Tantrum like behaviour at 9 months... is this normal??!!

[LimesMum]

Just wondering if anyone else has experience of the following as I'm starting to worry its abnormal?!

If DD does not get what she wants, is upset or if you remove something from her that she really wants she arches backwards very suddenly and throws herself straight back onto the floor, banging her head very hard in the process.... This is semi ok as we have a thick soft carpet but when we go to friends or family with wooden or tiled floors it is pretty lethal.

Just looking for any others that have experienced this and of so what did you do about it? Seems like strange behaviour for such a young child to me?

Thanks

It's pretty normal to get intensely pissed off when you dont get what you want, have things removed from your hands, etc. And what else has she got to work with besides rage? It isnt strange behaviour at all. But you do need to help her cope better.

You have to anticipate. can you pick her up na put her on her tummy, or in her pack and play, or some other safer position/place when you anticipate she is going to be mad? Also, try to distract and substitute rather than just take what she has. Verbalize for her, "mum knows you want to play with the (whatever) but here's your (instead).

If she has a lovey or a favorite cuddly toy, and you consistently offer that to her, she may learn to be soothed by it. If she doesnt, pick something to offer.

protip: pick something you can immediately get a back up version of. My son's inadvertent self attachment to one of a pair of flannelette recieving blankets was a godsend, very small, very washable, and a back up in case of loss. Seriously, we used to carefully pack the back up in the checked luggage, just in case the one in the diaper bag got lost in an airport or something! Much better than my daughter's inadvertent self attachment to the blanket hand crocheted by my grandmother. Bulky, less and less washable, and irreplaceable. It began shredding and i had to convince her to make it a pillow for her bed by zipping it into a cushion cover. Which she still has. At 30.

I'm not an expert, but DS started this at around 9.5 months. A couple months down the road, we're still not very good at dealing with it. Sometimes we can distract him, sometimes not. I wish he had any care about going backwards, because I definitely worry about him hurting himself.

Also, when this started, DH mentioned it to someone at work, who said it was exactly why she returned to work when her second DC was 10 months old -- because that's when the tantrums started with her first!

My DS started "tantrumming" at 7 months, just before he could crawl. It was bad again at 11 months just before he could walk, and bad again now at 15 months so I'm expecting another big leap soon.

With him it's always when his ambition outweighs his capabilities. I think it's very normal.