Infant temperament: implications for parenting from birth through 1 year.

Individual differences in behavioral style are seen readily in the first hours of life of the normal newborn. The intent of this overview is to delineate some specific issues of infant temperament that nurses will find beneficial in their endeavor to facilitate positive parent-infant relationships. Topics include a brief overview of infant temperament research, instruments and methods of measuring temperament, the relationship of temperament to postpartum depression, and colic. Clinical advice on day-to-day living experiences with a difficult infant will be offered.