# My toddler wont stop screaming, *update: It's happening again*



## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

She has been up for the last two and a half hours. She keeps screaming and grabbing us. She tries to go back to sleep, but she just can't. She's usually a good sleeper so this is very odd for her. My husband is saying that she's just tired, but it seems excessive even for that. We tried tv, didn't work. Bottles, boobs, nothing is helping. He's taking her for a drive right now. What can we do if she comes back just as upset?


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## **guest** (Jun 25, 2004)

Did she wake up screaming? My ds used to do that...it was 'night terrors'.

If that doesn't fit, I'd call the doc. She may be in some sort of pain.

Keep us posted.
Hugs,
Liz


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

No, she woke up fussy and it quickly turned to screaming. You can tell that she really wants to sleep. She keeps grabbing us and pulling herself into us. But she can't get comfy for whatever reason. I was almost freaking out and wanted to take her to the doctor. But it made my husband mad and now he's driving her around. I hope that works, it often does.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

She's probably in pain and can't get comfortable enough to sleep. It could be her ears, or she might be teething, or it could be some nameless, relatively harmless virus that will burn itself out in a few days.


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

I'm thinking ear infection or a sinus headache. I hope she feels better soon!

Just check her whole body over to make sure it's nothing else: bug bite, sticker, etc. When my dd1 was a year old, she woke up like that and screamed all night while we held her. In the morning I undressed her and found the worst infected toe ever. A huge pocket of puss and a red line going all the way up past her ankle. It was a blood infection and she needed immediate treatment (a shot of strong antibiotics). It might have been a life-threatening situation if I had found it even a few hours later.


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## QueenOfTheMeadow (Mar 25, 2005)

Can she talk to you, or does she seem disconnected from what's going on? Was she over tired when you laid her down for bed? My ds2 used to have night terrors where he'd wake up, or so we'd think, and then get more agitated by us asking him what was wrong. He'd be screaming and slurring his speach asking for me or dh all while we were holding him. It was soooooo scary and unsettling. He would eventually come around any where from a couple of minutes up until 45 minutes later, have no memory of the incident, and wouldn't know why we were so shaken up.

I definately agree with checking for any possible thing that could be hurting her though, and one other thing that did seem to work with a night terror was a warm bath with me in the tub with him. Something about the warm water seemed to calm him down alot!!

If it is night terrors, we found that anytime he was overtired we could expect one, but what helped is if I slept with him on those nights.


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## TeaBag (Dec 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *USAmma*
I'm thinking ear infection or a sinus headache. I hope she feels better soon!










Both times my dd has done this it has been ear infections. Both times, she ruptured her eardrum. Please take care.


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## Elowyn (Nov 3, 2003)

I'd think ears as well. Poor baby.


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

Thanks everyone, the drive worked. She slept for two more hours. I'm exhuasted but she seems fine. I actually think that she's allergic to wheat. I've had this gut feeling about it for two days after reading something. I think last night might have been a bad tummy ache. Today I start her on a new diet and hopefully that will help. Thanks again.


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## Penelope (Jul 22, 2003)

I was actually thinking constipation or bowel discomfort... when my kids have ear infections they're clingy and need to nurse a lot but they don't scream.

I hope the new diet makes her more comfortable.


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## Oceanone (Oct 24, 2002)

edited: I just saw there was an update after I had come back to my screen. Anyway, I'm glad she's calmer and hope the diet works out too.


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## Maple Leaf Mama (Jul 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Melaya*
Thanks everyone, the drive worked. She slept for two more hours. I'm exhuasted but she seems fine. I actually think that she's allergic to wheat. I've had this gut feeling about it for two days after reading something. I think last night might have been a bad tummy ache. Today I start her on a new diet and hopefully that will help. Thanks again.

When my DD was 8 months old, I tried giving her oatmeal cereal.
She was fine for the first day. the second or third day on the way to IL"s house) she started SCREAMING.
For the next 2 hours she was frantic. I checked her whole body and couldn't see anything.
She was beside herself and kept pulling her legs up.

Finally took her to the ER b/c I was fraking out at this point.
Like you, I tried the boob-and all I could think of.

The ER thought it was a twisted bowl. But in the end it was decided that either the bowl righted itself, or it was an allergy to oatmeal.

She's 2.5 now and fine with oatmeal.
I gave her some Oval and it helped considerably. Enough to help her at least sleep.

Best of luck. I hope she wakes up happier!


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

It's happening again. She seemed fine today, maybe a little crabby and a little warm. Out of nowhere she started shrieking and arching her back. She feels pretty warm now but my thermometer broke so I'm not sure how warm. She's screaming her head off. Nothing I do helps. I finally got her to sleep, but she keeps waking up screaming. I screwed up her diet this morning and gave her oatmeal. I feel so stupid now, I totally forgot that I couldn't feed her that. So she's hurting, it's probably my fault, and I can't make her better. I tried calling peds and no one will see her. She has her acceptance letter for medical, but not the actual card yet. So nobody will take her until then. I'm sitting here crying and feeling so alone. I hate being away from family on days like today. How do you get through days like this? Would an upset tummy lead to a fever or should I be thinking ears or teeth now? I'd go to the hospital, but they'll probably do nothing for her and get mad at me, I've been down that road before and now I'm skeptical about hospitals. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Sorry to ramble, I'm just a mess today.


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## DragonflyBlue (Oct 21, 2003)

First off, treatment can not be rufused due to a lack of ability to pay. Take her to the peds or to the ER. Even an instacare or kids instacare. Worry about payment later. Take your approval letter so they can see they will get paid.

I'm really thinking ears. Eight kids and none have ever run a fever with ears. It's always just been screaming, crying and nothing consoling them. Never had any ear pulling or other "classic" signs of an ear infection. Just the screaming.

I just went through this about two weeks ago with one of my twins. I sure feel for you. Not only do you get exhausted but you also can feel like a crappy mom because you can't comfort your child.

I remember at one point early on in my mothering wondering why the child had to be so dang cranky. It's "just" a little ear infection. Shortly after, I got a double ear infection. Needless to say, I got it then. Ouch! Those suckers hurt!!

One thing you can do in the meantime is to send dh out to get some ear drops for her. They have them OTC and they work well at numbing the ear and helping with the pain. Also a dose of ibuprofen will ease the pain as well.

But do get her into the doctors ASAP. You'll both feel better and get some sleep!

Janis


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## Epiphany (Oct 18, 2003)

My daughter occasionally gets evere gas pains and will act just likeyou described. Right down to the pulling us into her and arching her back part. I have mylicon for gas now which helped her when she was a baby...so if it happens again I am going to try that and see if it works on her as a toddler. And yes, she will often run a low grade fever when this happens...I am guessing from the stress?

I hope you find a solution soon moma! hugs for you and your DD.


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## mamajessica (Sep 15, 2004)

I also wanted to add that if she gets state medical, they will reimburse the doctors, so go go go!!!


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## Free Thinker (Jan 1, 2003)

Have you given her any tylenol? I don't give meds out much to my DDs, but in this case I would definately see if it helped ease some pain. IT will screw up the temp. thing, though, if she has a fever you won't know as much as you would if she didn't take the tylenol, but I really think she is in some sort of pain b/c of the arched back accompanied w/ the screaming. If I were you, I would take her to the Urgent care clinic (not the ER) or a ped. ASAP. Something is wrong, or she wouldn't be acting this way. IF it's something that you can't actually see (stuffy nose, ect.) it makes me worry, so I take them in. So far I've only had to do taht once, and it was a bladder infection,a nd her fever shot up to 104+, and even w/ 2 fever reducers stayed at 100+ for 3 days. Have you looked in her ears? I don't usually need a them. to tell if my kids have a fever, if she feels warm, you should just know from feeling her head. If it's too hot to touch, it's really high, if it just feel kind of warm, then it's probably just around 100-101. At 102.5 they really start getting hot. Give her a bath to cool her off, and some tylenol and see what happens. If when the tylenol wears off, she starts screaming again, you can bet it's something that is causing her pain (teething, ear inf.)

Oh, and teething can cause these same symptoms! My baby is getting her molars and didn't sleep at all last nigh, and has cried most of today. Sometimes she does refuse the breast, b/c it's jsut not helping her.

Oh, and it's totally NOT your fault! Kids get sick, it happens! If it does turn out to be a food allergy, you can deal with it! My babyis allergic to dairy, and gets an upset tummy, screaming, ect. when she gets any (or if I eat more than a bite or two).


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

Thanks guys, I am just a pregnant crying mess today (I get emotional when I haven't slept). She ended up passing out and slept for like two hours. She is still warm but she ate a huge bowl of homeade soup and probably half a can of fruit. So she must be feeling a tad better. She is also drinking lots of fluids. She's been tugging her ears, but she always used to do that for teething. She's never had an ear infection so I didn't suspect it right away. I called every doctor and urgent care in the city. They wont see us unless I have the card. Otherwise I have to pay cash upfront and I've already learned the hard way in this state that you don't get reimbursed for that. This is one of the many reasons that I hate WA, I never had these issues in CA. So if it happens again today I will just go to the ER because they have to see us and I know that they will get reimbursed. I went to grab the baby tylenol and it's expired, I've never used it before and didn't know. I have no car today and am stuck out in the boonies. Today is not my day. But she's good for now and her dad will be home in a fcouple hours, then we can buy some tylenol if need be and I can take a nap! Thanks again for the help/advice.


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## DragonflyBlue (Oct 21, 2003)

Is there any way you can get her in and make a partial payment?

I've been to Capital Medical Center, Saint Peters (was born in the old one), as well as a few of the instacares. Each time it was when I was visiting back home and did not have my insurance card or any info with me. I was able to get my dc's seen often paying nothing or only $20.00.

I have an aunt who is a doctor there, wish I could remember her last name (recently married my uncle not sure if she took his name or not) and she is awesome. Very supportive of AP, breastfeeding etc.

I hope your wee one feels better soon.

Janis


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## Asher (Aug 21, 2004)

I am thinking ears, too. My baby just did this. Kept me awake for 6 nights screaming her bloody head off. (She's normally so good, wakes to nurse at night then goes right back to sleep.) She wanted us and wanted food, but when I tried to nurse her, she'd pull away screaming. She acted like she was trying to crawl out of her own skin.

Turns out she has a double ear infection.







She's on meds right now. We had a new appointment with a pediatrician so she checked her out while we were there and diagnosed her with it.

(((HUGS)))


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## A&A (Apr 5, 2004)

Ear infections or strep. Those are the "screaming" reasons with my kids.


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