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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Are screaming fits normal in 2.4 yr old?

8 replies

mumofben · 14/12/2008 22:10

My previously delightful ds has started to have prolonged screaming fits where he just yells and yells and nothing we do or say makes any difference.

Yesterday, it went on for an hour and a half, and it seemed as if he couldn't even see or hear us. He was flailing around as if having a tantrum / nightmare all in one.

Has anyone else had this? It first started during the night a few weeks ago, and he's done it about 5 or 6 times now. When he stops, it's quite sudden, for no apparent reason, and he just carries on talking as if nothing's happened. We've tried to talk to him about it, but it's as if he becomes a different person when he's doing it, and doesn't appear upset by it afterwards (in contrast to me and dh who are completely traumatised!)

OP posts:

PrettyCandles · 14/12/2008 22:13

It quite possibly is normal Terrible Twos tantrumming. Try not paying any attention - making sure of course that he's in a safe place for flailing. If you can show that you're not fussed by his behaviour, he will have less reason to continue, and is likely to cut the tantrum short.

Original poster

mumofben · 14/12/2008 22:19

He does sometimes have tantrums, but they are normally triggered by something, like not getting his own way. We are pretty firm with tantrums, and they don't last long. This seems completely spontaneous, either when he's just woken up or during the night. I've tried ignoring him and leaving him in his cot, as well as cuddling and trying to soothe him, but nothing helps.

Unfortunately, the lack of sleep is making him a nightmare at bedtime now, because he's too wired.

OP posts:

Kristingle · 14/12/2008 22:26

do you mean when he wakes up in the night? could be night terrors. google it and see if it describes what happens with your DS

Olihan · 14/12/2008 22:29

DS1 used to do that when he woke up from a day time nap. I still have no idea what caused it but he seemed to grow out of it after a few months.

No advice, I'm afraid but plenty of sympathy - it's horrible to watch.

Dottoressa · 14/12/2008 22:32

Yes, normal!

I have come to the conclusion that practically all forms of odd behaviour in two-year-olds are normal. They grow out of one lot of weird behaviour and develop another lot instead.

Rather more seriously, our DS did this. We had it at night. He would 'wake up' screaming and thrashing and we would, obviously, go to him - but nothing we said or did made any difference. It was as if we weren't there. DH used to hold him (he was too struggly and thrashy for me to hold him), but he didn't even seem to register our presence. If we took him downstairs and turned all the lights on, that did eventually seem to get through to him, and he would then be able to talk coherently to us. The next morning, though, he couldn't remember anything about it all.

He did just grow out of it. The last episode was just after his fourth b'day, and followed him having a high temperature for a couple of days. Again, it was at night; he screamed and thrashed and seemed oblivious to everything. By then, we had learnt that nothing we did made any difference, so we did the putting-the-lights-on thing, and DH just held him firmly until he finally stopped screaming and thrashing. He is now 6.5 and hasn't done it since. He still has screaming fits if things don't suit him, but that is a very different matter - he is well aware of what he's doing and of what we are doing in response!

I have no idea what caused it ("night terrors"?), and it wasn't a very nice experience. Good luck to you and your DS!

PrettyCandles · 14/12/2008 22:45

Oh, sorry, I didn't realise it was at night. It does sound like night terrors, but they rarely last more than several minutes if the child is allowed to get on with it without interference. Maybe it is an extreme form of NT?

Has anythign changed in the past few weeks? Started nursery, for example? NTs are more likely during a period of stress.

If it tends to happen at the same time, try waking him a couple of minutes beforehand. That may avert it.

Original poster

mumofben · 14/12/2008 22:54

Thank you all for this, I've just been looking up night terrors - didn't realise there were so many sites devoted to it!

It's exactly how they describe, although they seem to say it should only last up to 20 mins or so.

like Olihan says, it is horrible to watch, especially as you can't do anything.

We've tried putting lights on, walking around the house, everything really.

Well, at least I now know it's nothing serious - I'm half expecting the neighbours to call social services with all the screaming lately though!

Thank you all for responding x

OP posts:

Dottoressa · 14/12/2008 23:01

Mumofben - whatever our DS suffered from, they went on for longer than 20 minutes!

We did sort of decide that they could be night terrors (even though they weren't the 'right' length). Even if they weren't text-book night terrors, it did help a bit to know that other children did this kind of thing.

I hope your DS does grow out of it eventually, as it is very upsetting to see your child apparently in distress yet unreceptive to comfort!

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