Head Banger

My ds has recently started throwing himself down and banging his head on the floor, wall, cabinets - whatever he is near if he is upset about something (he is on albuterol three times a day and also a preventative medicine that he gets through the nebulizer twice a day and that usually starts his meltdowns because he hates doing those). I have tried to ignore his tantrums but he is pretty undeterred by no attention - he will still just flail and bang for up to 30 minutes. I have tried time-outs in the pack and play (the only place I can think of to get him to stay put) but he has started climbing out and picking up the bottom mat and throwing it out (leaving him sitting on the actual pack and play material and about to fall through). I have read 1-2-3 Magic and even though they are a little young I tried to start getting them used to "That's 1," "That's 2," etc. but they are also learning to count and think it is fun when I saw "1," and then they say "2", "5" yeah and start clapping never understanding that they were doing something wrong!!! DD will listen to "no" sometimes, but the minute I say "no" or "stop" or "don't touch," etc. to her, ds is right there doing the same thing and throwing himself down when I tell him no too. I just don't know what to do!!! I thought it was stemming from lack of vocabulary initially and him just being frustrated but he communicates very well and has a ton of words - he just doesn't like to be told no, or not be the one that gets to sit in my lap, or be handed the "wrong" cup (this worries me too because he is very particular about which cup he drinks out of, which order things go in, what shoes or shirt he wears or doesn't, etc), or really do anything that isn't exactly what he wants to do. Anyone else have kids who have major tantrums and found a great way to deal with them?

 

Is this new-why is he on it? He may be having side effects from the treatments and it's his way of telling you he does not like it.

My boys are getting over croup and my one son is having side effects from the steriods. This morning when I tried to give him it, he would not open his mouth and started to cry.

If not, sorry but I don't have any advice. ardon: My boys would head bang and if I ignored it they stopped.

 

I agree with Judy, check on the side effects of the medicine-especially if this behavior is recent. My two used to headbang especially since it got a reaction out of DH and me. We started ignoring it and they stopped.

 

My 15 month old has just started this <_< The twins did it as well and the only thing that worked was consistently ignoring it. The very worst lasted like 45 minutes but we just made sure they were in a safe area and totally ignored it.
I hope it stops for you soon!

 

My kids have taken albuterol on and off and although the Dr says there is no side-effects - my husband and I both agree that there clearly is. We have seen behavior changes with all our boys on this drug.

Also - tantrums are for better or worse - part of toddlerhood. Give them a hug. They are not being "bad". They are just having a hard time with something. I think it's very important to remember that toddlers are never being intentionally bad (although they do learn how to "push our buttons" to get attention - especially if we give them attention when they do something that is not ok). I have found that focusing on telling kids what they CAN do helps enormously. We do not use time-outs or count. Counting is my opinion is just a power tool - they will always wait until 3. If you want them to change their behavior - tell them and show them what they can do. Use actions and few words. Lots and lots of love and hugs.

 

I don't know about albuterol's side effects on babies/toddlers, but I myself take albuterol for asthma and I definitely experience side effects. It makes me jittery, like I've had too much coffee. I try not to take it too close to bedtime as a result (and luckily my asthma is pretty well controlled right now so I don't need albuterol often). The effect is luckily short-lived for me. But I can imagine that it must put at least some little ones on edge too. That said, it can be really important to use, of course.

 

Thanks all! His tantrums the last few days have really been out of control and it seems to coincide exactly with when he started this new medication so I do think he is having some negative side effects to the pumilcort. He has astma and has been on nebulizer treatments of albuterol more often than not since he was born. Anytime he has been given steroids, though, I notice that he is not himself and I think that is what is going on. The nebulizers, anti-histamines, etc. were not controlling his wheezing and retracting which is why we he is on this medicine to try to get it under control and keep it from reoccurring!

My dh had a bad temper when he was a child and he is warning me that he thinks this is just his payback. It is just so hard because ds is my sweet little one - always smiling and laughing and wanting to cuddle and "talk" and I hope he doesn't lose that because he is so frustrated and can't get control of his emotions and temper!

 

Well hopefully he won't have to be on it much longer and he'll return to his happy self.

I decided not to give the last dose of steroids to my son on Tuesday and he's back to being a happy kid.

I always say that with medicine it's the lesser of two evils. So many times the side effects are worse than the actual illness. :headbang: