can babies change thier personalities over-night???

[dolster]

My DD (14 mo) has always been willful and feisty but these elements of her personality have not been the dominant ones. She shows signs of stubborness and frustration and has never been able to sit still but at the same time she's generally fun, smiley, gentle, well-behaved. That is, until last week. For the last week she has been a horror! She's started tantruming, she's been aggressively snatching toys from other babies at play dates and pulling hair, she's been crying and screaming LOADS. I feel like I've lost my little girl. Help! I feel really out of control and I don't know how to handle it. This weekend there were times when we were both crying! She's on the verge of walking but it's not quite happening for her yet so I'm wondering if some of this behaviour could be down to frustration. I took her to the doctors on Friday and there is nothing medically wrong with her. I just feel like suddenly I'm caring for a total stranger and I'm sure she's sensing my anxiety.

Just posted something similar, my DD is nearly twelve months and is constantly crying and she hardly ever cried before. I feel like I can't do anything right!! Again not sure if its frustration as she's not mobile yet!!

So you did! It's really scary isn't it?! We've had tricky periods before but this is really the worst. I guess it must be down to frustration but it's so hard to rationalise and not to get upset about it. I am just seeing a really different side to my DD's personality and it's freaking me out as I just can't seem to comfort her or make her feel happy.

Maybe there is something wrong with her? I found with my DD that unusual behaviour was often the first signs of illness. Is she teething maybe? We had this particularly badly when DD had hand foot and mouth (twice!) and it has always reverted back to normal happy behaviour when whatever was bothering her finishes.

It's also often a sign of working on a new developmental spurt. You can read about them in The Wonder Weeks. The authors describe babies as 'clingy, cranky & crying' when working on a developmental leap.