My broken heart (and eardrums)

December 19, 2006 · 2 comments

Poor Matthew.  It must be tough to be 3.  We’ve been having quite a few issues lately with tantrums – not the “I don’t want this or that” kind, but the all out, screaming like he’s being abducted, red-faced, shrieking, sobbing kinds.  We’ve been trying to keep an eye on what might trigger these episodes. We were going with the food idea (and still are, for the most part) – meaning that it seems that when he is particularly lacking in food/nutrition on some days, the tantrums hit harder. Of course, being tired has always been a big trigger for him, but these tantrums far surpass anything we have really ever seen before.  Today, for example, we went to the mall to see Santa.  That went surprisingly well! But then we were just walking around and he wanted to turn around and go another way.  So, I go one way with P. and Mike takes M. that way.  We catch up and he’s laughing, but on the verge of meltdown. A quick exchange of glances and we knew we had to get some food into him. Fruit snacks were my first attempt. Nope.  So we talk about going to lunch. At first he’s all for it, but soon it’s out of control.  We literally have to hold him into the stroller to get out of the mall. And Mike seriously thought someone was going to think he was being abducted the way he was screaming and refusing to get in his car seat. He literally screamed that he wanted to turn around for 20 minutes.  Luckily, Preston just looked at him (this time) and seemed like he was wondering when his big brother was just going to shut up.  😀

The worst part is that we KNOW he’s tired and/or hungry. Once he passes the point of trigger (no return), there’s nothing to do but basically let him scream until he won’t anymore.  It hurts so bad to not be able to comfort him, or hell, even know what is truly wrong.  He’s so smart and so articulate, but I know he’s only 3 and it’s hard to figure those things out.  Meanwhile, we keep shoving healthy snacks at him in hopes that if we can keep his blood sugar and energy levels fairly even that we can avoid these terrible meltdowns.  Once the whole thing passes, he’s happy as can be, too.  Which I am thankful and frustrated for.  Makes me feel like the tantrum was for nothing, but thankful that it’s over and he’s back to normal.  <SIGH>  Any ideas out there in blogland???

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

<![CDATA[Shine]]& December 22, 2006 at 1:06 pm

When my guy starts acting up like that I know he\'s not getting good sleep. Often times it\'s due to the holidays (big surprise) or other big events (birth of baby #2!) where our schedule gets out of whack. Usually I try to stay home and be low key for a few days and get him to bed earlier until things go back to \"normal\". This may just be a phase he\'s going through though too. See if it passes after the holidays and if not then definitely look for further help from your Pediatrician or whoever to rule out anything serious. Good luck! Call me if you need to unload!

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December 22, 2006 at 8:06 pm

When my guy starts acting up like that I know he’s not getting good sleep. Often times it’s due to the holidays (big surprise) or other big events (birth of baby #2!) where our schedule gets out of whack. Usually I try to stay home and be low key for a few days and get him to bed earlier until things go back to “normal”. This may just be a phase he’s going through though too. See if it passes after the holidays and if not then definitely look for further help from your Pediatrician or whoever to rule out anything serious. Good luck! Call me if you need to unload!

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