Please help! Need advice...

sniderbaby

My son is 15 months and our daughter is almost two weeks old now.  Since we've been home from the hospital my son has woke up twice now in the middle of the night (nights about a week apart) in an uncontrollable crying/screaming episode that lasts 30 plus minutes.  This cry and "fit" is unlike any other he usually throws (when something is taken away from him, when he gets in trouble, when he gets frustrated w/ something, etc).

He has done great with his little sister during the day...we haven't forced him to pay attention to her or "love" her but he shows interest at times and has given her his lovey and paci several times which speaks volumes to me.  I am pretty certain however that the crying episodes are in some way related to the addition of little sister to our family.  I think it's difficult for him (and for us) since he is too young to fully understand the situation and can't communicate his feelings.  Since little sister is sleeping so much we have been able to continue almost as much one on one time with him as before.  I know though that it affects him in some way and we will see some differences in him because of that....at least for a while.

Can anyone share their stories of "adjustment periods" once another child was brought home.   What things did your #1 do?  How long did the adjustment period last for you? What things did you do to help him/her adjust as best/quickly as possible?

 Thanks in advance! 

howleyshell

We didn't deal with this with the new baby so I have no good advice for you there but I did have a thought...

Have you checked his mouth?

This was about the age where Dylan cut his incisor teeth and the pain he went thru made all of this other teeth look like a walk in the park.

He did wake having terrible fits at this age and it turned out to be that the teething pain was worse for him lying down and would wake him up.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this and hope you get some great advice from Mom's who've dealt with it. 

sniderbaby

we did find it odd that a lot of the time during his fit last night he had his hands in/around his mouth.  I thought it was just part of showing frustration.  his incisor teeth have come in on the top and the bottom (all his teeth have come through except for the 2 year molars)....

well, now that I think about it...let me ask you this.  These incisor teeth are the "eye teeth" right...the pointed ones?  A friend of mine mentioned something the other day about her son's incisor teeth coming in and that the pointed part had broke through but that the wide part of the tooth hadn't and she had heard that when that happens it is VERY VERY painful.  Did you find this to be true in your case (pointed part break thru and then problems w/ wide part breaking thru)?  This would make sense for us if true....I see pointed part on both top ones but...one of the top ones was further along and probably finishing breaking thru last week (which would explain the crying episode last week) and then the other may be breaking through the wide part now...(crying episode last night)...

I hate it...these dang teeth always seem to cause issues....but I sort of would rather it be teeth than emotional issues as a result of his new little sister.

Thanks for the info!!!

howleyshell

sniderbaby:

  A friend of mine mentioned something the other day about her son's incisor teeth coming in and that the pointed part had broke through but that the wide part of the tooth hadn't and she had heard that when that happens it is VERY VERY painful.  Did you find this to be true in your case (pointed part break thru and then problems w/ wide part breaking thru)?  This would make sense for us if true....I see pointed part on both top ones but...one of the top ones was further along and probably finishing breaking thru last week (which would explain the crying episode last week) and then the other may be breaking through the wide part now...(crying episode last night)...

Yup... that's why the incisors suck so bad.  The pressure before the point breaks is bad but it just keeps coming vs a "regular" tooth where the whole top comes thru and then the rest can follow easily because it's the same width.  This is why molars are harder too.

Maybe have some oragel handy tonight and give it a try?

I too hope it's a simple solution and not an emotional issue.

I really do think you'd be seeing more acting out behavior during the day if it was baby-related. 

Pesky

I agree with howleyshel -- my first thought was teething too.  I'd stand by with some teething tablets and motrin or tylenol.  Maybe consider giving him some motrin with dinner and before bed.