2.8 year old making herself vomit

[darksideofthemooncup]

I am at my wits end, my dd has always been a night owl but I had got to the point of being able to put her to bed and leave her to go to sleep on her own.

She appears to be regressing, getting up, crying and demanding I stay with her. Last night I thought I would leave her to cry for a bit and not go up to her straight away, the upshot being that she vomited all over the stairs. She has done this before (usually I can stop her putting her hands in her mouth and pre-empt the vomiting) but I am at a loss as to what I can do about this if I'm not right next to her when she is throwing a tantrum.

Any help would be most appreciated!

It sounds really harsh but i would ignore the vomiting. Obviously clean her up etc but don't fuss about the vomiting as she will be getting attention for it.

Is there something different in her room that she may be scared of?

If it was me I'd just keep putting her back to bed everytime she gets out. Just says night night and leave her. Repeat endless times til she stays there

I would either stay longer with her or let her sleep with you until she gets more settled. May be something has upset her?

I can't think of anything that has upset and she sleeps with me already. She just seems to really need me with her until she goes to sleep and I thought we had cracked that.

I'll try not to react to the vomiting in future and maybe try and get her daddy to take over at bedtime and see if that breaks the cycle.

Thanks for your help though!

My youngest used to always vomit if we told her off - she's get in a tantrum, cry, and then be sick. She was about the age of your DD. It was, at first, a very effective strategy because it stopped us in our tracks to clean it up, clean her etc etc, and got her lots of extra attention!

In the end I just decided to ignore it. If she was tantrumming I'd put her in her room, say "when you've stopped you can come out" and add "and there's a bowl if you need to be sick". It took the wind right out of her sails and soon ceased to be a problem.

However, I would make sure there's nothing scaring her at night and making her feel anxious about being away from you. My youngest was also a bit like this and often she just came in and slept with us because nothing else was worth the hassle and upset. She did grow out of it! But I would definitely ignore vomiting and act as though it was no different to crying or any other behaviour.

I would also be a bit hard core about this. She is not actually ill so when she's being sick it's not anything she should get attention for IYSWIM. Give her kisses and cuddles and tell her it's bedtime, leave a bowl by her bed and leave her to it. It might take a few nights for the penny to drop that the vomit no longer gets her her own way, but it's better that way than having her think she can be sick and have you at her beck and call day and night.

If she throws up just change her in silence, as quickly as possible, with no eye contact or fuss.

Make sure she has lots of snuggles and stories etc before bed, so she has no excuse to feel hard done by, and maybe have a small light on in her room if she is scared, but really the best thing to do is ignore the vomit as you would a tantrum. It's just a control thing and she will grow out of it if you teach her now that you won't tolerate it. Good luck (((hugs))) I have dealt with a couple of projectile tantrum vomiters, and also a flatliner (holds her breath til she passes out) and it's not fun. Had that Finding Nemo song in my head for days at a time lol (just keep swimming, just keep swimming...)

Thank you all so much, it sure makes it esaier knowing that I'm not alone in this. I shall definitely be putting your ideas into practice, wish me luck !