Very Fussy Toddler: HELP

ksandvoss

Cathlete
To anyone who thinks they may know why my toddler continues to be fussy:

I have a 15 month old who is extremely fussy with me and often with his father. To give you some background: My son was born a month early, but he was a healthy 5lbs. Although breastfeeding was a struggle, particularly at first, I breastfed him until he literally weaned me at 8 months. He became extremely colicky at 4 weeks exactly, crying nonstop during the day and going to bed after much trial and error. He slept like a normal baby at night. We did everything, including scrutinizing and changing my diet, but we basically had to wait it out. Aside from the usual consoling remedies that began to work around 7 weeks, the only thing that soothed my child instantly was carrying him all day long in a carrier/snugly. I thought magically at around 3 months he would be better, but sadly he remained extremely fussy. We found another reason: acid reflux. Then at 5 months with the introduction of solids we found another reason: chronic constipation. After the constipation was cured at 10 months we found another reason for his fussiness: ear infections and teething. At 15 months he still cries and throws fits all day long. Can there be something we are missing? Are molars really causing him to be so irritable?
Just a note: my son is an angel when he is distracted by other people and other surroundings. Although he can also get overwhelmed by these same things, for the most part, distractions keep him from fussing. As a colicky baby, we would take him to the noisiest places, and he would instantly go to sleep. When we got home, he would begin screaming again. Today, if I leave him with a friend for the day, the friend says he is a perfect child. One more note: I will tell you that this child gets as much holding, kissing and hugging that you can imagine, so we are paying attention to him; however, we are not fueling his tantrums with more attention.

Thank you for reading my long email. I felt the background info was necessary

Kathy
 
Hang in there. My daughter was born 10 weeks early. She has her moments with fussiness too. She had reflux and constipation both. She is 2 1/2 now.

I think that some kids are just more sensitive than others. However, have you talked to the pediatrician about the fussiness to rule out any problems?

I'm SURE you've tried everything, but since it sounds like he does good with distraction, maybe you could try more distraction. More things to hold his attention like playdough and crayons, books, videos, going to the park or for a walk. My daughter still gets really fussy and whiney at home alot so we just try to get OUT somewhere. At the park she is usually fine.

Good luck! :)
 
Just a thought...

Kathy

I am a first time mom of a 6 1/2 week old and do not even begin to profess knowledge in this area. However, I have many friends with children so I can only give you some food for thought. I was just wondering that you might look into household cleaning products. I am not a nutritionist but did much research prior to becoming pregnant on supplementation so that I could get off 5 allergy medications. In my search I found additional information about child behaviors (and allergies) as related to toxic cleaning products. I'm not experiencing any problems myself but did make the decision to try to prevent some stuff and just switched to an environmentally friendly line of products from Shaklee.

I do believe in Shaklee products and while they don't claim this helps, many mother's who use their products swear by them as far as helping with such issues as ADD, ADHD, ear infections, and a slew of other behavioral, emotional and physical problems. I also have heard NUMEROUS testimonies of products used to help with acid reflux (obviously not the cleaning products but the supplements). You can also get Shaklee's research for doctor's who want to know more.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps even a little!

jeni
 
RE: Just a thought...

Dear Jeni and Kristi,

Thank you for your help. I will take both your advice. I would like to look into the Shaklee products. Do I get them off the internet?

Thanks,

Kathy
 
You poor dear! It sounds like you are dealing with one challenging kid!

I have a three year old who went through a lot of what you described. I came to the conclusion that she is just one extremely active, yet normal toddler. However this was very frustrating to me as it seemed like none of my peers had any trouble with their toddlers except me.

I started to wonder if it was my fault - then I came upon some videos by a Dr Christopher Green on dealing with toddlers and they were life saving. Dr Green is an Aussie, (I'm an Aussie too) so I'm not sure where you could get them if you are in the US, but he has written a book called "Toddler Taming" which has been an excellent resource and extremely readable.

The main message I got from this was that I wasn't alone and you're not alone either in dealing with a difficult little person. Often these more challenging little people grow up to be delightful adults, so just hang in there.

Hope it helps to know that you are not alone!

Liz N

PS - Have you thought of getting him more physically active (eg skills building) - I did a lot of activities like swings, slides, balls and swimming and that seemed to satisfy my little person a lot! And she went to bed earlier (big plus!)
 
Lin,

Thank you. I'll look into the videos. Today I tried to use my imagination with new activites since he is borded with his toys, which is why I am going to take them away for a while and bring them back. He seemed to be better with my made up activities. He also wants to draw, so I am going to buy some non-toxic markers.

He should be getting plenty of rest at night. He goes to bed at 7 and sleeps until 7 or 8. Unfortunately, he dropped from 4-5 hours of napping down to 2-2 1/2 at 1yr. I often try to give him another nap, but since he reached 1yr he will no longer take a nap. However, he sometimes will play quietly for 20 minutes in his crib when he has been fussy. I think sometimes he is tired, but he doesn't want to sleep more than that one nap.
 
RE: Just a thought...

Kathy

Why don't you e-mail me at my personal e-mail: [email protected] and I can give you more information about how to get Shaklee. You need to be a member but it's a cheap one-time fee and well worth it. I can also send you a booklet called "Healthy Kids" which is simply a TON of letters from mommies who have used Shaklee products for a lot of common child-rearing issues. It is one of my "bibles" for parenting.

I'll look for your e-mail! jeni
 

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