Monday, March 12, 2012

Oh, the constant crying and screaming

My son screams and cries a lot. When we are in the car, he does it 80% of the time. Today, driving home from Costco, I had to listen to him scream the whole ten minute ride home. Therapy is the worst, because it is 20-30 minutes depending on traffic. The DVD player only gets him to stop crying some of the time. Usually by the time we get home he's so inconsolable, I feel my only option is to put him in his crib. He usually cools down or falls asleep within 10 minutes.

My four-year old daughter told me today, "mom, I hate when Andy screams all the time!" "Why did you have to have another baby!" I told her that nobody likes it, but we have to deal with it. Not really sure how to answer that one. I've also told her that he can't talk, so his only way to tell us things is by screaming and crying.

We are thinking of going on a trip without Andy, it must sound awful. Our family understands though, and have offered to watch him if we want to get away for a few days. I've tried brushing and compressions, music and singing, DVDs, and having toys in the car. Andy is just Andy. Screaming and crying most of the time to try and get his point across.

Sometimes I think he cries more around me. When either one of his grandmothers watch him, they tell me "oh he was so good, and didn't cry". He must just need a change of scenery more often. I also prefer going shopping without him, because it is SO stressful. I was singing songs to him the whole time we were in Costco to keep him quiet. Other times I just let him cry and try to get my shopping done as fast as I can, and get all kind of stares and disgusted looks from everyone.

Can't wait for this phase to be over. We're long overdue for a break from all the crying.

5 comments:

  1. Andrew is now taking Risperdol before bedtime, and it is supposed to help with his frustration/crying. The neurologist says that his agenesis of corpus collosum is causing a chemical imbalance that is adding to his frustration and overwhelming him causing him to cry a lot. Who knows if this is the case, but we are at the end of our rope and willing to try the meds.

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  2. Did this get better? My daughter is driving me to the edge with all her screaming and crying.

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  3. Yes for Andy it took several months to figure out he would cry when he was even slightly constipated. We stopped all meds except for stool softener. I also put noise canceling headphones on him attached to an iPod or my phone or some kind of music and this works. He cries way less now, but I think it's because I have figured out his triggers. If he was inconsolable for more than 3 hours we would go to urgent care as directed by a nurse. Sometimes they would tell me to go home and give him an enema, sometimes they would tell me he had an ear infection or red throat, sometimes they would tell me they could see nothing wrong and I would just give Tylenol thinking maybe he has a headache or teething pain from molars coming in. I still give Tylenol when I'm in doubt and let him cry it out in his room when I have attended to everything else. It will get better, and if it goes on for too long I would really have a nurse check them over.

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  4. I have been looking a blog such as this for the longest time now and i wanted to start one but never seem to find the time to write. I have a specials needs son and it has been a whirlwind of experiences.

    I live in Nigeria and the required facilities to help him are not really available or affordable. Finding helpers/carers has been an uphill task and we just go with the flow.

    He is 30 months now and screams and cries nonstop every other weekend that it is quite confusing. The doctors have almost always diagnosed a red throat and have said antibiotics may just be the order of the day. But I still weary.

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  5. Sounds just like my 4 yr old with Microcephaly and delays. The crying just started in the past year or so. Used to be at night only but now during the day. Yesterday I brought my kids to my store as I do sometimes and she would not let me put her down. Everytime i did she would fall out on the floor screaming. At lunch I tried to sit and eat a chicken dinner with my other kids and Missy screamed as soon as I even inched toward the seat. I was holding her AND standing basically all day until my mother came to help .

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