How Babies Taught Lynn About Temperaments

I first came to the notion of inborn temperaments while placing two-day-old babies for adoption in the early 1970s. Unwed mothers were viewed as a disgrace to society, so they went to places like Florence Crittenden Homes while pregnant and placed their babies for adoption through a state or other agency. I was assigned pregnant mothers wishing to place for adoption and couples wishing to adopt.

In my first two baby pick-ups from a neighboring state, I was introduced to completely different temperaments in the newborns. The Nic Unit nurses were able to warn me about the ultra-sensitive baby and reassure me about the relaxed baby. In a startling incident, the relaxed baby was next to me on a flight, and the drinks cart fell apart next to me. The baby did not stir. The highly sensitive baby I had transported the week before would have screamed for hours.

After this second placement, perplexed about the two baby’s differing reactions to life, I noticed an article on Temperament by the noted Pediatrician Barry Brazelton. Through his many years of working with babies and mothers, he had concerns about attachment: the active mother wouldn’t attach to the quiet baby, and the quiet mother would be overwhelmed and not attach to the active baby. After reading Dr Brazelton’s article, I identified the temperaments of my baby assignments and placed them by temperament in adoptive homes with the best chance of attachment.

In psychology classes, I was taught that humans are born blank slates, ready to be written on by our families and nurturing environment. These babies taught me that we are born with temperament propensities, possibly present in the third trimester of pregnancy. Years later, exposed to the Enneagram system, I almost immediately recognized our innate temperaments.