By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
OTTAWA -- Parents of cranky babies take comfort: they can turn out to be the star students of Grade 1 if they have a healthy dose of good care, according to new research.
Professors at two U.S. universities analyzed data involving 1,364 children, starting at six months, and concluded infants who cry more, are hard to settle down and do not respond well to new people and situations can develop stronger academic and social skills than babies who are easy to get along with from the start.
"Parents who have these babies who are hard to deal with can become very discouraged," said lead researcher Anne Dopkins Stright, a psychologist at the University of Indiana.
The study concluded difficult infants respond more to both good and bad parenting than laid-back babies, who are not as affected one way or the other. With bad parenting, the difficult babies more easily derail. With good parenting, they shine, the study found.
The study, which appears in the current issue of the academic journal Child Development, tracked children periodically from six months old until they were in Grade 1.
The researchers also examined the mothers' parenting skills, such as their warmth and how they guided their children through the difficult toddler years and beyond.
Grade 1 teachers filled out questionnaires on their students' social skills, grades, interaction with classmates and their relationships with their teachers.
The study explains difficult babies simply have more sensitive central nervous systems and therefore their reactions are more intense overall. The finding suggests early intervention and support services for parents who are having trouble coping with their temperamental babies are particularly important because it can make a big difference in the long run, the study says.
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