all big and said to me the baby wants you he is calling your name .

TestingMom.com

Thank you for sharing this! Your son sounds AMAZING!

Mary Ann Lopez

My Grandson at 10 months when my daughter would knock on wood, he would say who is it and he would say open it like to open the door and he would crawl to the door and at 10 months his vocabulary was 12 words or more. He is now four or five years old, when he was born and he heard me speak, he turned his face towards me and looked at me at that moment. I just had a feeling that he was gonna be very, very Smart genius because as soon as he heard my voice, he turned to me in my direction and he was just like 30 minutes old.

Samantha

My daughter now 18 months seemed an old soul since birth. She hit almost all milestones early. Very emotionally connected. She now has a pretty extensive vocabulary. Maybe 100 or so words. Can use 3 or more word sentences when she slows down her speech. Last week she wanted a certain song on her tonie music box.. went into her dresser to get her encanto pjs to show me what she wanted. I’m not prepared for her level of intelligence. Mind you I have a Masters and come from engineers etc. Still surprises me daily.

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