My 14 Month Old Cries All the Time

I agree w/the others. I don't think she is trying to manipulate you. I think something is wrong. Take her to the ped and make them ck everything! If not, go to someone else. Something is going on.

My son is 14 months also and he's been more whinny and demanding lately also. Also, more tempermental. I hope it's a phase also. Just hang in their it's got to get better.

I would also suggest to look into perhaps some food sensitivities (especially artificial food colorings), or some fallout from vaccinations or something.

If you have eliminated everything you can, look to see if she is just being controlling of you. It may be as simple as her figuring out, "Hmm, I can control mommy by screaming, and this power is fun!" If you think it's something like this, then you need to break that habit she has, by refusing to go along with it any more. Give her plenty of love when she is a sweet girl, but if she pitches a fit don't "reward" her behavior by doing what she wants. Instead teach her how to control her emotions by calmly saying, "No, I will not pick you up [or whatever it is she is wanting] until you stop screaming." Then as soon as she evidences good behavior, reward the good behavior by picking her up and loving on her.

Speak with her, talk to her, give her words to understand what is going on inside of her ("I know you're upset that the cookie broke, but you can't scream about it -- just say, "Oh, no, the cookie broke!"), and eventually she should stop the drama and replace it with the words and calmness you have modeled.

My grandson started screaming a little earlier than 14 mos. He was checked very frequently (almost weekly) to be sure there was no problem. Sometimes he had an ear infection that can be very painful but treatable. But not always. One of the doctors in this practice suggested it could be sensory integration issues. He was tested and also tested for speech delay. Now he gets therapy three times a week(compliments of the State of Illinois until he's five years old, I think) and he's doing much better. Once he started to walk on his own, he improved even faster although we don't expect miracles -- this could take years to improve. The only problem my daughter had was when the family went on a vacation recently. Evidently, he was not able to adapt very easily to change because he screamed 24/7 (almost). He's now 19 mos. So I highly suggest you take him to the pediatrician and mention these issues so they can be ruled out. However, if the doctor pooh-poohs what you're going through, you might want to find another doctor. Mothers DO know better than doctors most of the time and if your doctor doesn't trust your judgment, it's time for a change! Good luck!

K.,

How frustrating for both of you! Did anything happen to her around 3-4 months ago: did she somehow get injured, dietary change, get a vaccine, or something else? It's so hard to tell since they can't directly tell you, but it seems like she might be having some kind of sensory perception issues. Sometimes kids seems to be "misbehaving" when really the way they're perceiving the same world hits their brains differently. Have you considered chiropractic for her as maybe a starting point -- she might be in constant pain due to something? (By the way, I am not a chiropractor, but I've found that sometimes alternatives to the mainstream can help children with this kind of thing.) H. this helps! Good luck -- H.

My daughter will be 16 months old the 7th of this month. she was terriable for that when she was about 10 months up untill recently. i stay at home with her too so she isnt used to being seperated from me, and wanted to be held constantly. before having a nerveous breakdown i took her and left her with my mother 1 night. she screamed she cried she didnt sleep so acourse i cried i couldnt sleep and wanted to go get her but my husband convinced me not to. after we did this for several weekends spaced out over time she became a lot less dependant on me.

K.,

I am sorry to hear you are having problems with your little one. I had the same problem for a while when my daughter was that age. It was a combination of the night terrors starting, teething and some stress that was going on in our lives at the time.

I use chamomilla 30x pills, Hyland brand. You should be able to buy them at a holistic vitamin shop or find them on line. They help calm litte ones down and help with teething pain. I still give them to my 7 year old when she is starting one of her tantrums or when she is having trouble falling asleep. They just help to calm, they do not contain drugs. I even take them when I am feeling over stressed.

This could be a stage your daughter is going through and I hope she goes through it quickly for you. Unfortunatley since she can't talk yet, there is no way for her to tell you what is wrong. I am afraid you will have to put your foot down and let her cry, when you can stand it and don't give in. She won't let you sit down? Who is the mom here? This can be difficult and it will take you a while to deal with, but try to tune her out. That takes training yourself on your part.

Good luck,

E.

Have you made sure there is nothing medically wrong with her. My daughter was extremely fussy so I took her to her pediatrician. Her only symptom was neediness and fussiness with no fever or anything but she acutally had a UTI. Refusing to walk may indicate she has some injury and causes her pain when she stands up. Older children can be rough on babies and something may have happened that you didn't see. My son is very emotionally sensitive and needy but never had these issues your facing. I wouldn't pass this off as emotional. It's probably medical. Also, being a SAHM is hard. I found a great preschool and a great job and now life is much better for all of us.

I would talk to your pediatrition. Two things that I know of which may or may not be the case, but can be easily remedied are the following.

My mother-in-law tells that when she gave birth to her daughter, the pelvis and or hip bones were slightly tilted and that my sister-in-law cried a lot as an infant. They fitted her with braces and special shoes until it corrected itself. I think that she wore these until she was 2 or 3 years old. If something similar is going on it could explain why she does not want to walk and cries a lot. I don't think that my sister-in-laws condition was something that was obvious at first.

The other thing that I know of is that some young children can have joints that easily pop out of place when they are little. If this is the case - the doctor can easily put the joint back in place and show you how to do it should it occur again. My sister and my niece both had elbows that came out of socket very easily as young children and it can cause the child to cry a lot. When a joint pops out of place it doesn't necessarily swell or discolor. With my niece and my sister the only signs were that they cried a lot and weren't using that arm as much. I have only heard of this happening with elbows, but I would think that it could be possible with other joints as well.

First...bless your heart! I can't imagine! I would however take her to the MD. There may be something going on with her that you just can't see. At least they could rule out anything wrong with her. It doesn't make sense she suddenly started doing this unless something in your lives has changed (and kids pick up on everything.) Good luck to you and God bless!

She is teething and it hurts her so she is cranky and irritable. She is probably getting in some of her jaw teeth, those are the worst! It will pass. Give her some infant motrin (no dye unlike tylenol) for the pain every now and then. She will get better soon. Good luck.

When my sons were younger and would get fussy like that we would end up at the doctors office. Almost everytime it was the ear infections. They never complained of pain, no fever, lethargy or any of the other signs of illness. The doctor would always be amamzed that they did not complain of pain even with really bad double ear infections. It might be something to look into. Good Luck!

There are two homeopathic remedies that might really help you. Hyland's makes a product called "Gripe Water" that really helps with colic and/or digestion issues - really calms them down. The other is Teething Tablets. That REALLY helps with teething - best thing I've found for it. That calms them down too. Both are non-toxic and readily available in most drug stores (Target and Walmart both carry it). If you can't find them, though, they are available through SwansonsVitamins.com. I'd suggest trying that and see if her behavior improves. It can't hurt to try it, and it might really really help. God bless you.

Hi, K.~

It may just be an attention-getting ploy, but there HAS to be SOME reason for this -- either emotional (feeling abandoned or left out) or physical, and I'd have a good check-up to see if she has any abnormal bloodwork, etc.

I know you're busy with 3 kids, but try to (and have anyone else who is around her, including your 16 yr old) check and notice if it seems to be provoked under certain circumstances.

If she gets lots of negative attention for it, it may mean that she just needs SOME kind of attention and will get it any way she can. Try to be more positive with her, ignore the crying/screaming (as much as possible!) and act happy. (Look at books and exclaim over the pictures, let her pet an animal, take her for a walk and show her birds, etc. (even if you have to use a stroller since you say she doesn't want to walk). If it's emotional, you can turn it around. If it's physical, I hope you find out what it IS and she can be helped ASAP!

I dont have any great suggestions, but it sounds to me that something is wrong, particularly when you mention she isnt making efforts towards walkikng. What I read between the lines is that you think something is wrong too. Follow up on this, and see if you can get to the source of the problem. It may take visits to a number of people before someone can help you find a solution (peditrician, chiropractor, counselor)but this behavior sounds excessive to me. Was she left to cry it out? Did she have a traumatic injury? Did someone important in her life die or go away? How does she go to bed and sleep at night?

I would start with making the best effort you can to comfort her and re-establish a sense of trust for her, maybe saying the same thing over and over like "Mommy is here and Mommy loves you". Get a backpack and carry her around as much as you can.

My son has always been a needy high-maintenance baby, and around a year we went through a phase like this. He is better now, but it was a lot of crying and whining for me to constantly hold him, but he didn't want to just sit, he wanted me to walk him around and show him interesting stuff. My house quickly ran out of things to be interested in, and it's cold out, so I ran out of ideas to entertain him. I seem to remmember it was the very worst right before he started walking. He wanted to do everything, but couldn't do it himself, and then suddenly he walked, and that occupied him for weeks. Then we just started a second go-arond of separation anxiety- fun, fun. I'm sure it'll pass soon, and when the weather gets nicer, there will be more things for her to do. But if she is still doing it when it comes time for her next dr appt (15 months?) I would mention it to the dr.

Get her in a mothers day out for a few hours two days a week. She.needs to be around other people. My daughter was the same way and I won't lie the first few times we went it was rough. Now she blows kisses and waves me off.she is also slot less
Needy at home. Good luck!

Hi K..
Did you possibly get her vaccinated around the time she started this? Could be connected. My friend got her daughters shots and she went from being a happy healthy babbling little girl to the complete opposite. Vaccines have lots of neurotoxins in them that can have that effect on their little brains. Just something to think about. If you would like more info, please email me anytime.
Good luck.
W.

Hi K. - I would consult with your pediatrician. Good luck :)

I assume you have taken her to the pedeatrician? If not that would be the first thing I would do. It sounds as if something is hurting. I have 6 children and none of them went thru anything like this.

good luck.

With both of my kids age 1-2 was the hardest, there is a lot of "stages" and milestones during that time. Girls are also so emotional. Our youngest is very attached to me and we too could not leave him with anybody till he was 15 months. But at our church laddies told me to leave him in the nursery one time.He screamed for 40 min the first time, but they were very patient with him.I have to say leaving him one time a week (for 2 hours)has made a huge difference for him.We slowly started to use sitters
and he does just fine.It's hard to believe that nobody wants to watch her, what about aunts uncles, grandparents, good friends????All she needs just for somebody to be patient with her. The first time we left out son with a sitter he freaked out, while sitter was holding him she noticed that he would stop crying every time they would go by the window.......so she took him outside to play(he loves going outside) and they had great time.I am sure there is something that your daughter loves doing. Do not give up.......it will get better:)