It seems like just yesterday I had this sweet little angel face baby girl that could do no wrong and light up your day with a smile and BIG hug. This past week, that sweet little angel face baby has gone out of town and left her twin, Temper Tantrum Baby.
What happened to her? If we are outside playing and I pick her up to bring her inside, she starts screaming and throwing her head back crying. She cries so hard she sometimes forgets to breathe. Or, it is night night time, and we pick her up to get in the bed and the same episode happens, along with some hair pulling, her own hair, (noticed last night that she may even have a bald spot). Yesterday, at the bookstore she started throwing stuffed animals in the floor, this was my cue to get my books paid for and head for the door, and she started screaming. An older woman and some random man were looking at me with a face like, "hello, this is a bookstore not romper room- control your child."
So, what was that? Why is she turning into a crazy child? I am trying to keep it together, but it is tough. Sometimes it makes me want to scream and cry (not pull out my hair) but scream and cry! Does anyone have any pointers? My mother was over this morning and witnessed an "outbreak of uncontrollable emotion" and she told her to sit on the naughty blanket (it was all we had, no naughty mat around, so we used Brayden's swaddle sheet). I am not a child beater, but I have swatted her on the hiney (she just laughs it off, and I feel horrible), or I tell her no, no!, she doesn't get that either, but she has added it to her vocabulary. So are you a spanker or a spooner user, stand in the corner or time out in a naughty spot? Remember, she is only 18 months, I cannot ground her or take away her car!! WWSD? What Would the Supernanny Do?
I am praying daily for patience and so far so good, but Sophia may not make it past this stage with out some hair loss, whip lash, or losing her voice.
It is kind of funny, these outbursts last for about 5 minutes and then after she is done she comes up and says "momma" and grins showing all of her teeth, like nothing ever happened. Who can figure!
Love yal,
Caryn
3 comments:
Girl... I have been having a similar problem with Hannah! When you find an answer...let me know ;)
I am going through the same thing with my son who is almost 2. The tantrums started around 16 months and have become more frequent, I'm sad to say. Distractions usually help. I have started spanking on occasion but I HATE it and use it as last resort. Switching over to cartoons usually snaps him out of it, though not always :( The joys of motherhood!
My daughter is 19 months old and we hit a similar spot recently. I went back to some of what I learned in my developmenal psych classes years ago and tried gentle redirection. By that I mean I would give the firm, but (hopefully) not angry "no", redirect her and if she cried I would comfort her. I mostly say things like "I understand that you are sad/angry/frustrated but we do not ___________". I know it sounds a bit silly but we have seen a HUGE improvement. Not only does it show that you care about how they feel, it also gives them a label to their emotions. They are just figuring out so many things at this developmental stage and understand that they have some sort of control over outcomes (in a cause & effect way) and add in to that that they are realizing that what they want is not always what you want. Hang in there, I don't have a newborn and sometimes I find myself on edge, so I don't know how you do it!
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