New to Site - Desperate, problems with 2 year old girl

[Gourmet]

My granddaughter has sudden outbursts of angry aggression. She will be perfectly fine - playing, laughing and then she will just start hitting or scratching or biting her sibling, playmates or Mother. There are times she will just growl at you. It is very strange, not the typical terrible 2's behavior. I have two children and one other grandchild and I have never experienced the severity of her behaviour. Her mother has tried simply talking, time outs, spanking, yelling, you name it. No matter what she tries, the baby will continue to do whatever it was that she got in trouble for in the first place - crying, and looking directly at you while she does it. - over and over again. My daughter is at her wits end. She is dealing with this every day.

The baby can speak and many of her words are intelligible; many are not. When she was born (I was there), the cord was wrapped around her neck twice. The doctor was not in the room, the nurses had to do the delivery. At first, the nurse held the baby's head in, even though my daughter was saying she needed to push. When she finally let go, here came the baby, cord wrapped, and she was blue. They clamped the cord and cut it, finished the birth, but the baby did not move or breathe; she was just limp. She was put in the cart and just as they were putting the oxygen mask to her face, she jerked and began crying. Those moments were in slow motion for me. I have never been so afraid and had to stay calm so my daughter would not see what was happening.

The apgar test was performed and we were told everything was okay.

The baby cried, as if in pain, almost constantly for nearly a year. It was heartbreaking. We assumed this is what they call colic. Physicians just told us she was just an unhappy baby.

The crying got better after 1 year of age. She is still very clingy and whines alot. When she is happy, you cannot help but love her personality. But that changes in an instant. We do not know whether the birth experience had anything to do with her problems now or not.

It is difficult to explain how severe some of her behaviour is and how it turns on and off in an instant.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Any suggestions?

 

[SRL]

Hi Gourmet,

You might want to go back and see if a cord blood pH test was done. My difficult child was born emergency c-section due to a ruptured placenta and this test is an indicator of oxygenation. I had to push them at the hospital to find it but they finally came up with it.

I'd like you to look into something called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Children with Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) don't process sensory input in a typical fashion so the world around them is constantly assaulting their senses. My difficult child was a fussy, difficult baby--which I first attributed to colic and then to ear problems and frequent colds. Once I learned about Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) I realized in hindsight that was a lot of what was going on. You will want to get a copy of Carol Kranowitz's book The Out of Sync Child.

The other behaviors you are describing--possible speech delay, growling, unresponsive to discipline, clinginess, would be cause for concern to me. If this were me, I'd want to have her assessed. I would suggest backing off on the discipline and just focus on keeping her safe (and others in her company) until you have a grasp on what's happening.

Does she interact normally with others?
Are her play habits typical?
Is there any family mental health history?

 

[Gourmet]

I will get the records to see if the PH test was performed. I was not aware of that particular test.

Thank you for the link on Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) - very interesting information, and I have passed it along to my daughter (I am encouraging her to join this site).

I agree she needs to be evaluated and I have had serious discussions with my daughter about it. I was researching physcians today when I came across this site.

No mental illness history in our side of the family; not certain about her father. Her interactions and play time are normal until she has her outbursts.

Thank you so much for your response!

 

[SRL]

The child's pediatrician is usually the best place to start. As you know, they come in a wide range of varieites, and some may need to be pushed some to get the referral she may need for most developmental type doctors. What you are after is an evaluation led up by a main diagnostician such as a developmental pediatrician, plus audiology, speech, and occupational therapy.

Also because your granddaughter is so young, there may be assessments at the county level (usually speech and Occupational Therapist (OT)) that she will qualify for. Your pediatrician's office can guide you there.

 

[Sara PA]

What happens after these outbursts pass? Is the child sleepy? Do they last for a predictable length of time then seem to end as abruptly as they started? I'm thinking partial seizure activity.

 

[tiredmommy]

FYI, my daughter suffered from GERD as an infant: cried/screamed incessantly, couldn't be soothed or sooth herself and couldn't nurse or sleep properly. She also has a history of severe allergies. I agree with SRL that a thorough workup from the pediatrician is in order.