Crying and crying and more crying

[flowerchild]

Does anyone have a child that just cries for no reason?

I have a dck who will just randomly start wailing this screechy, loud wail for no reason at all. Nothing will have happened, no one will be near her, she'll just start wailing for no reason. She doesn't stop if I pick her up/cuddle her and she doesn't stop if I just leave her be. Even if I give her her soother, she'll just scream around it. And then she'll just randomly stop. She's been coming awhile, so it's not that. She's just under one and a half.

My poor ears are just ringing and I feel like my nerves are shot.

[bright sparks]

I'd be asking the parents if anything has changed at home. I nearly always, if not always find that something has happened at home when there is an unexplained change in a child's temperament. Sounds like they are missing a parent hence why you aren't able to soothe her and if she has been with you a while then it likely isn't separation anxiety. That being said, if something at home has resulted in clinginess with this child and the environment is less than ideal, it could be enough to have this child be a little emotionally unstable. Hopefully a chat with her parents will reveal something and the parents can work on restoring stable home environment to make the child feel more secure....sorry I've no other suggestions.

[torontokids]

This is new behaviour or has she always done this?

If she's been doing this since the beginning it can be temperament or how she is parented at home. I have one DCB who is like this although holding him does help at times. The parents are quite permissive but he also seem to have a lot of sensitivities: noise, touch, taste etc. He has issues with how his clothes feel, the cold, foods. I ignore it (its exhausting and he has been my hardest kid "to break") but it has helped. I give him lot's of attention when he's not complaining.

[superfun]

I feel like we have the same kid! Mine is generally very grumpy if anything at all has changed in his nap routine. Sometimes even if everything had been normal he's still very grumpy. He can go from happy to high pitched squealing type of cry instantly. He's very hard to be around. Lately the thing that makes him most upset is when we're reading stories. Nothing in particular sets him off, just the fact that the other kids want to sit and listen to me read.

[flowerchild]

I wish this was new behaviour. She's always been like this although some days are worse than others. My husband was on holidays a while ago and commented about it too (and he almost never notices that type of stuff). When she's not wailing she is cute and funny and happy, but when she has days like today I am so frazzled by the end.

[CrazyEight]

I have one like this. Now, he is also very delayed and probably autistic (currently undergoing testing, apparently) so that probably has something to do with it. Sometimes he'll just stop in the middle of the room and start screaming, or lie on the floor and cry for no reason. I've tried everything under the sun to calm him, but when he doesn't communicate at all, ever, it is very difficult to figure out what is wrong. Yesterday he screamed literally ALL day, aside from naptime (thank god). Today I had to wake him up to do the school run, and he cried until pickup. Everything upset him - changing his diaper, getting his snowsuit on, putting him in the stroller, taking him out again, undressing him, everything.

When he gets like this, I've found the only thing that seems to help is putting him in a highchair or a playpen, so he is safe, and walking away. No attention, no coddling, nothing. He gets attention when he stops screaming. I know there's nothing wrong with him - he's not wet or hungry or hurt - so he gets ignored until he stops. It may sound harsh, but we're all in the same room with him, he's perfectly safe, and "usually" he'll stop within 10 minutes or so. If they figure out that screaming will get them undivided attention, they'll never stop. Good luck!

[Gloucestermom]

I have a screamer too, and I do the same thing as Crazy Eight. He stops crying quicker if I walk away.
He has the most loudest, high pitched, glass breaking shriek I've ever heard! Some days he's good, but he gives me a headache most days. Luckily I only have him 2 days a week. Good luck!

[kindertime]

About 15 yrs ago, when I was taking my ECE courses, we were asked what we thought about nature vs. nurture. The teacher told us that most students will find themselves closer to the nurture end of the scale. I certainly did. She also said that the longer you work with children, more often, we will start to slide farther and farther over to the nature side.

So here I am now, almost as far over to the nature side as I can go. While I do know, we can influence some behaviours (like whining in order to get something) ultimately, kids are who they are. From birth. Forever. The screamers scream. Its what they do. And for the rest of us it sucks. I have had a few screamers too. Eventually, they will stop the continual, all day screaming and save it for the days you already have a headache. Of course, there's a lot of advil between now and then.....

sorry...guess I'm getting a little philosophical today.

[Crayola kiddies]

set up a playpen and put her in it everytime she cries for no reason and bring her out when she stops