Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Intense Baby

Mamas of babies who are past 6 months: Please tell me it is normal for my almost 6 month old to get so freaking frustrated (to the point where she screams) at not being able to crawl to desired toys. Please tell me it is normal for my almost 6 month old to have what appears to be a tantrum because she can't roll back over.

And please help me out here. Do I just fetch the toys for her (this is what I am doing)? Or, help her move/creep/crawl to the toy? Or, just let her figure it out (you know as a way to gain the crawling skills)?

Should I be worried that her freaking out now is somehow indicative of the intensity of her personality and that when she is 2 she is going to have major tantrums? Is there a correlation?

5 comments:

Jude said...

It is normal. Very normal.

If she is freaking, give her the toys. If she is amenable to a little work, try to get her to work for them.

Use your mama instinct. xo

Jen said...

i second what jude said - you'll know when she crosses the line from "minor frustration but still working" to "i can't do this anymore and it's making me cry."

that said, i would say yes, it's normal. deven did the same thing and still does when we're holding her and she wants to be down or when she's in the highchair and is done or whatever.

oh and specifically, deven also freaked out when she rolled onto her tummy and couldn't get back over. it was super fun in the middle of the night. :)

she'll figure it out but i think that it's okay to help her roll back or get the toys to avoid complete meltdowns. you want them to work but also to trust you...so yeah.

it's a new way of communicating - and it's effective but a little alarming to mamas more accustomed to sweetness. :)

oh, one other thing i do when d is trying to scoot but not getting anywhere is put my hands behind her feet and let her push off. sometimes it was enough progress to encourage her to keep doing it - sometimes she was just over it and we did something else.

as far as a correlation, i don't know, since i'm only a few months ahead of you BUT i would think that as communication gets easier for them, the frustration would drop? maybe?

not really related to tantrums but are you using any signs with your girl? we're using a few (milk, up and all done) and it seems to help when she's anxious to nurse or to get up, etc.

on to the meme...

sandra said...

Thank you both for your good good information... and support. :)

FosterMommy said...

Hi!
and, omg, yes. the pre-crawling stage is The Most Frustrating in the world of babies.
We don't care one bit about reaching milestones by a certain time or being "early" at stuff...but we sure wanted him to learn to crawl. Because he was sooo miserable. Our physical therapist friend said you can help them work on their abs and leg muscles, but really you just have to wait it out.

I think I did both the things you mentioned. Got him the toy (or moved him to the toy) when the whining got to be too much. And also let him fuss and try. I think it was a month of fussing before he figured it out. Good luck!

sandra said...

Thanks.