to parents with more than one child....?

Question

are babies born with a personality already formed, or is it all formed depending on the circumstances around growing up, and the culture? have you noticed major differences from the very youngest ages with your children with regard to personality(temper,ability to share,being content with surroundings)

because i have 2 nephews that have totally different personalities yet raised in the same home.

Answer 1

I have 3 kids and I swear they have thier own personality as soon as they are born.

Answer 2

Children are born with personalities already formed, but they also grow with time.

I have 5 children. They all have their own personalites. Granted, we do a lot of things as a group, but they still look at the world in different ways.

My 13 yr old son is extremely bright, but very shy. He has a nurturing personality - and has a big heart. Girls' hearts melt around him, and he's completely oblivious. He's very good at being helpful, even without asking. Some day he'll be a wonderful scientist, and a wonderful father.

My 11 yr old daughter is very outspoken. If the sky isn't the shade of blue she wishes...then the whole world is wrong and she's going to tell everyone about it. She's a perfectionist. But, with her keeping order to the world, the world can be perfect if she wishes. She'll probably be in politics when she gets old enough to vote. As her voice has to be heard. And, she has a beautiful voice. Loves to sing.

My 10 yr old son loves animals, loves nature, loves anything to do with the ocean. He is a handful, only because sometimes he's misunderstood. He'll try to be helpful, but doesn't ask and just does things that he thinks will do the world some good. But he has a big heart, and loves everyone. And when he smiles, you almost forget that he's totally covered with mud standing on the new hardwood floor. Some day he'll learn how to make sharks talk.

My 8 yr old daughter is a fashion Diva. She loves to be helpful, always asks others if they need help with something. But, she's also a bit nosey. She likes to take control of the situation, but with her mesmerizing ways, you won't even know what hit you. She has wanted to be a fashion designer ever since she was 2 and learned that shoes can be different colors. Or a rich man very broke.

My 4 yr old son is a ham. Loves to make people laugh. People stop and ask him why he's so cute. He says "because I'm an Italian Stallion" and they just melt. He loves to go with his brothers to the ER, and will ask the doctors very big questions. He has an amazing photographic memory. He tells these wonderful stories, and they're funny because they really happened. Some day he'll be a very good doctor.

And then there's my twins. Not born yet, I'm only 22 weeks along. They definitely have personalities, and even very different ones. One is a busy body, moves around alot, likes to take up a lot of room. The other one is more laid back, likes to keep to himself, puts up with his twin because he has to, and in the ultrasounds, we've even seen him beat on the divider between the sacs as if to say "hey! quiet down! I'm thinking in here!"

But, as my children are still growing, it's wonderful to see how they're evolving. And my only job is to be there for guidance and support, every step of the way.

Answer 3

GD says it all. I think part of it all is that there is almost a strain to be different, even noticed, but still I can always hide behind my little brother.

I'm currented in a household with three siblings, and we're all about three years apart. And we couldn't be more different. My younger brother also has a little brother, and my sister was never really good at that big sister role. Then again, not many families have my sister, with some sort of 'slightly slower processing/connecting' learning disabiliy but is good at knowing what a person needs to be confortable, me, smart, artsy, minus a few social skills, small bro 1, smart like me but a little moreso plus whatever social graces little bro 2 (Aspergers child, and it shows) and I lack which adds up to many. My mother never did anything for us that we could have done ourselves. But you can tell with people who have been that 'older brother', because they're a little more compassionate, or who have been only children, because they're sharing and sociality isn't exactly up to speed. I remember coming out of naivety around 11, too late for many of my classmates at the time, and just keeping my own counsel and really not liking people who whined. Then came a 'dark' period, any now I'm trying to make the best out of what I've got and try to find those things that changed my life in a little way, like a book from fourth grade that kept me thinking or an old TV show I loved.

Children's personalities are based on their experiances around them, by their interaction with siblings, and by amount of parental inervention in their everyday lives.

Answer 4

Babies are born with their own personalities. It also depends on how you raise them. They may start out one way and you push or force them into another. I have 4 children. They're all different. My oldest, a girl, is very independent, outgoing, strong, let's you know how she feels about everything. My second, a boy, is lazy, jealous, whiny, thinks that the world owes him everything.( I did not raise him that way and we have talks about this pretty often.) My third, a boy, is outgoing, friendly, talks all the time, very hyper. My fourth, a girl, very quiet, simple, calm, insistant when she makes a request, has very little patience sometimes. (I think this will change with age.) Their ages are 15,14,4,&2. They all have to deal with each other, and learning to wait, talk things out, share, etc. All of this causes them to think and understand how life is. Maybe certain situations can cause personality changes. Death experiences can be damaging, or helpful. We as parents have to teach them what is acceptable in our own lives. Religion is another thing, everybody has their own upbringing, and this influences them, and gives them guidence. As they get older they will begin to make choices of their own, reguardless of their upbringing. Sometimes they follow in their parents footsteps, and other times they rebel. We all just raise our kids to the best of our ability and I do alot of praying! Even twins, raised by the same parents, look the same, talk the same, still are individuals and usually different.

Answer 5

I have three children and each of them were different even in the womb! My first was active in a contented sort of way, now he's a content, compliant, caring kid, my "good" kid. My second kicked hard making it feel like my insides were bruised, like throwing a temper tantrum, and now she's very opinionated, and strong willed, and doesn't like to sit still. My third barely moved and is now he's constantly on the move, and very, VERY strong willed, and won't take "no" for an answer. I think that personalities are decided at the time of conception just like eye and hair color!

Answer 6

I strongly believe that children are born with distinct characteristics. Those personal and physical traits that make them distinct from the others. Since children have innate characteristics, their environment has a major role in promoting, moulding or even detering them. The home or family plays a major role in influencing the child's personality. So as with friends and school. Even if siblings were born and raised in the same manner, and in the same environmental factors, they are still uniquely different in terms of their own personalities. It is impossible to have two siblings to have exactly the same personalities. God had made us uniquely different from our own brothers and sisters. Even if the variables are the same, we are already equipped with different personality traits. That's what makes us, uniquely 'us'.

Answer 7

I have actually studied about this a lot. I have studied many psychologists opinions on this subject. And that's the thing. They are simply opinions or theories. I have conducted my own study on this subject. Freud actually believed that babies were born with a clean slate. He thought it was all nurture, not nature. But, we all know how Freud was, huh? I have come to the conclusion after all of my studies and with expierence with my 3 children that babies are born with certain characteristics. They are born with things like temperment, outgoingness, shyness, ect. But, those things can be greatly influenced by their environment. You can teach a child to control thier temper or to be more outgoing. My 3 children are totally different!! No one can tell me that their personalities are completely developed by their environments. They had different personalities from day 1!!

Answer 8

I have 3 children 1 boy and 2 girls (15,12,&6) they each have their own personalities and yes that started when they were young; their personalities have not really changed much as they have gotten older. Besides the games they like and fightin' with each other they are pretty much the same as they were when they were little as far as personalities go
children are people just smaller versions people all have different personalities and so do children all 3 of mine are unique in their own way

Answer 9

I personally belive they are born that way only because my youngest came out screaming and would not stop.. she has been like that ever since.. she had colic and acid reflux and milk allergies and teethed at 2-3 months.. while my oldest was quite never heard a peep and she is shy and withdrawn... I mean don't get me wrong I beleive them having a sibling and they way that they grow up also plays a roll in their personality too...

You need to read my yahoo question about differences in each child LOL... it was interesting!

Answer 10

My boys, ages 8 and 5, are like night and day. My oldest is reserved and quiet, has never liked being dirty or normal boy stuff. My youngest is all boy...he's rowdy. hyper, and if it's dirty, he's in it. I believe that part of personality is in the genes and part of it is their surroundings. I just found out I am pregnant again and I can't wait to see what the difference is with this one. It is a constant adventure and yes it starts from the begining.

Answer 11

I have 5 children, and of couse my age has grown with each one. Their personalities are all different. My youngest one has the most outgoing one though. I think with the other kids around and parenting getting easier with each child they learn from their surroundings and circumstances growing up.