Screaming Three
I’m to the point where I usually know why my kids are screaming. Abbie’s screams usually mean she wants a snack, and a good one too, not one of those bowls of Tasteeos I keep trying to slip her. Her screams may also mean she’s in pain (possibly because the dog just knocked her over), she’s climbed into a position she can’t climb out of (like into that half-inch gap between her toy box and the wall), or she’s mad (probably because I just yelled at her for trying to climb on the kitchen countertop grab a snack on her own).
The boys’ screams are simpler. When they scream, they’re usually hungry, sleepy, bored, or hurt. Or, when I’m really lucky, they could be any combination of those. Hunger screams come right before feedings, during breaks to unplug the bottle, and in that magical lull between the time that they finish solids and the time they’re repositioned from the high chair to the floor with a bottle in their mouths. The sleepy screams start a few minutes before naptime. The bored screams can happen at anytime, but they’re not as frantic as the other screams, unless I ignore them for a long time, which I’d never do, unless I’m trying to wash dishes. The pained screams can also happen at any time, and they happen a lot more frequently now that they’re coordinated enough to sit and stand, but not coordinated enough to lie back down on the floor with 100% accuracy.
That sums up their screaming reasons. Whenever one of my children screams, I can run down the appropriate list, quickly pinpoint a cause, and start remedying their angst. Except for yesterday.
It started about 6am when Abbie started screaming about two hours before her scheduled wake time. My first guess was she was mad because she woke up, was still tired, and couldn’t return to sleep. I entered her room to calm her before she woke the twins, but had no luck; she kept screaming. I carried her into the living room to calm her there, but she became more furious, screaming harder and clawing me.
At this point, I guessed her ear infection had returned, and I gave her a dose of ibuprofen for the pain. She calmed down the instant the dropper hit her lips, long before the medicine could take effect. We returned to her room, and I lay in bed with her until she mellowed to the point where I was confident she wouldn’t start running around the room the instant I left. By the time I rose around 7am, Tory was whimpering, and I was certain no one would sleep much longer.
Miraculously everyone slept until their normal wake time, plus the couple extra minutes I gave them as makeup sleep while I accomplished needed tasks around the house, specifically letting myself sleep in for a couple extra minutes.
The next unexplained screaming fit came immediately after their lunch. As soon as the bottle left their lips, they screamed. The normal response to this action would be to give the baby more milk, which I did. Tory wound up with a 12-ounce feeding this way a few days ago. The problem was both were approaching the 12-ounce mark, Ian was pushing the bottle away, and both were screaming uncontrollably. They weren’t hungry, they’d just woken up from a nap and couldn’t be tired, they were screaming too hard for boredom, and neither had just fallen so they couldn’t be in pain. The only way to calm them was to hold them, which I did for several minutes. The instant I tried setting them back down, they resumed screaming. At this point I did the only sensible thing: I set them both down in their cribs in the hopes that they’d go back to sleep and fetched lunch for Abbie and me. They didn’t fall asleep, but their screams became less furious, so it sort of worked.
I still don’t know why they were screaming. My best guess is that I’d just tried cleaning the carpet that I’d set them on, and they didn’t like the smell. The accumulated stench of months of Nutramigen spit-up was making me nauseous, so I doused the carpet with Febreeze. The resulting odor was a combination of slightly less intense Nutramigen spit-up and Febreeze, and perhaps the boys were offended being so close to the source.
They finally calmed down when I took everyone outside after lunch. Sunshine and fresh air have a funny way of quieting even the fussiest child. I let Abbie run around while the boys sat in the grass with me, and everyone was happy.
Then Abbie started screaming. Whether she was bored with the thousands of dollars in toys littering our yard, uncomfortable from the heat, or just didn’t like the way that fresh air smelled, she wanted to go back inside. At least I think that was the cause; her screaming at that time is unusual.
Back inside, Abbie quickly calmed down, and I worked hard to keep the boys entertained without the backyard’s charms. Naptime arrived after a while, and everyone went to sleep, me most of all. The rest of the day went smoother after everyone awoke, as we had no more unexplained screaming bouts. We just had the usual “I’m hungry,” “I’m tired,” “I want Goldfish and don’t even think about mixing in some Tasteeos” screams.
The boys’ screams are simpler. When they scream, they’re usually hungry, sleepy, bored, or hurt. Or, when I’m really lucky, they could be any combination of those. Hunger screams come right before feedings, during breaks to unplug the bottle, and in that magical lull between the time that they finish solids and the time they’re repositioned from the high chair to the floor with a bottle in their mouths. The sleepy screams start a few minutes before naptime. The bored screams can happen at anytime, but they’re not as frantic as the other screams, unless I ignore them for a long time, which I’d never do, unless I’m trying to wash dishes. The pained screams can also happen at any time, and they happen a lot more frequently now that they’re coordinated enough to sit and stand, but not coordinated enough to lie back down on the floor with 100% accuracy.
That sums up their screaming reasons. Whenever one of my children screams, I can run down the appropriate list, quickly pinpoint a cause, and start remedying their angst. Except for yesterday.
It started about 6am when Abbie started screaming about two hours before her scheduled wake time. My first guess was she was mad because she woke up, was still tired, and couldn’t return to sleep. I entered her room to calm her before she woke the twins, but had no luck; she kept screaming. I carried her into the living room to calm her there, but she became more furious, screaming harder and clawing me.
At this point, I guessed her ear infection had returned, and I gave her a dose of ibuprofen for the pain. She calmed down the instant the dropper hit her lips, long before the medicine could take effect. We returned to her room, and I lay in bed with her until she mellowed to the point where I was confident she wouldn’t start running around the room the instant I left. By the time I rose around 7am, Tory was whimpering, and I was certain no one would sleep much longer.
Miraculously everyone slept until their normal wake time, plus the couple extra minutes I gave them as makeup sleep while I accomplished needed tasks around the house, specifically letting myself sleep in for a couple extra minutes.
The next unexplained screaming fit came immediately after their lunch. As soon as the bottle left their lips, they screamed. The normal response to this action would be to give the baby more milk, which I did. Tory wound up with a 12-ounce feeding this way a few days ago. The problem was both were approaching the 12-ounce mark, Ian was pushing the bottle away, and both were screaming uncontrollably. They weren’t hungry, they’d just woken up from a nap and couldn’t be tired, they were screaming too hard for boredom, and neither had just fallen so they couldn’t be in pain. The only way to calm them was to hold them, which I did for several minutes. The instant I tried setting them back down, they resumed screaming. At this point I did the only sensible thing: I set them both down in their cribs in the hopes that they’d go back to sleep and fetched lunch for Abbie and me. They didn’t fall asleep, but their screams became less furious, so it sort of worked.
I still don’t know why they were screaming. My best guess is that I’d just tried cleaning the carpet that I’d set them on, and they didn’t like the smell. The accumulated stench of months of Nutramigen spit-up was making me nauseous, so I doused the carpet with Febreeze. The resulting odor was a combination of slightly less intense Nutramigen spit-up and Febreeze, and perhaps the boys were offended being so close to the source.
They finally calmed down when I took everyone outside after lunch. Sunshine and fresh air have a funny way of quieting even the fussiest child. I let Abbie run around while the boys sat in the grass with me, and everyone was happy.
Then Abbie started screaming. Whether she was bored with the thousands of dollars in toys littering our yard, uncomfortable from the heat, or just didn’t like the way that fresh air smelled, she wanted to go back inside. At least I think that was the cause; her screaming at that time is unusual.
Back inside, Abbie quickly calmed down, and I worked hard to keep the boys entertained without the backyard’s charms. Naptime arrived after a while, and everyone went to sleep, me most of all. The rest of the day went smoother after everyone awoke, as we had no more unexplained screaming bouts. We just had the usual “I’m hungry,” “I’m tired,” “I want Goldfish and don’t even think about mixing in some Tasteeos” screams.
posted by Matt at
11:32 PM
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