Barry Brazelton, a renowned Boston pediatrician, taught new mothers about temperaments as early as 1971. Observing infants and mothers over his long career, Dr Brazelton worried that an active mother could get bored with a quiet baby and a quiet mother could be overwhelmed with an active baby. As a pediatrician, his foremost thought was to create a better nurturing environment for the babies in his care. Sensitive to infants at birth, Dr Brazelton turned to nature and temperament to understand individual differences at birth.
There have been several longitudinal studies of temperament in the last fifty years. The forty-five year temperament research in the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS) by Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess (1977, 1984, 1986) studied 9 factors to delineate temperament differences. While these nine characteristics are mixed between the various Enneagram styles, the choice of nine is interesting. Jerome Kagan’s (1998, 2004) twenty-year temperament research provides evidence for a pre-birth temperament theory.
There have been testimonials from infant child care workers, adoption workers, and parents themselves who notice their children’s differences at birth. While I cannot identify a baby’s Enneagram style for sure in the first month, I have come pretty close with my grandchildren. My 8 Boss granddaughter was so busy commanding the room that she could not nurse when I was in the room. My 2 Giver grandson was smiling at birth and greeted me with a leg-long hug even before he could walk. My 5 Observer granddaughter did not want to be held by me as a baby until I had been with the family for 3 days.
More to come here.