What do you do with a kid who wakes up in the middle of the night, angry and the world and wants EVERYONE know about it?!?! He's been having night terrors the last week, I'm sure because he hasn't been getting enough sleep. We've really been working on getting him to bed earlier, but that doesn't always guarantee he goes to sleep right away. Anyways, the other night he started screaming at around midnight. He got out of bed and proceeded to run around the house screaming and crying. Mike and I stood guard and just made sure he didn't hurt himself. He's had night terrors before but he normally stays in his bed. So this was new to us. Mike was sure he was possessed. lol. Okay not really, but he just kept saying, "that's not Jacob, what's wrong with him?" It went on for about 20 minutes and Mike was finally able to wake him up and he was immediately calm and happy. I laid down on the couch with him and watched a movie until he fell back asleep. Ever since then he has had some major rage issues. I can't figure it out. It's mostly in the middle of the night but sometimes during the day. I wish I knew what it was that sets him off. These episodes last about the same length of time (20 minutes or so) but he seems to be awake. He makes eye contact and is just angry. The screaming and crying is different from when he has night terrors. One is a scared cry, one is just ANGRY! He looks at me and yells and then tries to hit me. Then he runs around hitting walls, doors, anything. Then, like a switch, he is happy. This morning he woke up at 4 am with one of these little episodes. I just laid down on the couch and let him do his thing. He finally got mad because I was ignoring him and ran to his room and slammed the door. I could hear him in there crying and screaming and then I heard Mike get up and go in there. I went in there and he was laying on his bed and Mike was next to him patting his back and talking to him. A few minutes later, he came out, gave us both hugs and kisses and we laid down on the couch and turned on a movie. He didn't go back to sleep though. He was happy and cheerful most of the day after that. No major melt downs. Until about 3:30 in the afternoon when he started getting tired and cranky. At which point he proceeded to through a major tantrum. So I put him in his room and closed the door. I waited for him to calm down, which only took a couple minutes and I went in to talk to him. As soon as I tried to talk to him he started screaming at me. So, I sat there and waited for him to calm down and he walked over to the window and started hitting it. 3 hits and before I could get to him to make him stop, this happened... 
His hand went right through. He was lucky he didn't get hurt. Not one scratch. Once I saw that he was okay, then it was MY turn to be angry!! He got put in time out in another room for breaking the window.
Seriously though. What do you do?? The kid is pretty destructive when he gets like this. There is a small whole in the wall behind his door from where the nob hits when he's banging the door against the wall in anger. Mike one day got so frustrated he emptied out a closet and stuck him in there (door opened with a child gate up) so he couldn't do any more damage. I'm thinking by the time we move, we won't be getting any of our deposit back. AAAAAH!!!
8 comments:
Okay, wait...is he having rage when he is awake, too? That is completely different than night terrors, so you may have alot of researching on your hands.
I have a good friend who's little girl has night terrors, and any light, interaction, speaking- makes them much much worse. They sit back and make sure she is safe.
As far as day rage goes, that is a whole different story. have you been watching for food reactions? Some kids haveit without being really allergic and it causes explosive behavior.
Anyway, there are so many great books out there on all of this- just find one and start reading. I am convinced it is our job as moms to help these little ones figure themselves out. Good luck. I wish I could help!
I actually thought about it maybe being food related. I'm gonna have to look into that more.
wow...poor kid. Poor you and Mike. Well, what we're doing with Xander right now to figure out his skin issues is write down EVERYTHING that he does. It's a pain, but when we get our insurance cards, we'll be able to take him to the doctor and give him a full report to whats going on.
I know jacob isn't having skin issues...to say the least. But I would start writing out his day from start to finish, what he eats where he plays, When his tantrums start, how long they last, what his diapers look like. Anything and everything you can think of write it down. It may help you put the pieces together. But I might just take him to a doc anyway and show him your report too.
And another thing that might be benificial is a blessing, while he's awake and happy. It may be hard for him to sit still, so maybe right when he goes to sleep. I hope things start looking up for you guys. We'll keep you in our prayers.
Oh WOW! I just echo what everyone else has said. There is a little girl in our ward who is VERY sensitive to food additives (dyes, etc.) and she really goes off, angry, screaming, etc... You all will be in our prayers for you to figure this out.
Wow, you poor guys. Maybe you should take him to his doctor and just get his opinion? If it is the night terrors that causes the day anger, etc? Maybe something natural can be prescribed to help him sleep through the nite and maybe that will stop the tantrums.
Michelle, I hope you can find out what is going on. That sounds crazy. As if being home with little kids isn't hard enough! Good luck, I let's hope it ends soon.
Do you have any ideas yet?
Yes, I am pretty sure it is sleep related. Since he broke his window we have been having him sleep in our room until we can get the window taken care of. So for the last three days he has slept through the night, (I think because it's a little warmer in our room) and has had no major episodes since then. I'm gonna keep taking notes though, just to make sure.
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