LO having melt downs?

katieh1017

Yesterday L started kicking, flailing her arms, arching her back along with screetching and crying when we were trying to get her to sleep. She had like a melt down/tantrum. She did that all day yesterday with 3 30 min naps. Then at night it was impossible to get her down. She was up every hour and we gave her the paci which worked. Now she's doing this to me this morning. Sometimes she's flailing so hard I feel like I might drop her. I'm trying all different positions and soothing stuff. I got her to sleep on her side with the head jiggle, shushing. 

Does your lo have these melt downs? It kind of scared me on how she was acting. Am I missing sleeping cues that bad?  I feel like I'm wrestling her. 

AmyJoy728

That was happening to us before every nap. They would scream like that for 10 minutes and then fall asleep. After reading some posts on here, I think I was just trying to keep them up too long. Now I look at the clock and if it's been 1 1/2 hour since they woke or 2 hours (although my babies are older than most on here), I just lay them down for a nap. 

JFH2010

DS started doing this, and it definitely helped to start putting him down earlier. I think it's a combo of overtired and becoming more aware of the world around him (and he doesn't want to miss out). How long does the tantrum last? DS would shriek like a rabid hyena, but he would settle down in less than 10 minutes (usually less than 5) with firm holding, rocking and white noise. Now that I put him down sooner it's much less intense. I try to never let him get to 2 hours awake, and sometimes I start the process after one hour. 

katieh1017

Thanks for responding ladies. I guess I was just surprised about how much it seemed like a tantrum with the kicking and trying to break away so bad. I just spent an hour on and off of this and got 30 min nap. I am going to try starting to put her down sooner...she's usually up for at least 2 hours at a time. 

Christina_Diane

Yes. Everyday between 4:00 ish and bed.

llizzyb

katieh1017:

Thanks for responding ladies. I guess I was just surprised about how much it seemed like a tantrum with the kicking and trying to break away so bad. I just spent an hour on and off of this and got 30 min nap. I am going to try starting to put her down sooner...she's usually up for at least 2 hours at a time. 

At 3.5 months, DS can still only tolerate 60-90 minutes of wakefulness.