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Parenting
Comicfanh13
member
Disturbing Tantrum Habit at 10 Months
Comicfanh13
member
in Parenting
My 10 month old has this habit of throwing a tantrum in which he only just begins to cry, but he's pushing it so hard that he stops breathing for anywhere from 5 to sometimes 20 seconds, turning purple with rage. When he finally manages to gasp for breath, because he's so caught in that cry that almost nothing shocks him out of it, he'll go gray and sob, sometimes going lethargic and limp but never passing out, yet. He did this once and fell asleep a few minutes later, breathing normally, but still scared me very much.
He only does this to people, I want to point out. Not when he hurts himself or is upset at a toy or something, but only when he's taken away from a no-no or something is taken away from him. It's his reaction to those kinds of situations where he's already being a stinker about something, and he just snaps when someone tries to put an end to it.
Obviously there are preventative steps, like just keeping a close eye on him and teaching him that there's no give on no-no's, which he's usually great about, but kids try it once in a while just to test, and sometimes they do it because they're in that mood, and that's when this happens.
My mom recommended blowing air in his face to shock him out of it, because she babysat a child who this worked on when she was in her teens. That worked initially but is no longer affective. One article I found recommended placing an icepack on his face to shock him into breathing again, but that's not always practical.
Please, moms, I need some help here! This tantrum habit has me scared to death! He does it anywhere from once in a week to maybe three times a week. It's not an everyday thing, but I don't know if it will increase in frequency or what might happen. He started doing this at about 8 months and the articles I've found say this kind of behavior is not intentional and can continue until he's two or almost 3 years old. I really don't think he means to throw a tantrum so hard he can't draw breath, but he's doing it, and it's scary.
He only does this to people, I want to point out. Not when he hurts himself or is upset at a toy or something, but only when he's taken away from a no-no or something is taken away from him. It's his reaction to those kinds of situations where he's already being a stinker about something, and he just snaps when someone tries to put an end to it.
Obviously there are preventative steps, like just keeping a close eye on him and teaching him that there's no give on no-no's, which he's usually great about, but kids try it once in a while just to test, and sometimes they do it because they're in that mood, and that's when this happens.
My mom recommended blowing air in his face to shock him out of it, because she babysat a child who this worked on when she was in her teens. That worked initially but is no longer affective. One article I found recommended placing an icepack on his face to shock him into breathing again, but that's not always practical.
Please, moms, I need some help here! This tantrum habit has me scared to death! He does it anywhere from once in a week to maybe three times a week. It's not an everyday thing, but I don't know if it will increase in frequency or what might happen. He started doing this at about 8 months and the articles I've found say this kind of behavior is not intentional and can continue until he's two or almost 3 years old. I really don't think he means to throw a tantrum so hard he can't draw breath, but he's doing it, and it's scary.
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Re: Disturbing Tantrum Habit at 10 Months
Thank you for this information. I feel like this is a good place to start.
I echo PP. What "no-nos" are we talking about and how does the whole thing come about?
That being beyond him for a decade or so, he's going to express himself as he can. In a few years we'll hopefully just be down to him shouting, "But I WANT it!" Before that point he'll probably do as BluepointToasted's LO does and throw things to express himself. At some point I hope to teach him the American Sign Language sign for "frustrated," which is a great sign with movement that can be done very emphatically and my local librarian swears by it for her kids learning to express themselves. For now, I guess, he cries and holds his breath because that's all he can do. Now that I understand that, I feel a little better.
I will definitely talk to his pediatrician. This breath holding is scary because there's not really anything I can do but try to prevent situations that might cause it, and, realistically, barring that, making him as safe as possible until the outburst passes. As the articles point out, I don't want him to get light-headed from the outburst and fall and hurt himself. So that's what I can do for the moment.
I also just wanted to share my experience because I know my son isn't the only kid to do this, and somewhere out there, another parent is wondering if anyone can understand or help. 15% of kids 4 and under have parents who have wondered that from what I've read in the last few days, because that many kids do this for some period at some point!
To all those parents, I wish luck and love, and to their children, and to mine, I hope for communication skills that will grow with them and be good for everyone. Their emotions have all the potency of an adults, and that's a lot to handle until they grow into those big-people skills.