Contrary to popular belief, babies start developing very strong instincts and emotions really early.
For instance, many mothers have experienced a baby's refusal to drink milk if he is not given any the minute he starts crying of hunger.
This is his way of expressing anger at being kept waiting so long.
Your baby, no matter how young, is a tiny person fully capable of experiencing joy, anger, and pain.
This is why it is easy to tell if your toddler or even your infant has a high temper from early on.
You may wonder what the telltale signs for baby temper are.
The first and most obvious is one that is evident in any angry person, young or small: tantrums.
Babies two to six months old express anger by crying very loudly and incessantly and flailing their fists around.
If your baby does a lot of high-pitched crying for no reason and refuses to stop, he is most probably throwing a tantrum.
This is a sign of early temper.
Another sign may be refusal to be fed.
Most babies when angry will not suckle, and if they do, will spit milk or water back out.
This is a rebellion of sorts, and if your baby is doing this it means he may be angry for any reason whatsoever; you might have handled him a little too roughly for his taste while changing his diaper, or the milk might not be at the temperature he likes it at.
Another thing many babies do when expressing anger is to make the entire body go rigid and go red in the face.
If your child does this, he most definitely is not pleased about something and wants you to know.
Like some babies are naturally happy children who will laugh at anything, babies with a temper are also perfectly normal.
You should however try to ease the temper and tune it down before it becomes a permanent part of your baby's personality.
Find what triggers the tantrums and try to avoid those things.
Hold him close and sing or croon to him, he will most probably calm down in a while.
Distract him with a toy or something colorful or noisy that will appeal to him.
Hitting or spanking never helps, they will only aggravate your baby all the more and make him shriek louder and feel angrier.
Sometimes the best strategy is to ignore the tantrums.
Your baby should know he will not always get what he wants, so when he is shrieking to make you give in to something unreasonable, put him in his crib or playpen until he is exhausted.
Pick him up and hold him once he is done crying, this way he will know a tantrum will not get him anywhere.