So, my daughter is 4.5 and attends pre-k 20 hours a week. She is an only child living with me and her papi. she is a very verbal girl, very sweet and really just a pretty normal kid. No tantrums really, listens well. But this past week has been epic for us.
The few tantrums my daughter has had haven't been to severe. Some crying, screaming for about 45 seconds and that was it. I can count on one hand how many she has had. When she cries hysterically she does this crazy breath holding thing. Our pediatrician said lots of kids do it and she won't kill herself because her body will force herself to breathe. I found a trick that works. If she does it I just gently blow in her face and it would force her to take a breath and she calmed down. Well, this week has been so weird.
She has always been a good sleeper. Sleeping throught the night at around 4 weeks (8 hours). She co slept for 3 years and now she starts off in her room and sometimes will come in around 4am, and sometimes stay in her room. When she goes to bed, we read a story, cuddle for about ten minutes, then leave some music on for her and a night light. Well the other day she wouldn't go to bed, kept playing with her baby, so she knows our rule, you play and not sleep, no music. So I turned off the music, kept the light on and went to bed. About 45 minutes I heard this weird noise, so I listed and didn't hear it again. Then about 15 minutes later I heard it again and I went to check on her and all of a sudden her door flies open so fast it knocked things off the wall and she comes hauling butt out of her room with her hands in the air screaming. She runs out into the living room looking for me, but I call her from the hallway and she turns around and as I go to pick her up, she is doing the not breathing thing. The only way I can describe it is that her eyes get super big, her mouth is open and she looks like she is crying so bad she can't make a noise and can't breathe. She doesn't shake, she almost convulses. Well I pick her up talk to her and within 10 seconds she breathes and I can start to calm her down (I sit her in my lap facing me with her legs around my waist. I wrap her in a blanket tightly and shhhh in her ear). Finally I get her conherent enough to talk and she told me that her bear looked like it moved and that she had been crying for almost an hour. and hour!!!!! I would never leave my kid to cry like that. i mean, a fuss for a few minutes, sure, but never to cry that long! So she came into bed with us and tossed and turned all night long. I woke up with her every hour. So unlike her. She has also been waking up coughing in the morning and I have to make an appointment with the allergist.
Well last night was epic. Everything was fine. She was getting ready for bed ad I was i the bathroom with her combing her hair. I accidentally caught a snarl and it scared her. So she started crying because I imagined it hurt ad it scared her. I immediately cuddled her and said "mummy is very sorry, are you okay?" She told me that she was scared by the snarl and then all of a sudden she started the convulsing type thing and I knew she was going to do the breath holding. So I pick her up and she is mouth open, mid scream, red face, heart racing, eyes wild. I try my usual tricks to get her to stop and it doesn't work. I am not one to freak out, so I just firmly pat her on the back, because sometime that works, and nothing. It only got worse. The shaking/convulsing got worse, and I yelled for my husband. I was near tears saying "she won't breathe, M please breathe"She went purple and wouldn't breathe for nearly a minute. It was terrifying. Normally I am pretty calm, but I had to hand her off, because I didn't know what to do. The second my husband got her, she breathed. I near called 911. When we finally got her quiet so told me it was because i had scared her while combing her because the tangle hurt. wtf! But why go so crazy?
It was the scariest thing in my life. i am unsure if this is something that kids just do. Is it a tantrum, a panic attack?
The few tantrums my daughter has had haven't been to severe. Some crying, screaming for about 45 seconds and that was it. I can count on one hand how many she has had. When she cries hysterically she does this crazy breath holding thing. Our pediatrician said lots of kids do it and she won't kill herself because her body will force herself to breathe. I found a trick that works. If she does it I just gently blow in her face and it would force her to take a breath and she calmed down. Well, this week has been so weird.
She has always been a good sleeper. Sleeping throught the night at around 4 weeks (8 hours). She co slept for 3 years and now she starts off in her room and sometimes will come in around 4am, and sometimes stay in her room. When she goes to bed, we read a story, cuddle for about ten minutes, then leave some music on for her and a night light. Well the other day she wouldn't go to bed, kept playing with her baby, so she knows our rule, you play and not sleep, no music. So I turned off the music, kept the light on and went to bed. About 45 minutes I heard this weird noise, so I listed and didn't hear it again. Then about 15 minutes later I heard it again and I went to check on her and all of a sudden her door flies open so fast it knocked things off the wall and she comes hauling butt out of her room with her hands in the air screaming. She runs out into the living room looking for me, but I call her from the hallway and she turns around and as I go to pick her up, she is doing the not breathing thing. The only way I can describe it is that her eyes get super big, her mouth is open and she looks like she is crying so bad she can't make a noise and can't breathe. She doesn't shake, she almost convulses. Well I pick her up talk to her and within 10 seconds she breathes and I can start to calm her down (I sit her in my lap facing me with her legs around my waist. I wrap her in a blanket tightly and shhhh in her ear). Finally I get her conherent enough to talk and she told me that her bear looked like it moved and that she had been crying for almost an hour. and hour!!!!! I would never leave my kid to cry like that. i mean, a fuss for a few minutes, sure, but never to cry that long! So she came into bed with us and tossed and turned all night long. I woke up with her every hour. So unlike her. She has also been waking up coughing in the morning and I have to make an appointment with the allergist.
Well last night was epic. Everything was fine. She was getting ready for bed ad I was i the bathroom with her combing her hair. I accidentally caught a snarl and it scared her. So she started crying because I imagined it hurt ad it scared her. I immediately cuddled her and said "mummy is very sorry, are you okay?" She told me that she was scared by the snarl and then all of a sudden she started the convulsing type thing and I knew she was going to do the breath holding. So I pick her up and she is mouth open, mid scream, red face, heart racing, eyes wild. I try my usual tricks to get her to stop and it doesn't work. I am not one to freak out, so I just firmly pat her on the back, because sometime that works, and nothing. It only got worse. The shaking/convulsing got worse, and I yelled for my husband. I was near tears saying "she won't breathe, M please breathe"She went purple and wouldn't breathe for nearly a minute. It was terrifying. Normally I am pretty calm, but I had to hand her off, because I didn't know what to do. The second my husband got her, she breathed. I near called 911. When we finally got her quiet so told me it was because i had scared her while combing her because the tangle hurt. wtf! But why go so crazy?
It was the scariest thing in my life. i am unsure if this is something that kids just do. Is it a tantrum, a panic attack?
