PTSD in a 2 month old????

[lucyd74]

My previously very chilled out DD is 2 months old. After a hospital stay 1.5 weeks ago she has developed a habit of hysterical screaming when laid in her back to change (I have never seen a baby cry like this my first daughter never did). I can not work out what is triggering it - can a baby have PTSD?. In hospital she had to have a lumbar puncture performed. The nurses advised me not to stay as they said it was unpleasant and they wouldn't want to see their own child have one - so I waited outside but heard her screaming for what felt like an eternity. The other thing is she has had a clickey hip, which we are waiting for a follow up scan for to see if there is any improvement. If any one has any ideas what could be triggering her screaming or any advice as to what I can do to help her or work out the cause of this I would be eternally grateful :(

ah now my oldest had to have a stay in SCBU as a newborn and for many months after could not BEAR to be handled and was incredibly jumpy

I don't know if it was PTSD in one so young but yes, he was affected

eg would startle at the phone ringing, you had one chance at changing a pooy nappy before he would become distressed, didn't like being dandled on a knee, much preferring close firm hold

Sorry for ramble, I do know what you mean

I don't have any great advice but couldn't read and run. Prob not PTSD but maybe an association. If the lumbar puncture caused her pain afterwards when on her back, she may now associate laying on her back with pain. Is there anyone you can speak to at hospital where she had the LP done? Hope someone else comes along with some proper advice.

I'd take her to the GP for reassurance that the LP hasn't caused anything lasting that may be causing pain while lying on her back. There may also be other (coincidental) physical reasons why lying on her back may be painful - I'd want this investigating tbh!

I would definitely see the GP and maybe HV. As a todler I had a similar issue, (not wanting to lay flat kicking and screaming if the rain cover went over my push chair) due to being hospitalised from 3-23 months old. It might also be worth considering cranial osteopathy or baby massage to help her relax? Good luck!

I think these things can have a short term effect on children, Ds was on cpap at 8 weeks old and had to wear a cap that kept falling over his eyes, for a while afterwards if anything covered his eyes he would get hysterical

I don't know about PTSD but I definitely think traumatic experiences can have an impact on early behaviour from my own experience. My DS was in NICU and we couldn't pick him up/he was being fed through a tube whilst being a full term and very conscious and aware baby. He would lie there and scream and scream. It was horrible. (he also had medical procedures, lumbar puncture, intravenous antibiotics etc.).

Luckily he recovered quite quickly but he was a very fractious and attached baby for the first year, had to be right beside me, never slept or went without BF for more than an hour-90 minutes at a time. Of course he may have been like this regardless but I can't help but think that those first few days of disturbed opportunity for attachment had an impact on his feelings of security. The good news is he's now a very happy and secure 4 year old with no psychological difficulties as far as I can tell.

Will she lay on her back for other things- ie. sleeping or play time or is it just for nappy change? If its everything then maybe it could be a coincidence and reflux? It often starts around 4-6 weeks, but who's to say it can't at 8 weeks?

I wouldn't expect a baby to have a long enough memory to make such a negative association, and also when she had the LP she would have been curled up into the fetal position on her side, so she shouldn't be associating lying on her back with that anyway.

Definately like other people have said get her checked out in case there is some bruising, or something else there that you can't see. I think though, go back to the hospital and get the registrar to check her over incase it's a complication from the spinal- as they can check her records as well, incase it was a difficult procedure etc. Given that she's so little, and has recently had a hospital admission I don't think it's unreasonable to represent.