Extreme tantrums

Natalie has been throwing some serious fits here in about the last month...I just had her on her tummy about an hour ago, and she was fine for a while, until she started to cry and I turned her on her side to give her a break....Well, you would have thought I was just KILLING her, the way she started screaming, and she screamed so loud and so hard, she made herself throw up...not just spit up. This is starting to become frequent, if not once a day, 4 or 5 times a week.

Is this colic?? I just feel so horrible when she starts these tantrums, and I can't figure out what to do...she will calm down slightly when picked up, but that's about it. It just freaks me out every time she does it, because I have to hold her face down to make sure she doesn't choke herself...

I always feel like a bad mommy when she screams like that. Any advice??

 

my DD (also a Natalie ) has done this many times too, not as often as your DD but i know how unnerving it can be. i have found that if i can get to her before she gets into the fullblown freakout it helps lessen the severity. another trick that i figured out which has been very helpful is blowing lightly on her face, it distracts her enough for her to take a breath and calm down a little. give it a try and see if it works for you..

thankfully her freakouts have become less frequent as she is getting older.

 

QUOTE(ohjojo @ Mar 25 2009, 10:19 PM) [snapback]1244766[/snapback]
my DD (also a Natalie ) has done this many times too, not as often as your DD but i know how unnerving it can be. i have found that if i can get to her before she gets into the fullblown freakout it helps lessen the severity. another trick that i figured out which has been very helpful is blowing lightly on her face, it distracts her enough for her to take a breath and calm down a little. give it a try and see if it works for you..

thankfully her freakouts have become less frequent as she is getting older.


Yay for Natalies!! Thanks for the suggestion...glad to know that she's not the only one that does this.

 

Can you narrow down what is bothering her like tummy time or diaper changes and just know that you need to intercept her early to stop the fit?

 

Is the fussiness mostly at night? They go through a "witching hour" period at the end of the second month. My boys (both) would scream from 6/7-9 for no reason during that time. Nothing helped. I would also suggest trying to narrow down when it happens most and what she is doing when it happens. That way you'll be able to prevent it a little better.

 

My Aurora does this too. I find that by distracting her as pp mentioned or walking outside to change her environment, i can get her to settle down and then get t the root of the problem. Lately, when she is inconsolable, I go through the mental checklist of clean/dry/fed/warm/cold/nothing pinching or rubbing anywhere and then lay her in her bed and turn on her mobile. She quiets down and usually goes to sleep within 15 min. Sometimes they are just ighting sleep.

 

My DD was the same but she never quite got to throwing up, though she nearly did. I remember one time, when she was 4 months old, we had some friends come to the flat and she started to cry and cry. It lasted for 2 hours. It was awful as she just screamed and screamed. I remember calming her then putting her in her cot but she would just start again. When she was around 2-3 months she would cry all day long. The only time we got any peace was when she slept. It could be colic but to this day I dont know what it was. I used to try and distract her by calming her: dipping her dummy (i.e. paci) in fresh water and putting it in till she stopped, rocking her, covering her eyes with a little blanket and rocking her, using a rattle. It was hard and what worked was walking the floor, humming softly and rocking her to sleep. Be reassured that she will grow out of it. You´re not a bad mother, you´re doing great. I know how hard it is so hang in there. :hug: