(Apologies to Gotye.)
I'm not sure what happened to our sweet, chill, easy-going baby. But she seems to have been body-snatched and replaced by an angsty, frustrated, tantrum-throwing pre-toddler.
These past three days have been some of the most difficult days I've had with E in a long time. She has been SO frustrated and throwing temper tantrums over every little thing. Her mood fluctuates wildly from perfectly calm and
happy to full-blown temper tantrum several times per hour. She starts and
stops tantrums so quickly that sometimes I cannot even determine what it was that set her off. And heaven forbid if she gets into something she
shouldn't have and I take it away... complete meltdown.
She is also refusing to nap, screaming and fighting going to sleep for an hour or more before I finally give up and just let her stay awake. Of the few times she has finally fussed herself to sleep these past few days, she wakes up only 20-30 minutes later. (She took two 20-minute naps yesterday. That is only 40 minutes of napping. For the WHOLE DAY. She was awake practically 13 hours!)
Bed time hasn't been any better. After weeks of going to sleep on her own, without fuss, she is now back to fighting it for an hour or more. Last night, she cried on and off for an entire hour before finally falling asleep. I tried everything -- leaving her to CIO (only makes her angrier!), laying with her (she hit me and pushed me away), nursing her (more hitting and pushing), and rocking her (physically fighting and kicking, trying to wrestle herself free). Nothing worked... Until she finally realized that she WAS actually hungry, nursed for a few minutes, and then passed out for three hours.
Oh, and she has also been refusing to nurse during the day as well. So on top of being exhausted, she is also likely starving. She is teething something awful (working on four new teeth!), and on the cusp of several big milestones (crawling, cruising, standing, walking), which I'm sure is also part of the problem. Those things combined make her such a frustrated, clingy, grouchy mess that she will hardly let me put her down... lest she have another tantrum.
I'm really just rambling. It is frustrating to deal with, but mostly I just feel sad and helpless. I hate watching her being so frustrated and having such a hard time, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to make it better, other than just ride it out.
Did anyone else go through this with an almost-one-year-old? Any suggestions? How long did it last? Is there anything else I can do to make this time easier for E (and S and me)?
Henry went bonkers like this too all of a sudden one week - I thought he was possessed (See here: http://www.themamayears.com/2012/09/september-10-day-i-sucked-at-motherhood.html). My husband brought home Happiest Toddler on the Block and I swear that saved us. From one day to the next using many of the techniques I had cut the tantrums in half and it got better each day. I think the best thing you can do is know it is totally normal, she won't starve, maybe take a glance at that book (or another you find you like), and get some help and get a break so you don't lose it! I think the help part is key - otherwise you'll just jump out a window. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book recommendation, I'm going to check that out!
DeleteAnd about breaks... yeah, on Sunday after she screamed for about three hours straight, I left her with S and went to the grocery store. One hour of peace and quiet and I felt so much better! Yesterday was a bit rough at home all day just the two of us, but today I also got a break when I dropped her at the babysitter for an hour to meet with a client. Whatever works, right? ;-)
It must be something in the air bc lk is not sleeping either. He tricked us by sleeping 13.5 hours on Monday night w only 1 brief wake up to nurse. But last night back to the norm I knew it was too good to be true. Have you tried the teething tabs or gels? I'm thinking about going out and getting that happiest toddler book now!
ReplyDeleteAck, I'm sorry you are dealing with this too! No, we haven't used those teething tablets or gels because we were concerned about the ingredients after seeing some studies questioning their safety. We do give her ibuprofen when she seems to be hurting really badly, but otherwise we just use teethers and let her chew on cold things. I can't wait for her teeth to just break through already!
DeleteSeeing as our kids are a day apart, I am realling thinking this is an age thing. Sully has been doing this whole back arch/stick body thing when I am changing his diaper or trying to get him dressed. He was so tired last night and had a complete MELTDOWN when I was trying to get him dressed. He is also teething so I am hoping that's it. Ya know, I gave him damp wash cloths that I put in the fridge to chew on, and he LOVES it. Their clothes get a little wet, but it is worth it!
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