18 mo ds - sudden change in behaviour, any ideas?

[boozybird]

my 18mo ds has until now had a gorgeous sunny nature although a bit shy and clingy sometimes, generally really happy and always slept well, in his own bed etc....

in the last couple of weeks he has begun waking 3 or 4 times in the night, and will not go back to sleep unless either me or db stay with him, and he cries / moans ALL the time when he is awake - everything is 'no' with him now. nappy changing, dressing, bathing, eating, ALL have become a battle. it's like he's always having a really bad day. he used to eat everything and now will only eat banana or yoghurt (!). wants to be carried everywhere although he has been walking for months.

he was teething, and at first i thought that was it, but the 'difficult' behaviour doesn't seem to have subsided while the dribbling has...

is this a normal stage of development? will it pass, or is this the Terrible Twos, only early!?

I think the £ba" behaviour is probably linked to being tired from excessive waking during the night - I would then reccomend Supernanny's sleep training to get him through the night

1. Bed time

· Make a set time for bed time

· Develop a bedtime routine: bath, brush teeth, read a book.

· Place in their bed, kiss goodnight

· Phase I:

o Sit on the floor next to their bed.

o If they get out of bed, place them back in bed

o Do not talk at any time, keep silent at all times

o No eye contact at any time

· Phase II:

o Sit in a nearby room

o If they get out of bed, place them back in bed and go back out without talking or looking at him

bossy

I am sure it is just teething or that he is just a bit low/fighting off an illness.

I am only posting this because your post is freakishly eeerily like my son at 20 months. Especially the change in food choices and the clinginess.
Please watch for any diminishing of eye contact or an increase in tantrums. I would try very hard to expand his food choices. If things do not improve then go to your GP.
Is he verbal - babbling and looking at you. Is he pointing at things?

I am sorry. My post wasn't very well phrased. Honestly not trying to alarm you.
I am just trying to give you things to look out for if he doesn't drop back into his normal sunny self soon.
I am sure he is fine and is just getting tired/run down/grumpy. My DD gets a bit like this when she is fighting off a virus or illness.

My DD 18 months is like this if teething or ill and it goes on for what seems like forever. Will only eat sweet things when normally good eater. Terrible restless nights, very very clingy. Personally I'd make light of it. It's tough but stick with it, if it's teeth he'll get over it. If it's developmental then he'll return to himself once he feels confident with the new him.

I find the constant negotiation with tantrums really really hard work but if I ever respond in an equally tantrumy way it makes it worse. I think they're as much cross with themselves because they can't communicate why they don't want to eat or specifically want that toy that minute as they are with being 'told what to do'.

Has he got his canines yet? If not I would almost put money on it being that. It goes on for AGES and the teething signs aren't as straight forward as the previous times (in my limited experience). And it becomes a vicious cycle - disturbed nights = more cranky in day etc etc. My DS was like this for a good 6-8 weeks until all canines came through and I'm so glad to have my little munch back (now dreading the back molars!)

HI my DS was / is like this, exactly (he turns 2 today). While the tantrums have gotten worse, his mood in between has slowly improved. For us it was endless teething pain combined with the onset of tantrum frustrations.

Teething really can go on FOREVER even if the dribbling or other outward signs have stopped. I checked with my GP and giving Calpol liberally is really ok (though I often thought he was consuming more of this than actual food it did seem to help). Nurofen actually works better I find but must give this after food - which can be tricky at these points as they are so fussy! I'd say just give lots of whatever food they want - hunger only makes them crankier! My DS would really love those crunchy snacks from Organix, e.g.

Good daytime naps might help too.

Good luck!!!!

hmmn, thanks for that...pagwatch he is still making lots of eye contact and is very verbal - has a lot more words than most of his peers. i thnk the tired vicious cycle makes sense, and he has no canines... couple of molars have come through recently and i guess i just didn't realise the teeth thing would last so long (i thought days, a week maybe with each tooth? am first time mother, obviously). at first he wld point to his mouth and say 'sore', which he doesn't do now, but maybe cause he's used to it, but perhaps it still IS sore so not eating or sleeping properly, and hence super grumpy all day long (like his mummy on no food/sleep!)

i will worry again if no improvement in a month.

Hi Boozy, what a clever little fella saying sore I sometimes wonder if teething causes other pains in my DD (other than in her mouth iyswim) she often yanks her ears or holds the side of her head. Maybe she gets a headache, I'm not sure. A friend of mine said that his wisdom teeth hurt like hell coming through and he couldn't sleep. My DD is also not a dribbler. She dribbled a bit with the first molar but that is the only time. I found with the molars she was really really hard work until all four were through. She settled for a few weeks and now the canines are on their way and she's exactly the same. Do his gims look swollen? My DD's last molar took weeks and even when it had broken the surface, it took ages to come through. Good luck, it's such hard work isn't it?

Boozybird.
Poor boy - "sore" - sad but very sweet.

Yep - i bet its his teeth. Hope he feels himself again soon.
You are very organized - scheduling to worry again in a month excellent attention to detail !
Hope you get some rest/sleep soon

Thanks for all the support - little monster slept for 14 hours straight last night and woke up the same happy boy he was a couple of weeks ago! fingers crossed we'll get a few days of this before more teeth...

xx

WOW you lucky thing!