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OMG horrendous tantrum

10 replies

MoreTeaPlease · 11/05/2008 09:08

I am still feeling sad/shaken about what happened yesterday afternoon.

DD, who will be 2 at the end of August, and I had a very busy but really fun a.m. and then she had a shorter nap than I would have expected (having been shattered when she went down). But woke up in a great mood, had loads of laughs being chased about by DP etc. We went to the swings.

There she continued to have a lovely time and we were enjoying watching her interact with other kids- it was really busy.

She got included in a little game of catch until the boy and his ball had to go when she appeared to get disproproprtionately upset. She didn't want either of her balls and looked sort of lost, walking along crying rather than coming to me as usual.

I thought she looked overwrought and picked her up gently and took her outof the swings. I didn't explain that we were leaving as I usually do because I thought it would make her go nuts and we could just walk out calmly and she'd get distracted by the next thing.

But she LOST IT in a way I have never seen before. She screamed so that she was crimson in the face for truly twenty minutes. I thought she was going to be sick. She arched her back and made it hard for us to hold her. She was inconsolable, at the end I felt she was frightening herself with the sound of her own screams. It was heart breaking.

Then she calmed down all of sudden and became apparently fine. For the rest of the evening I felt she was 'high maintenance' because she was tired and, I suspect also because I was feeling stirred up.

Is that normal? I'm prepared for tantrums, indeed I would say we've had a few, but NOTHING like this. I couldn't believe how long it went on for and how upset she looked.

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
sarah293 · 11/05/2008 09:11

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juuule · 11/05/2008 10:11

Normal.

themoon66 · 11/05/2008 10:13

Normal. DD could manage a meltdown like that for 10 mins at a time 2 or 3 times a day. She used to scream so hard her face would go red down one side and white down the other. I took her to the doctors because I thought she was ill or something.

WigWamBam · 11/05/2008 10:16

That's a normal tantrum - anything you've seen up until now was just practising!

They often comes from frustration, often from an inability to communicate their wishes properly.

Just repeat the mantra: It's just a phase; this too will pass.

moondog · 11/05/2008 10:17

Par for the course.

micci25 · 11/05/2008 10:21

absolutley normal my dd1 4 has tantrums that would make damien from the omen look like a well balanced child!!! and has done since about 18 months! and hsev actually has screamed and cried that much for that long that she did make herself sick!

unfortunatley all kids have major tantrums at times and there isnt a lot we can do about it other than wait them out

Saturn74 · 11/05/2008 10:21

Completely normal.

After her subtle hint, I think it will be best to ensure that you always give her a warning before you leave the swings!

Ignoring and distraction will become your best friends in the parenting world for a while.

MoreTeaPlease · 11/05/2008 10:48

God thank you all so much.

Can't tell you how much better that makes me feel!

Thank you. Have a great Sunday.

OP posts:
MoreTeaPlease · 11/05/2008 10:48

God thank you all so much.

Can't tell you how much better that makes me feel!

Thank you. Have a great Sunday.

OP posts:
MoreTeaPlease · 11/05/2008 10:49

oops

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