Cranky Guy

Hi everybody,

I'm sort of at wits' end with my little guy and wanted
to see if anyone had any ideas. Sam's a year old
(yesterday!) and he's always been a very sunny baby
generally. Usually, when he's cranky, something's
amiss; he's hungry, tired, thirsty, or sick.

For the last week, though, he's been different. He's
still willing to play and explore some of the time, but
the least little thing sets him off - he gets
lightly bumped, or sits down harder than he meant to,
or someone says 'no', or sometimes nothing happens that
we can perceive and he's wailing and clinging to my
leg. It's just the way he acts when he's tired, but
he's acting that way even when he's just had a nap
and is well-fed. We've even put him back on two
naps a day to see if it helps, with indifferent
results.

He *was* sick a week and a half ago, but he seemed
fine afterwards and has coincidentally had a well-
baby visit since then so his ears have been checked
recently. He's also not sleeping badly. Finally,
we left him with my parents for six hours today and
he was fine, no crying or any problems at all. I
walked in the door, and crying and clinging
instantly resumed.

What the heck is going on here? I'm half-worried
that there's some physical ailment bothering him
that we're not catching, and half-worried that I've
finally succeeded in 'spoiling' him as my in-laws
believe. If it's a phase I can grit my teeth and
live with it, but I'm not sure if it's better to
always pick him up when he falls apart or try to
stall him. Up until now I've always picked him
up without fail whenever he asked, but until now
that wasn't every five minutes, and the fact that
he seems fine when I'm not here makes me wonder if
I'm not somehow contributing to the problem.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom?

Beth
Sam 8/16/2003

"Elizabeth Reid" wrote in message
om...
Hi everybody,

I'm sort of at wits' end with my little guy and wanted
to see if anyone had any ideas. Sam's a year old
(yesterday!) and he's always been a very sunny baby
generally. Usually, when he's cranky, something's
amiss; he's hungry, tired, thirsty, or sick.

For the last week, though, he's been different. He's
still willing to play and explore some of the time, but
the least little thing sets him off - he gets
lightly bumped, or sits down harder than he meant to,
or someone says 'no', or sometimes nothing happens that
we can perceive and he's wailing and clinging to my
leg. It's just the way he acts when he's tired, but
he's acting that way even when he's just had a nap
and is well-fed. We've even put him back on two
naps a day to see if it helps, with indifferent
results.

He *was* sick a week and a half ago, but he seemed
fine afterwards and has coincidentally had a well-
baby visit since then so his ears have been checked
recently. He's also not sleeping badly. Finally,
we left him with my parents for six hours today and
he was fine, no crying or any problems at all. I
walked in the door, and crying and clinging
instantly resumed.

What the heck is going on here? I'm half-worried
that there's some physical ailment bothering him
that we're not catching, and half-worried that I've
finally succeeded in 'spoiling' him as my in-laws
believe. If it's a phase I can grit my teeth and
live with it, but I'm not sure if it's better to
always pick him up when he falls apart or try to
stall him. Up until now I've always picked him
up without fail whenever he asked, but until now
that wasn't every five minutes, and the fact that
he seems fine when I'm not here makes me wonder if
I'm not somehow contributing to the problem.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom?

Beth
Sam 8/16/2003

Well there's always the teeth thing. They get molars and eye teeth etc..
which sometimes cause problems in kids who had no trouble with the earlier
ones. My DS would have a few weeks of being sort of mildly cranky,
oversensitive, easy to upset, each time I couldn't figure it out and then a
tooth would pop out and it would stop.

He was never "really" grumpy so I would worry that he had changed and was
going to be like that forever. It always ended.

Also I have found that he can be quite a grumpy guts even when an illness
seems to be over. Often for quite a while, again that always ends.

Oh and he was always fine with my parents when he was like that. I put it
down the the distraction and the novelty of being looked after by someone
else.

Judy

On 17 Aug 2003 18:23:55 -0700, (Elizabeth Reid)
wrote:

Does anyone have any words of wisdom?

Beth
Sam 8/16/2003

Perhaps he is teething and that is why he is whiny and
wants to be held?

Have you tried giving him something cold to put on his
gums. Those teethers that you keep in the refrigerator
or freezer might help or ice popsicles (my granddaughter
loves ice cubes and she is a year old).


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..
Outer Limits