Help! No end to screaming toddler

Hi Bunnyhugger

Are you familiar with the Wonder Weeks?

I think she is about the age where she may be going through a developmental leap which is causing her fussiness and for her to ask for more of her favourite comfort method.

Google it, this book really saved our lives during the first year of our LO.

Best of luck to you!

He is a tiny, little thing but there are no concerns. He was such a fat little baby and slowly lost that baby fat when he was just over a year.
He is also short but that comes from my side hahaha. Hopefully he will shoot up as he gets older.

We sometimes have to choose our battles. Decide what is worth the stress and take it from there.

I think you have a very strong willed, spirited child and nothing wrong with that. She will need that personality in the big world

Thanx Momtoc! I think I will take it slow with the weaning. I do feel slowly ready to stop but don't want it to be traumatic on either of us. I hate seeing her scream for something that gives her comfort so I am in no rush. I actually have an underactive thyroid (had it since age 13) and have it checked regularly but all in order, still the weight keeps melting away lol. Gosh your LO does sound tiny so guess I shouldn't worry lol She is generally a very happy baby and everyone says they cannot believe when we say what issues we have with her. Maybe you are right, I just need to relax! I need to make peace with the fact that my LO knows what she wants. Might not work in my favour at the moment but will probably work in her favour when she is older!

It definitely makes it harder when the husband is not quite on board as you need the support.

My little man, still prefers his milkies over his food and his weight is nowhere near what it is suppose to be but his paed is totally happy with him. He is a very active toddler and happy. He does eat at school but at home he nibbles more than eating really. He still wears 12-18months and is almost 27months hahaha

Have you tested your thyroid? A lot of women develop an overactive thyroid after pregnancy. I am by no means a doctor but can you maybe go see a very good homeopath? I really don't think you need to stop, if you are also not ready. There are good shakes that you can drink, that has extra calories and so forth.

I am a member on the La Leche League SA fb page and I remember a mommy who had twins, she also lost ALOT of weight and got her thyroid tested and had an overactive one. She is still bf her little girls who are probably almost 3 now. I'm just not sure what she started using but hopefully you can sort the problem out.

All the best xx

Thank you Momtoc! I feel a lot better having read your advice Unfortunately, both my doctor and the paediatrician have advised I stop breastfeeding. I am rather quite anaemic and am loosing weight. My LO also does not weight what she should and the paediatrician, who is very pro breastfeeding, has told me that LO unfortunately needs more nutrition than I am able to provide. This makes it very difficult as she is clearly not ready to give it up. Thanx for all the articles, will read through them and see how to go from there. I think what makes it difficult as well is that my husband seems to be very impatient with the entire process and I think it rubs off on me.......

OH Bunnyhugger,

Where does one start! Firstly, I'm sorry you are going through such a rough patch. It is not easy for a parent Nor a baby/toddler.

What you are experiencing is perfectly normal. There is nothing wrong with your daughter. Remember, she is only 13months old

I'm still bf my 2yr old and that is how he falls asleep at night and needs that comfort sucking when he wakes up during the night. Personally, I am fine with that. It does make me exhausted at times, I won't lie but I know how deep the connection goes with bf. We co-sleep as that is what works for us. It is not easy to wean them by your personal choice. Self weaning is easier on their emotional state cause your breast is a mothering tool, not just for feeding. It is your daughter's comfort, security and feeding tool. It takes away pain, fear etc I know a lot of mommies do the don't refuse, don't offer approach but it is a bit harder when they need it to fall asleep.

As for sleep training, I'm personally not a fan of it. I don't believe in it BUT again, I'm not judging you at all. I have 2 kids and know how hard it can be when lack of sleep is your new friend. I know you said, you never left her to CIO (cry it out) and good on you as it is not good for them in the long run. I will attach a few articles on here just for interest sake.

Just also for interest sake, so many parents expect their babies to sleep through at such a young age and again, I'm not saying that is what you expected but the normal age is from 2-5yrs only. I will post some articles on that as well if you are interested. The articles are there for you to understand how normal everything actually is and once you understand that, you will be more comfortable and less stressed about everything.

You can either look at co-sleeping with her and see if it makes things easier a bit and again, nothing wrong with sleeping with your toddler. They were inside of us for 9months. Now, they entered this big, scary world and they need that reassurance from us! They go through 10 wonder weeks before the age of 2 (google it, it is very interesting), developmental milestones, growth spurts etc. It can make them fussy, disturb their sleep and so on. Separation anxiety also kicks in roundabout 15-18months but can start earlier.

She is also sensing your anxiety and frustration. Try to relax more. Get some rescue remedy, restin or rhodiola. It is all safe during bf. The last one you will only find at a health shop. The other two you can try dischem or any other pharmacy. When you feel like you going to lose it, give yourself a time out mommy. Step away, go outside & take a breather. Aha Parenting is a wonderful parenting site, which I will attached as well. Just go to drop down mention for parenting tips & also ages and select whatever you feel like applies to your current situation.

I really hope you will find something that works for you & your daughter

Just a side note, remember, a formula fed baby can be dependant on a dummy or bottle as well so don't think there is anything wrong with your daughter being attached to your boobie!

www.ahaparenting.com/
www.phdinparenting.com/blog/2008/7/5/cry...t-is-not-for-us.html
www.examiner.com/article/study-shows-bab...-out-remain-stressed
www.isisonline.org.uk/how_babies_sleep/
www.isisonline.org.uk/how_babies_sleep/n...l_sleep_development/
www.isisonline.org.uk/how_babies_sleep/w...es_sleep_as_they_do/

Hello Mommies

I am hoping someone out there can help shed some light on my struggles with my toddler.

She is 13 months old and is breastfed. I am desperately trying to wean but am really struggling as she is super attached to the boob and comfort nurses a lot. At 10 months we, very reluctantly sleep trained her as by then, she was refusing to sleep and screaming her head off until I gave in and crawled into bed with her and let her latch on. She would wake every hour only for me to re-latch her. With the sleep training we started putting her down in her crib awake and remained with her until she fell asleep, comforting her in other ways. We continued this whenever she woke during the night. By the third night she was sleeping through. We never got to the point of leaving the room whilst awake as I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her screaming alone and as she was sleeping through, what did it matter. However, during sleep training and thereafter, the would often wake and scream, really scream for 1 to 2 hours. I am 100% sure it is not a night terror as she is wide awake and stops screaming if we pick her up. However, we try not to pick her up and she gets so angry and into such a frenzy. No amount of patting and hugging her over the crib really helps. So I started breastfeeding her to sleep again and she started sleeping through without waking. Now recently she has started waking frequently and we are sort of back to where we were. Last night she screamed for 2 hours and only fell asleep because I gave up and put her back on the breast. She gets incredibly angry and in such a state it is quite scary to watch and what is more frightening is that she is only 13 months old! She is unrelenting and screams viciously for 2 hours solid. I have reached the point that I am worried I might hurt her as I get so frustrated. I also don't want to let her cry-it-out but don't know what else to do. She also started having temper tantrums at 10months of age. Is this normal?? I have really tried being the nurturing attached parent, carried her all over in the sling when she was a lot smaller and always tended to her needs, not letting her have everything she wants but always being there to comfort her and tending to her emotional needs. But I feel as though all of this has failed me miserably so far. As a newborn she was an incredibly contented little girl and easy going. I know that she is growing and developing but is it normal at 13 months of age to be so aggressive. She even scratches and hits out and nothing in her life has changed. ANY advice or tips on how to handle this would be so greatly appreciated!