doctor call

Jayden's tantrum lasted 2 1/2 hours the night before last. It went from 12-2:30am. Mike and I were shot the entire day. It was physically and emotionally exhausting. Jayden fell asleep at daycare eating his food, so he was tired too.

Last night, Jayden had another tantrum for 2 hours. This one was earlier and was from 8:20-10:30pm. I had gone to bed around 9pm, so it still felt like it was the middle of the night. Mike dealt with it for the most part, however, it kept me awake as well.

His tantrums have turned into a whining cry. We go into his room at least 25 times a night when he does this. Pick him up, put him to bed. He's usually quiet until we lay back in our bed and then he starts again. It's frustrating.

I finally called the doctor yesterday. I'm tired of the tantrums and the inappropriate responses from Jayden with every situation. This has been going on for 3 years. We've just been waiting for it to pass, but it hasn't. I think I do a consistent job at parenting and staying on top of his behavior. The simplest things set him off.

Yes, his tantrums happen throughout the day at home, but not at daycare. Can you believe that? How can there be something wrong with him neurologically when he acts quiet and behaves well for daycare? With us, nothing can stop him. He just screams louder.

I received the call from the doctor a little after 5pm yesterday. We talked for about 10 minutes. Jayden's doctor has seen these terrible tantrums for years as well because every time we went to the doctor he did this. And nothing would calm him down. At this point there are 2 options. They are going to schedule him for an appointment with a child psychiatrist. The doctor said with Jayden having such a rough start to life and experiencing so much trauma, he wants to make sure we aren't missing something before he tries a different medication. There is a medication that can be used to treat hyperactivity alone. It's not usually used on kids who are only 3, but rather 4-5. But the doctor said this medicine works well for kids who have troubles with hitting, kicking, biting and screaming for long periods of time. Well that's Jayden for sure.

The first step is to get him into the child psychiatrist to see if there is anything neurologically going on that isn't right. If it will be 2 months before we can get into them, the doctor wants to try this medication in the meantime and then stop the medication before the appointment. So for now, I wait until they call me today and tell me when the appointment is.

I understand Jayden has extreme emotional shifts, but these are beyond a typical child at this age. The part that frustrates me the most about this is the fact that I went to school to work with children of this age. My job is working with these children. I know what to do with these children. I teach parents about this stuff, yet I can't figure out how to fix my own child....if there is a fix. And the other extremely frustrating factor is that he doesn't do this for daycare and probably not for grandma. Just us. Just where he feels the safest to let loose.

Well, that's it for now. I will update when I find out when the appointment is. In the meantime, we continue to deal with this norm.