Crying Toddlers
Parent Q&A
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Spouse's extreme reaction to toddler's crying
–Dec 7, 2022TL;DR, seeking any sort of therapist who can help a parent with sensory issues stemming from childhood trauma. OT, talk therapist, whoever. Ideally in-person in the East Bay.
CW: description of self-harm.
My husband is extremely triggered by our 15mo’s crying. IMO it's a normal amount of crying, she gets momentarily upset over random things like not being allowed to dig through trash, and when she's tired/hungry. Can usually be fixed with cuddles, which husband is unable to provide when he's triggered. She has a 30-min uncontrollable tantrum about once a month, usually when she has a short nap at daycare.
He knows the trigger from his own childhood trauma, and he never ever takes it out on the baby or on me. He almost always leaves before he explodes. Tonight was actually the first time I saw him explode, and we've been together for 15 years. He's been punching himself in the face when he's overwhelmed by the noise, and headphones don't help much. Loop earplugs were recommended to us, but he says they don't work well. He's constantly sporting bruises around his eyes and he knows this can't go on forever. (He's been borrowing my makeup for Zoom calls at work...)
He's been to talk therapy before, which really helped him unpack a lot of childhood things. He's still working through it and I know he's trying his best, but he needs immediate help with the sensory issues. He's done some research already but the therapists he's found have no availability. I wasn't sure if there was some kind of triaging system for someone who's actively hurting themselves (although not seriously). Any advice would be appreciated.
Dec 7, 2022Daycare keeps sending son home because of crying
–Feb 25, 2019I have been attending the same daycare for over 4 years with my first son and last year in August my second son started at the same place. My first little guy was super easy so we never really had any issues.
We are completely easy going parents always followed the rules about picking up kids when they were sick with a temperature. Never really had any issues. As of lately my youngest has been sent home for crying for more than 30 minutes. This is in the contract but I feel like she is abusing that rule. He keeps getting sent home after crying there. And acts perfectly fine when he gets home.
She would say that he was tugging on his ear and might have an ear infection but never does it at home. Today me and my husband were shamed and threatened because we didn’t pick him in 30 minutes. My husband had an interview in the city and I was out of the area so I couldn’t get him right away. She was also being super vague by saying stuff like.... well let me try this to see if he stops crying and then 4 minutes later threatening to call CPS. Which put me in a state of panic. When I picked him up she served me a warning slip saying this is the last warning and then he will be terminated. And then shamed me for not having a car seat in my Car and using hers. I was doing work related stuff and carpooling with a friend. She also snapped at my friend for trying to explain the situation.
I left as quickly as I could. So I had my husband pick up our other son. Who also got a belittled, she almost forced him to read the rules out loud and shamed him for having a job interview and not responding even though I responded right away.
I feel really upset and abused. Is this normal behavior at a daycare ? Is she mentally unstable? I am taking my son to the dr tomorrow to double check on his “ear infection” but we are planning on putting our 30 day notice but is there away to terminate this earlier? I am not sure I feel my kids are safe there anymore
Feb 25, 2019
You may know this already on some level, but your spouse is well outside the range of normal on this and until he is much more solidly within the range, I am very uncomfortable with the idea of the three of you cohabitating. I do not think this is an issue that talk therapy alone could address. (I am not a doctor so I will leave it at that.) If you were my friend telling me this, I would advise you to take the baby and leave. You're already single-parenting...
Look into EMDR therapy. It’s designed to work on past trauma And has proven very successful in the past. You’d need to find someone certified to do this.
Rather than take steps to desert your partner, try this first.
good luck!
I'm so sorry your family is going through this.
IMO, the following methodologies will go to the heart of the complex trauma & address trigger-symptoms of dysregulaion.
For sensory issues along with trauma, Google SSP-The SAFE & Sound Protocol. There are providers nationwide. It's based on polyvagal theory , the science of safety. Settles the nervous system again.
Integration with a trauma-informed & scientifically validated methodology of EMDR (Eye-movement desensitization & Reprocessing) or IFS (Internal Family Systems) are cutting edge for serious trauma.
I'm not a therapist & learned about these in my own work of recovery. Proceed with care, because if there are serious attachment & abandonment issues there, there are "parts" that hold agenda with unresolved needs & they may become activated by separation from loved ones when they're in dire need & it may deepen their sense of inner isolation if they aren't feeling validated. In essence they're child parts (exiles) who are still stuck in the past & need compassion &as they hold so much distress & have other parts in the system that protect them from feeling all that pain again- the self-harm parts are firefighters in the system to manage the alarm bells. All parts have good intentions & are doing the only thing they know how until higher self shows them how.
There's hope.
Take care.
Medication can also help. Fluoxetine (Prozac) is the first line treatment for PTSD -- it can do wonders sometimes.
Hi there, this is a very sad and painful thing to hear. My partner had a really hard time (though not this extreme) with the transition to parenting, being startled excessively by loud noises, and managing aggression. It has taken years for his reactions to be modulated, so I know it may be hard to find a quick fix. One recommendation I have is to explore complex-PTSD to understand the trauma he's been through.
I've also heard that EMDR can help.
I hope you get support, too. This is a difficult time for you, as a new parent and a partner, so you deserve your difficulties to be acknowledged, too.
The type of therapy that has been clinically proven to help with distress tolerance and self-harm is called dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). This is definitely an issue that talk therapy can address! Usually DBT is done in a group setting, with an individual and sometimes a family component as well. I can understand why self-harm seems scary to people who don’t understand why someone engages in it, but it’s entirely self-directed and a maladaptation to inner turmoil and pain. People can learn the skills to stop the behavior and redirect their thought processes. Many groups are meeting online now, so I wish you the best of luck!
Not a doctor, this is all my anonymous opinion. I've been dealing with something similar since I was a teenager but which definitely got more intense when I became a parent. While I don't have a magic bullet, it may be worth it to look into an OCD diagnosis which could then be treated with medication until behavioral interventions can be more effective. (I also got some benefit from the book Brain Lock, available in a variety of formats.) In the meantime, as harm reduction, can he find a less destructive/visible way act out his impulses? I've had some success with squeezing an ice cube in my hand, which doesn't cause any lasting effects but which still hurts like hell right up until you stop.
Self harm, much like parenting, is extremely complicated, and nobody's journey is exactly the same. I'm sorry the three of you are going through this and I hope you find all the strength and resources you need to come out on the other side.