9mo hugely angry and frustrated

[kenobi]

Hi all,

My DD has always been quite a sweet sunny baby but the last week she has become a bit of a nightmare. Ok, a total psychotic nightmare.
She is trying to crawl or possibly pull herself up but seems to have no understanding of how to go about it. When I'm sitting with her on the playmat she grabs my arms or legs and tries to pull herself onto my lap. If I help her she cries angrily so I take her off my lap. More hell and fury.
If I try to help her get on her knees/feet, she's happy for about 10 secs then more angry crying, if I don't help her, greater fury. When she does pull herself onto her knees (normally with my help) she will then try to move but immediately sticks a leg out, overbalances and rolls onto her back which occasions a tantrum of brutal magnificence.
I have also tried leaving her on the mat to try and figure it all out for herself while doing chores around her in the same room but apparently that construes as major-league abandonment in her mind.
She has been doing this for a week with no improvement.
She's also waking at 4.45am.

I am at my wit's end. Is there ANYTHING I can do to help her, or has anyone who has had a similar experience give me an idea of when she might understand how to move so I have a time-frame?!
She has had a cold and a bump on the head (moronic mummy highchair accident) which can't help, plus she has been brewing top teeth for what feels like months now (when oh when will they come?) but I feel like I am stuck at home with a changeling and I would really, really like my baby back now.

Hi

No advice I'm afraid but wanted to post as I share your pain....

I have an angry 8mo who is desperately independent - wants no help from me whatsoever! - and wants to get crawling but can't seem to get it together. And to make it worse she will insist on trying out her crawling technique (or lack of it) at 3am in the cot which usually results in screaming!

We have also had top teeth seemingly coming through for weeks now - it's frustrating isn't it?

I think the mantra through gritted teeth is 'this too will pass'

I'm not alone! Hurrah!
You are so right, I know this will pass (god, it had better otherwise I'm somehow sending her back to where she came from...) but I'm so fed up.
Unfortunately DD isn't independent, she wants me there all the time, but doesn't seem to know what she wants from me.
I guess it's fun to have someone to blame when you accidentally flip over for the 12,387th time...

have you tried a baby bouncer - one of the ones that hangs from the door frame, so they can be upright and bounce themselves up and down?

There's a huge developmental spurt around 9 months. Many babies' sleep is affected by it (the 8/9 month sleep regression) but for others it affects their feeding / desire for solid food / behaviour.

See here and here. They're mostly about sleep, but it does say how the developmental spurt can affect mood and behaviour.

Chocolate is what you need, till it passed. :)

Sorry, no advice, but offering my support. My dd was like this for about 6 weeks from about 7 months until she managed to learn to crawl at just over 8 months. Not sure what you can do except stick it out (and distract yourself with baby-proofing the house). Even now,at 10 mo, she's less frustrated since she learned to crawl, but when she's on the floor she wants to climb onto my knee, and when she's finally on my knee she wants to be back on the floor, and spends most of her day pulling herself up on the coffee table and sofa, then sitting down (and repeat 400 times).

Lu9months - Baby bouncer would be great but DD is enormous - she is 28lb already - so she's too darn heavy for them. I think this is impeding the crawling to be honest, she's all legs and belly like a Purple Ronnie drawing.
Angeldog - will def check that out asap, and thank you and teenyanne for the support . TA - 6 weeks!!! - blimey, how did you survive?!

If the crying got too much, I just put her in her playpen, made sure she was safe then stood at the back door drinking tea and doing some deep breaths. Sometimes Cbeebies distracted her, sometimes noisy toys distracted her - and we went out to baby groups / baby singing / swimming so I wasn't in the house with her all day.

Otherwise, wine is the answer (for you, not her!)

I am about to go and make wine the answer right now as DD in bed with luvvy stuffed firmly and happily in that cross little gob of hers.

Thanks ladies... loins are girded, tomorrow is another day.

I will survive, as long as I know how to lo-ove I know I'm still al-iiiive, I WILL survi-hi-hi-ve! (etc)