Tantrum question...

Ok so i'm posting here because we are much closer to 2 then we are to the start of our 2nd yr. Let me tell you the story, so for the last week both DS and DD have had fevers nothing major bad just feeling yucky. Friday I took the to the Dr's to make sure they were ok and both check out fine so Dr just said probably a virus. Starting Friday DS just wasn't eating very much and this continued through Sat. His fever was gone Saturday morning he just seems still very tired. Lunch starts and he just refuses to eat and then proceeds to throw a huge fit, screaming and crying no matter what I do so finally we just put him in his crib and he cries himself to sleep. He wakes up fine, we run some errands and play at the playground, he won't eat dinner(he will however eat snacks, fruit,cheese,yogurt) He throws another huge tantrum but it only last 10mins. Today I think everything is going well, he still seems tired but after nap which was cut short because DD woke up and they share a room and it woke him up and he didn't go back to sleep he threw another huge 1/2 hour tantrum where he wiggled around and kept rubbing his face in my shirt and saying Mommy mommy mommy over and over. I keep asking does this hurt does this hurt, no nothing hurts. It just really freaked me out so I called the oncall Dr(pyscho mommy) who just chalked it up to being sick, tired and can't express himself. These two tantrums lasted at least a 1/2 and then just abruptly stop. Sorry for the rambling but what do you ladies think? I'm I being crazy and he is just sick/tired or do you think something is wrong. He totally acts fine then the rest of the day and he did eat more today then yesterday??

 

Sounds par for the course to me. My children can tantrum for an hour + when they really hit their stride. Especially considering the combo of sick + tired + low appetite, it sounds pretty normal. I find that when they really get going like that, the best thing is often to just let them sort it out on their own. Sometimes the more I try to help, the worse it gets. :hug: Those tantrums are no fun! I hope he's feeling back to normal soon.

 

Thank you! It makes me feel better i'm definitly not alone in this. I am not looking forward the the "terrible twos"!

 

Is there any chance he's working on his second year molars? Those things make kids act like they're possessed, and might also explain the fever etc. to some extent and also the refusal to eat too. Hopefully he is back to normal in no time!

 

I thought of that at one point because at lunch today he was gnawing on the otherside of his fork towards the back of his mouth. I tried my best to look but don't see anything coming in but I guess they could be working there way up. He never had any problems with his other teeth? Thanks for the thought!

 

I agree with the others, if he's either teething, or just not feeling well, both can cause some crazy behavior in my kids!

 

I agree as well. In addition to all of that, I also found that the tantrums were brought on by my kids frustration in not being able to express themselves like they wanted to (didn't have the vocabulary yet) and once they learned more words and were able to express themselves better, I found that we had fewer tantrums.

 

I try giving Motrin for a day to see if it helps, and if it does, I know it's ears or teeth, in our case. Mine have always done better if I hold and rock them through their tantrums, especially if they're tantrumming because they feel bad. When mine are sick I let them "picnic" on the floor, or the coffee table, to keep it fun and light for them. We make nests on the sofa and play, and just overall lighten up and keep them paicfied until they feel good and we get back to our normal routine.

My baby is getting her 2-year molars and it's waking her up at 5am and she's crying and crying. I've started going in at 4am and giving her Motrin while she sleeps and she's sleeping until her normal 6:15am. Those molars are really painful - I hope your DS is much better soon.

 

After mine have been sick I find it takes about a week before they get back to normal and stop trying to test every limit regarding food, sleep, etc. That being said I would definitely try some Motrin because it definitely could be molars.