2 month old baby drooling and fussy: Your Baby at 2 Months | Patient Education

Опубликовано: January 11, 2020 в 10:12 am

Автор: alexxlab

Категории: Baby

Your Baby at 2 Months | Patient Education

Patient Education A-Z

At 2 months, most babies are beginning to cry less and spend more time awake. They are interested in what’s going on around them. Babies enjoy looking at faces, seeing you smile and hearing your voice. They are learning language now, so talk and sing to your baby.

Development

Talk to your baby in long sentences so he or she can hear and learn the grammar of your language. Also spend time making baby sounds, like “ba ba ba,” to encourage language development. Pause and allow your baby time to respond. Your baby will also try to copy funny faces that you make.

If your baby will hear more than one language at home, begin exposing him or her to both languages now. It is much easier for children to speak more than one language if they’ve heard both languages from infancy. Hearing more than one language will not confuse your baby, but consider having one person speak one language to your baby, and another person speak the second language.

Parents often wonder what toys are best for babies. At around 2 months babies are learning to use their neck and shoulder muscles. They soon will begin trying to raise their heads when lying down and to reach out for objects when sitting. You can hold toys out in front of your baby to encourage him or her to reach. Babies love brightly colored objects, and mobiles will attract their attention. You can also introduce a soft rattle.

Here are a few safety tips to remember when choosing toys for your baby:

Never give your baby a toy with sharp or pointed edges.
Don’t let your baby hold a toy with small removable parts that could cause choking.
Choose toys made for your baby’s age.

In addition to learning how to reach for objects, babies this age are able to put their hands in their mouths. It’s normal for babies to put objects in their mouths — it is their way of exploring and learning about their world. To keep your baby safe, be careful what objects are left within reach.

Soon your baby’s salivary glands will start to work and your baby will begin to drool. This does not mean that your baby is teething.

At this age babies often like to “stand up” while held and bear weight. It is fine to allow your baby to do this. To help your baby’s development, allow your baby to spend time in various positions — sitting, standing while held, and lying on his or her back or tummy. Just remember, babies should always be placed on their backs to go to sleep.

Remember that babies develop differently and on their own schedules. Because babies are sleeping on their backs these days, some do not like to roll over. This doesn’t mean the baby has a problem. Later on, some babies will also skip the crawling phase.

Sleeping

There are many different ideas about where babies should sleep. Some people believe it is important for babies to sleep with their parents, while others believe babies should sleep by themselves. We believe it is most important that the parents decide what is right for their babies. Take a moment to talk with any adults who live at home with you to decide where you feel comfortable having the baby sleep.

Remember that sleep patterns or habits are formed by 6 months of age. Here are some things you can do now to prevent sleep problems in the future:

Try not to feed your baby more frequently than every two hours during the day. Babies who eat frequently during the day will normally wake up to eat frequently at night.
Try to put your baby to bed at the same time each night.
Try to avoid waking your baby at night — don’t turn on the light or talk to your baby at night. This helps your baby realize that nighttime is not a very interesting time to be awake.
Try to delay or shorten middle-of-the-night feedings. If you are breast-feeding, try nursing from just one side. If you are bottle-feeding, do not make your baby finish the bottle. This teaches babies that they don’t need a full tummy to fall asleep.
Try not to change your baby’s diaper at night, unless your baby has a diaper rash. You can use extra diaper liners if necessary.
If possible, put your baby to bed slightly drowsy but still awake. Your baby may be restless and cry a little before falling asleep, but it is helpful for babies to learn that they can calm down and fall asleep on their own.
Consider beginning a bedtime routine to help your baby learn the difference between daytime sleep and nighttime sleep. Try to do the same steps every night at about the same time. A soft song, a gentle massage and warm bath — these can all help signal to your baby that nighttime is coming.
Young babies need to be encouraged or allowed to fall asleep after about one hour of being awake. If your baby has been awake for one hour, watch for clues that he or she is sleepy — yawning, rubbing eyes, looking away from you or acting fussy. Many parents misinterpret these signs, believing their baby is bored and needs more stimulation; it is more likely that the baby needs to be allowed to fall asleep.

One baby book author advocates the “E-A-S-Y” plan to help babies nap better:

E — Eating: The baby is fed after waking up from nighttime sleep or a nap.
A — Activity: After feeding, the baby has time for activities and being awake.
S — Sleep: After 30 to 45 minutes of awake time, the baby is placed down for sleep. This helps prevent the baby from forming an association between feeding and falling asleep.
Y — You: This is “you time.”

Flat Heads

For safety reasons babies should always sleep on their backs. Sometimes this causes their heads to become flattened in the back, usually on the right side. To help prevent this, encourage your baby to look to the left and let him or her spend more time sitting up. You you can also give your baby “tummy time” when he or she is awake and supervised. Tummy time helps babies learn how to use their neck and shoulder muscles.

Feeding

Your baby will continue to grow well on breast milk or formula for the next four months. Although you may be tempted to try giving your baby solid foods early, there are a number of reasons not to start solid foods, including baby cereal, until about 6 months of age. Some of these reasons include:

Babies’ intestinal tracts are immature. It is easier for them to develop allergies if you offer solid foods too early.
Babies’ muscles are not able to coordinate sucking and swallowing solid foods yet. When a baby can sit and reach out for objects, he or she will probably be able to use the mouth muscles to swallow solids as well.
When babies are given solid foods too early, they don’t get all the nutrition they need from breast milk or formula, which is specially designed to meet babies’ needs.

Safety

A few extremely important safety tips:

Remember to always place your baby on his or her back to sleep.
Always secure your baby in a car seat when traveling by car or taxi. The car seat should still face backward in the car. Do not place the car seat in a seat equipped with airbags. Parents, remember that you need to buckle up too, and make sure that you never drink alcohol and drive.
Do not leave your baby alone in a high place such as a changing table — your baby is beginning to scoot and roll, and can quickly fall off.
Do not drink hot liquids while holding your baby. Your baby will soon begin reaching for objects and may make you spill the liquid, burning both of you.
Do not allow anyone to smoke in your home. If you or someone in your home must smoke, please go outside so your baby will not be exposed to the smoke. Wear a special covering or jacket while you are smoking outdoors and take it off before coming back inside. This will prevent the smoke particles from attaching to your clothing and affecting your baby. Never hold a cigarette when you are holding your baby.
Never shake your baby — it can cause serious injuries.

Used by permission of Jane E. Anderson, M.D.

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals medical specialists have reviewed this information. It is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your child’s doctor or other health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with your child’s provider.

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Your 2-month-old: Week 2 | BabyCenter

You may find that your baby is starting to drool this week and putting everything they can reach into their mouth. They may also be sleeping longer at night and learning how to roll over. Meanwhile, you may be looking for childcare options if you haven’t already. And wondering if all that spitting up is due to reflux.

Break out the bibs

Your baby’s salivary glands have been working since they were in utero, but you may notice that they’ve started to drool. They’re also putting everything in their mouth and producing more saliva than they can swallow.

This doesn’t mean that your baby is teething just yet, though – that probably won’t happen for another few weeks, at least. The vast majority of babies sprout their first tooth between 4 and 7 months of age. If your baby’s an early developer, you may see their first white cap, usually one of the bottom two middle teeth, as early as 3 months.

Many parents permanently affix a bib to their baby around now to catch the drool. Just be sure to take the bib off when your baby sleeps, as it is a strangulation risk.

The good news is that your baby’s drool coats toys and other objects with disease-preventing proteins. That’s fortunate – since they’ll continue to explore anything they can get their hands on.

It’s actually good for development for your baby to explore objects with their mouth (as long as it’s not a choking hazard). Babies learn about shape and texture this way.

Sleeping for longer chunks of time

If your baby is sleeping through the night (five or six hours at a stretch), you’re one of the lucky few. Most 10-week-old babies still wake up in the middle of the night. But even babies who aren’t sleeping through the night at this stage should be sleeping and staying awake for longer intervals instead of cycling back and forth so much. Your baby will most likely have two to four long sleep periods and as many as 10 hours of awake time in 24 hours.

Rolling over

Your baby is learning how to rock and roll – well, maybe just roll. At this age, they’ll probably be able to move from their side to their back and their back to their side. The complete roll over won’t come for another month or so, though, because they need stronger neck and arm muscles for that maneuver. Keep putting your baby on their belly for lots of tummy time every day to build those important muscles.

Your baby’s increasing mobility means that you must keep a hand on them during diaper changes. Never leave your baby unattended on a bed or any other elevated surface now that they can move around.

Finding good childcare

Even if you’re already certain which kind of childcare arrangement you prefer, it can be a good idea to get a sense of your full range of options. You may be surprised by what you find.

When looking for a daycare center or home daycare that’s right for your baby, ask other parents for advice and shop around. Visit as many places as you can, and try to spend as much time as possible at each one at various times of the day, talking with the caregivers, director, and parents to get a sense of what the different places are like. Pay attention to how the staff interacts with your baby.

Look for caregivers who talk, sing, play, and interact a lot with each baby. You’ll want a center that responds to each individual baby’s schedule for playing, feeding, and sleeping. Childcare providers should be open to visits from parents at any time and lots of communication with parents.

If you’re looking for a babysitter or nanny, get references from others and follow up on them. Then consider doing a trial run by having the sitter or nanny watch your baby for a few hours while you do an errand or take care of some things at home.

Find out about the pros and cons of various childcare options.

Reflux

Reflux is when food and acid move from the stomach back into the esophagus. It’s normal for all babies to have some reflux – they’ll spit up or regurgitate a little milk after some feedings. It’s estimated that up to 50 percent of babies spit up daily. Most of these episodes are brief and don’t cause symptoms. However, if your baby is burping up large amounts of milk throughout the day or vomiting more than a few times a day, it could be a problem called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Reflux may be associated with prolonged crankiness and pain with eating. In severe cases, babies with GERD gag, cough, or don’t gain enough weight. Make sure to mention any reflux symptoms to your baby’s doctor.

If your baby is being fed formula, their doctor may suggest switching to a soy-based or hypoallergenic formula. You may be advised to try smaller and more frequent feedings to keep your baby’s stomach from filling too much or too often.

Holding your baby in a semivertical position during and after feedings, with their head elevated about 30 degrees, may help keep the milk from coming back up. Frequent burping can also reduce reflux symptoms.

The doctor might prescribe an antacid or acid-blocking medication for your baby to take daily, similar to the medicine adults take for heartburn (but don’t give your baby any medications without a doctor’s order). They may also suggest further evaluation of your baby’s symptoms with a pH probe, which is inserted into the esophagus to measure reflux episodes and acid levels.

In most cases, babies grow out of the problem by their first birthday, as their sphincter muscles strengthen.

Your individual baby

All babies are unique and meet milestones at their own pace. Developmental guidelines simply detail what your baby has the potential to accomplish – if not right now, then soon. If your baby was premature, keep in mind that kids born early usually need a bit more time to reach certain stages. If you have any questions at all about your baby’s development, ask your healthcare provider.

Look ahead to next week.

Learn more about your 2-month-old baby’s growth and development.

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Causes, Developmental Stages & Treatment

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Video: Drooling in Babies – Is It Normal?
Is Drooling Common in Babies?
Drooling in Babies Between 1 and 24 Months of Age
Does Drooling Play an Important Role in Baby’s Development?
What Is Excessive Drooling in Babies?
What Are the Causes of Excessive Drooling in Infants?
Treatment for Drooling
What Is a Drool Rash?
When to Consult a Doctor

Last Updated on April 16, 2020

When the saliva flows out of a person’s mouth unintentionally, it is known as drooling. We have six salivary glands that produce saliva for us and when excess saliva is produced, we tend to drool. Drooling is a common occurrence in babies. Babies start drooling at about 3 months of age. Some babies drool a bit, while others drool a lot. If you see your baby drooling excessively, it could be due to the underdeveloped muscles in his mouth or excess production of saliva in his mouth. But there is nothing to worry about, as drooling is a part of his physical development.

Video: Drooling in Babies – Is It Normal?

Is Drooling Common in Babies?

It is common for babies to drool and a baby might drool for the first two years of his life. As an infant is not in complete control of the function of swallowing and his mouth muscles, he may drool, even while asleep. If your baby has started drooling, you can expect this condition to continue until he turns 18 to 24 months old. Drooling is quite common during the teething period, so be ready to change your baby’s clothes about 5-6 times in a day. It is quite common for babies to drool. But if a child drools even after the age of four years, then it is not normal.

Drooling in Babies Between 1 and 24 Months of Age

Drooling in babies is normal and it even helps in their development. A baby may drool slightly to excessively at different stages of his life and as he grows.

1. 1-3 Months

When a baby is between 1 and 3 months of age, he may not drool at all. Drooling is rare at this time as a baby is always in a face-up position. So he may not drool during this time or even after that. But some babies may start drooling by 3 months of age.

2. 6 Months

By this time, drooling is slightly more controlled but it continues when the baby babbles or puts toys in his mouth. Usually, babies start teething by this time, hence they drool.

3. 9 Months

By this stage, babies start rolling over and crawling. They may continue to drool as they are still teething. Teething can stimulate drooling.

4. 15 Months

By 15 months of age, most babies start walking and running, but they may not drool while they walk or run. However, if they indulge in activities or tasks which require concentration, they may drool.

5. 18 Months

Babies will not drool while indulging in regular activities or in activities that promote fine motor skills. But they may drool while they are being fed or are dressing.

6. 24 Months

By this time, drooling is minimal in babies. It is almost non-existent.

Does Drooling Play an Important Role in Baby’s Development?

Yes, drooling does play an important role in the growth and development of a baby. Drooling is a sign of teething in a baby. Drooling and blowing bubbles are also a sign of physical development in toddlers. If your little one drools or blows bubbles, then it is a sign that he has entered a new period of growth. If your baby drools after smelling milk or food, you should know that his sense of smell is growing.
Drool contains enzymes which are useful for the baby to digest semi-solid or solid food when he is between 4 and 6 months of age. Saliva neutralizes the stomach acid and it helps in developing the baby’s intestinal lining fully and protect the lining of the oesophagus from irritation. Saliva also helps bind the food together due to its slick nature that facilitates swallowing.

What Is Excessive Drooling in Babies?

When there is an involuntary flow of saliva from a baby’s mouth after he has passed the normal age of drooling, it can be termed as excessive drooling. If your little one drools a lot after he has crossed the age of 2 years, you should consult a doctor for the same. Although it is often attributed to over-production of saliva, excessive drooling happens because of poor coordination between mouth and tongue. This lack of coordination can result in bad swallowing.

What Are the Causes of Excessive Drooling in Infants?

Excessive drooling in babies and toddlers is caused due to the following reasons:

1. Teething

Although babies don’t have a tooth by the age of 6-8 months, the teething process begins quite early. This is the reason why they start drooling as early as 3 months of age. When the teething phase begins, there is excess production of saliva and they may drool excessively when a tooth pushes its way through the gums.

2. Open Mouth Posture

If a baby has a habit of keeping his mouth open for a longer period of time, he might drool. If your little one keeps his mouth open for long due to a blocked nose or plainly out of habit, then he may not be able to swallow the saliva at regular intervals and hence may drool.

3. Staying Focused For Long

When babies and young children concentrate on a particular task their mind gets stimulated. On stimulation, the saliva production increases six-fold. During infancy, their ability to swallow excess saliva is inadequate. And when they focus on a task their attention is diverted from mouth position and tongue movements, and as a result, this results in drooling.

4. Food

Release of saliva from glands inside mouth is in response to taste sensation on eating variety of foods. Eating sour or spicy foods lead to the release of saliva excessively. If your kid eats foods spicy foods or fruits such as oranges, lime, grapes, he may salivate excessively.

5. Neurological Disorders

Many neurological disorders like Bell’s palsy and Cerebral Palsy display symptoms like drooling and excessive salivating. Bell’s palsy is a temporary nerve condition which impacts one portion of the face. Diseases affecting the brain like cerebral palsy, Bell’s palsy, and Wilson’s disease affect the muscle control, which thus causes difficulty in swallowing, pooling of saliva in the mouth, and abnormal lip position, all of which may lead to drooling.

6. Side Effects of Medication

Some medications including drugs used to induce sleep and reduce pain, and drug used for eye checkup in children or even in mother of breastfed babies can cause increased saliva production. Heavy metal poisoning can also cause hypersalivation, which can cause drooling in babies.

Treatment for Drooling

It is normal for babies to drool and drooling is an important part of physical development and growing up in babies. However, it is not normal if they drool once they turn 2 years of age. If your toddler drools even after 2 years of age, you should not take it lightly. You should consult a doctor as it needs medical attention. If your child is drooling excessively, consult a doctor immediately as it might affect his social life and his day-to-day activities may get affected. If your little one drools a lot, your child’s doctor will look for following signs to come to a conclusion and suggest a treatment for the same.

• If your child can seal his lips properly and move the tongue around.
• If your child is swallowing normally.
• If he has a stuffy or blocked nose.
• If the child has a natural swallowing reflex.
• The posture of the child and whether his jaw is firm or not.

Post these evaluations, the following line of treatment is followed:

• Helping the child to practice a closed-lip stance.
• Reducing acidic food from the child’s diet.
• Working on the child’s capacity to swallow.
• Tightening of face muscles.
• Improving oral-sensory awareness to help the child understand when his mouth or face is wet.
• Oral motor therapy to strengthen his jaw, cheeks, and lips. This therapy will help him swallow his saliva properly.

What Is a Drool Rash?

Due to the constant dribbling of saliva through the mouth, a baby’s lower lips, cheeks, neck, and chest may show signs of skin irritation. If your baby drools excessively, the saliva will come on to his cheeks, neck or chest, and you might notice red, uneven rashes in these areas. If the rash from drooling is around a baby’s mouth, it is known as a drool rash. To treat drool rash, you must wash the affected area properly, pat it dry, and apply a lanolin-based cream. You can tie a bib around your baby’s neck to keep the drool from spreading on to the neck and chest area. You can even apply petroleum jelly on the affected area to keep it moisturised and to help it heal quickly. However, speak to your doctor before applying any creams or lotions on your baby’s skin.

When to Consult a Doctor

You should consult a doctor if your child drools even after he crosses the age of four. Uncontrollable drooling that is caused by medical conditions can be addressed by consulting a paediatrician. Talk to your baby’s doctor – he might suggest therapy or medication. However, if the therapy or medication is unable to provide relief, you should consider a higher level of treatment.

Drooling is a natural way of helping the baby to moisten and soften solid foods and makes it easy to swallow the food. Although it fulfils many important functions for the baby, keep a close watch if drooling increases and shows no signs of abating after the age of four. Get medical attention to address the problem before it worsens.

Approach to Fever and Drooling in Infants and Toddlers

Urgent message: Typical drooling is no cause for alarm in infants and toddlers. However, excessive drooling accompanied by fever or other various red flags could be signs of more serious concerns such as retropharyngeal abscess, Ludwig angina, or upper airway obstruction. Recognition should trigger a thorough evaluation by the urgent care provider.

Katherine P. Dureau, MD

CASE
A 24-month-old previously full-term and vaccinated male presents to an urgent care center with 24 hours of fever with a maximum temperature of 102.5⁰F. The father also reports drooling, decreased oral intake, fussiness, and with no urine output for 12 hours. There is associated diaper rash, congestion, and rhinorrhea but no neck stiffness, neck swelling, or difficulty breathing. The child goes to daycare and has two older school-aged siblings.

On examination, the patient is fussy but nontoxic appearing and in no respiratory distress. He is febrile to 102.2⁰F with a heart rate of 140 beats/minute and a respiratory rate of 32 breaths/minute. He is irritable but consoles well to the father. He has normal range of motion of his neck without a palpable mass. He has copious clear drooling from the mouth.

INTRODUCTION
It is normal for infants and toddlers to drool as part of their oral-motor development, as well as with the eruption of new teeth. However, excessive drooling coupled with fever or an ill appearance should prompt the urgent care clinician to perform a thorough examination of the head and neck, placing special emphasis on the mouth and oral cavity. Visualization of the oral mucosa can help distinguish benign and self-limiting illnesses from acute and life-threatening emergencies.

HISTORY AND EXAM PEARLS
The majority of the diagnoses that include fever and drooling can be made clinically, often without the need for additional laboratory testing or imaging.

Inquire about prodromal symptoms including nasal congestion, chest congestion, coryza, cough, emesis, and diarrhea which may suggest a viral etiology. Other factors to ascertain include change in voice, refusal to eat, dysphagia, sore throat, trismus, neck pain, neck stiffness, and difficulty breathing.

A child who is up to date on their immunizations has protection against vaccine-preventable illnesses such as epiglottitis and diphtheria. A series of DTaP and Hib vaccines is recommended starting at 2 months old to protect against the aforementioned diseases commonly caused by H influenzae type B and C diphtheriae, respectively.

The examination should begin by noting the general appearance of the child. An ill-appearing child is more suggestive of a bacterial etiology, including retropharyngeal abscess, Ludwig angina, and epiglottitis. Stridor and/or neck extension are suggestive of upper airway obstruction. Children with lesions causing glottic narrowing such as epiglottitis or deep neck infection classically prefer to sit up in the “tripod” or “sniffing position” to maximize airway patency.

Though it may be difficult in a fussy child, valuable information can be discovered by visualization of the tongue, buccal mucosa, soft and hard palate, gingival ridge, uvula, posterior pharynx, and tonsils in addition to the neck and cervical area.

Specific findings may include:

The presence of neck swelling and stiffness in conjunction with drooling and fever which may be suggestive of a deep neck infection.
Tenderness, erythema, and fluctuance of the submandibular area are suggestive of Ludwig angina.
White plaques on the buccal mucosa, palate, tongue, or the oropharynx are characteristic of oral candidiasis (thrush).
Oral ulcers are the hallmark of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), herpangina, and herpes gingivostomatitis, with the location of these lesions within the mouth being the clue to distinguishing one from the other.
- The lesions of HFMD and herpangina are typically located in the posterior mouth, including the soft palate, tonsils, and uvula.
- Herpes gingivostomatitis commonly involves the anterior oral cavity, lips, and skin around the mouth. The affected mucosa appears friable, erythematous, and edematous.
- Herpes stomatitis has a more insidious onset and longer duration. HFMD and herpangina mostly occur in the summer and early fall, whereas herpes stomatitis occurs year-round.

A gentle approach should be taken when examining the mouth, as the aforementioned lesions can be quite painful to touch.

Suspected herpangina

Credit: Katherine P. Dureau, MD

In addition to the oral exam, perform a skin assessment, paying particular attention the palms, soles, and diaper area as HFMD and other enterovirus variants may be characterized by a vesiculopapular rash in these areas. Involvement of the buttocks and genital area occur in 30% of cases. ¹

Differential Diagnosis
What’s Common	· Hand, foot, and mouth disease · Herpangina · Herpes gingivostomatitis · Thrush · Streptococcal/viral pharyngitis & tonsillitis
What Not to Miss	· Retropharyngeal abscess · Ludwig angina
What to Think About	· Epiglottitis

DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT

What’s Common

The diagnosis of HFMD and herpangina is made with the identification of ulcers on the posterior oropharynx. These illnesses are commonly caused by the Coxsackie virus (an enterovirus). When ulcers are isolated to the mouth, it is called herpangina. When coupled with lesions on the palms or soles, it is referred to as hand-foot-and-mouth. Some variants (eg, Coxsackie A6) are characterized by more diffuse rash, particularly around the mouth and on the buttocks. The illness begins with the sudden onset of high fever along with the eruption of painful oral lesions.^2-4 Management includes supportive care with antipyretics and pain relievers, as the illness is usually benign and self-limited. Reinforce adequate hydration; a mouthwash containing equal parts Maalox and Benadryl may help soothe oral discomfort, but data proving its efficacy are lacking.⁵

Herpes gingivostomatitis is the most common manifestation of a primary herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection of childhood. It is characterized by the onset of prodromal symptoms including fever, irritability, and malaise followed by the eruption of painful mucocutaneous vesicular lesions. Relative to the Coxsackie viruses, HSV-1 more typically causes ulcers in the anterior oral area (eg, gingiva, tongue, and lips). Classic skin lesions around the lips are vesicles that often cluster together and coalesce. The gingiva appear inflamed and bleed easily.^6,7 The diagnosis can be made clinically without the use of additional laboratory techniques to confirm the diagnosis; however, sending a viral PCR test may be necessary in children who are immunocompromised as the risk of complications may be higher. Oral acyclovir may help shorten the duration of symptoms if initiated within 72-96 hours of disease onset.⁵ Keep in mind that neonates concerning for cutaneous HSV infection require special consideration for escalation of care due to the high risk of morbidity and mortality associated with HSV encephalitis and disseminated infections in this particular population.

Thrush is an oropharyngeal Candida infection that is common in healthy infants. It is manifested as white plaques on the intraoral mucosa. Milk curd can be difficult to distinguish from thrush; a trick is to run a tongue depressor over the plaques, as thrush is difficult to remove. Treatment is with topical nystatin suspension.⁸ Thrush does not typically cause a fever, although some infants could have a coexisting viral infection that causes elevation in body temperature.

Acute bacterial pharyngitis is most commonly due to a group A streptococcus (GAS) infection. It affects children ages 5─15 years old. Clinical manifestations include fever and sore throat and, when severe, can be associated with difficulty swallowing. On exam, the tonsils are enlarged and erythematous, with or without exudates. Cervical lymphadenopathy is often present. Ill appearance, neck stiffness, and trismus are not typically associated with uncomplicated tonsillopharyngitis. Viruses predominate as acute infectious causes of tonsillopharyngitis and often mimic the symptoms and exam findings of GAS pharyngitis. The treatment is supportive for viral causes; however, GAS pharyngitis requires antibiotic therapy.¹⁵

As opposed to common viral illnesses that present with fever and drooling, children with deep neck infections usually have a more dramatic presentation including ill appearance, refusal to move the neck, and, rarely, stridor.

What Not to Miss

A retropharyngeal abscess (RPA) is a deep neck space infection that presents in children <6 years old, peaking at age 3 years. Serum evaluation may show a leukocytosis with left shift, sometimes with a thrombocytosis and elevation of inflammatory markers (ESR, CRP), however these findings are nonspecific. A lateral neck radiograph may show increased depth in the prevertebral space on lateral radiograph suggesting a space-occupying lesion between the esophagus and vertebral column. However, immediate transfer to the ED may be preferable to taking the time to perform an x-ray, especially if the child shows signs of respiratory distress or there is a high clinical suspicion. If the clinician does opt for lateral neck imaging on site, the film should be taken during inspiration and false thickening can be caused by crying, especially in infants. Prevertebral space thickening on a good quality film has fair specificity for an RPA, but a negative film does not exclude the possibility of a deep neck infection. In addition, this is not a definitive study to guide management. Contrast-enhanced neck CT is the imaging modality of choice to identify, localize, and differentiate abscess from phlegmon/cellulitis. Signs of an RPA should prompt referral to a specialty center for further evaluation by a pediatric otolaryngologist, as management includes intravenous antibiotic therapy and possible surgical intervention.^9,10

Child with normal prevertebral space

Credit: Neil Vachhani, MD, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, Norfolk VA

Child with prevertebral space widening

Credit: Neil Vachhani, MD, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, Norfolk VA

Note arrow indicating prevertebral space widening

Credit: Neil Vachhani, MD, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, Norfolk VA

Ludwig angina (submandibular space infection) is a bacterial cellulitis of the floor of the mouth in the sublingual and submaxillary space. In the most severe cases, oropharyngeal intubation is difficult because of the inability to lift the tongue, making this infection a potential airway emergency. Ludwig angina is typically a mixed anaerobic bacterial infection that is often due to spreading of a mandibular molar abscess. Patients present with fever, mouth pain, stiff neck, drooling, and dysphagia. They have tenderness in the submandibular area and the mouth is held open by lingual swelling. The diagnosis is made based on the suggestive exam findings. CT imaging may be helpful to evaluate the depth and size of the infected area. The treatment is empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics, but surgery is usually not necessary. Immediate transport to a specialty center is indicated given the risk of airway compromise from glottic swelling.^11,12

What to Think About:

Epiglottitis is an inflammation of the epiglottis that can lead to a rapidly progressive upper airway obstruction. With the introduction of the Haemophilus influenza type b vaccine, the incidence has dropped dramatically; however, the epidemiology has changed with an increasing incidence secondary to Streptococcus infection in older vaccinated children. Classic epiglottitis should be suspected in an unimmunized toddler with an acute onset of fever, dysphagia, drooling, and respiratory distress. The child may appear toxic and prefer to sit in the “sniffing” or “tripod” position to maximize airway patency. Stridor may also be present, but cough is distinctly uncommon, differentiating epiglottitis from tracheal diseases such as croup and bacterial tracheitis. A lateral neck radiograph may show the classic “thumb sign” demonstrating a swelling of the epiglottis. If the diagnosis of epiglottitis is suspected, immediate transport to a specialty center is indicated and additional stresses should be avoided to prevent the risk of sudden airway obstruction.^13,14

CASE CONCLUSION

Upon further examination, the patient’s oral exam shows multiple erythematous oral ulcers on his soft palate. He has scattered erythematous macules on his palms and soles. Removal of his diaper reveals erythematous papules and vesicular lesions. The patient is diagnosed with hand-foot-and mouth disease based on the findings of oral ulcers coupled with skin lesions found on the palms, soles, and buttock. His history and physical examination are absent for red flags to suggest a deep neck space infection or a bacterial infection of the floor of the mouth or epiglottis.

He is given a dose of ibuprofen and a popsicle. Reexamination 30 minutes later shows a playful child without drooling. He appears comfortable and well hydrated. No diagnostic testing is performed. He is discharged home with education and supportive care including acetaminophen or ibuprofen as needed for fever reduction and pain control. Return precautions were discussed, including dehydration or inability to manage pain at home.

Dureau KP. Approach to fever and drooling in infants and toddlers. J Urgent Care Med. July 2018. Available at: https://www.jucm.com/approach-to-fever-and-drooling-in-infants-and-toddlers/.

References

Hardy E. Hand-foot-mouth disease. Ferri’s Clinical Advisor 2018. 1st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:540.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Severe hand, foot, and mouth disease associated with Coxsackievirus A6–Alabama, Connecticut, California, and Nevada, November 2011-February 2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012;61:213-214.
Abzug MJ. Hand foot and mouth disease and herpangina. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 20th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:1561-568.
Michaels MG, Williams JV. Coxsackievirus and other enteroviruses. Zitelli and Davis’ Atlas of Pediatric Physical Diagnosis. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:455-509.
Faden H. Management of primary herpetic gingivostomatitis in young children. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2006;22:268-269.
Cohen BA. Herpes simplex virus. Pediatric Dermatology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2013:104-125.
Schiffer JT, Corey L. Therapy for HSV Infections. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2015:1713-1730.
Marcdante KJ, Kliegman RM. Oral Cavity. Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2015:429–430.
Pappas DE, Hendley JO. Retropharyngeal abscess, lateral pharyngeal (parapharyngeal) abscess, and peritonsillar cellulitis/abscess. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 20th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:2021-2023.
Rose E. Pediatric respiratory emergencies: upper airway obstruction and infections. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:2069-2080.
Marcdante KH, Kliegman RM. Pharyngitis. Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2015:347–349.
Shaw J. Infections of the oral cavity. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:193-199.
Marcdante K, Kliegman RM. Croup (Laryngotracheobronchitis). Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2015:354–356.
Nayak JL, Weinberg GA. Epiglottitis. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, Updated Edition. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2015: 785-788.
Yellon RF, Chi DH. Otolaryngology. Zitelli and Davis’ Atlas of Pediatric Physical Diagnosis. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:868–915.

Katherine P. Dureau, MD is a board-certified general pediatrician and Fellow, PGY4, in Pediatric Urgent Care, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, at Emory University. The author has no relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests

Approach to Fever and Drooling in Infants and Toddlers

7 Signs Your Baby is Teething

Is your baby showing teething symptoms, or are they fussy for some other reason? If baby is exhibiting any of these seven signs, she is almost certainly teething.

Whether it’s brushing those teeth after they finally arrive or waiting for them to come in, baby teeth sure cause a lot of trouble! The process of getting these teeth can be effortless or excruciating depending on your baby. Even with minor cases, most babies show some teething symptoms.

When Do Babies Start Teething?

The tricky thing about teething is that symptoms can start 2 to 3 months before a tooth surfaces! This can be brutal for baby and family if there’s a lot of discomfort.

Teething Symptoms: How Do You Know If Your Baby is Teething?

Watch this video to find out.

The key is to look for these seven teething symptoms

1. Biting more than usual

This teething symptom will turn your baby into a vampire. Bite, bite, bite on anything from plastic spoons, to toys, to your breast. Griffin liked chewing on hard plastic things the best., but there’s a plethora of teething toys on the market which may also help.

2. Excessive drool

When babies are still newborns, they’re still learning how to swallow their saliva—this causes excessive drooling. Fast forward to teething, and the drooling starts again (or never stops in some cases). When baby is teething, the body creates extra saliva to lubricate the tender and bulging gums.

3. Fussier than usual, especially at night

These teething symptoms make babies who once slept through the night start to wake up several times for comfort. In the quiet hours of night, a baby often feels the teething pain more because there are fewer distractions.

4. Disturbances in sleep patterns

Because of teething discomfort, babies will usually nap less and wake up earlier in the morning. Fun times for all involved with these teething symptoms!

5. Fever, rashes, cough, and diarrhea

Although some doctors disagree, many mamas detect a slight fever (under 100 degrees) in their babies when teeth are imminent. Additionally, the extra drool can cause facial rashes, chafing, and coughing, since it pools at the back of the throat. Some babies even develop diaper rash and diarrhea.

6. Decreased appetite

When babies are in pain, they generally don’t want to eat, especially since it triggers their sore spots. Keep trying to feed them as much as possible, despite the resistance. Call your doctor if baby’s caloric input decreases dramatically.

7. Pulling of ears and rubbing of chin and cheeks

Babies can be quite resourceful and administer self massage. By pulling and rubbing around their jaw, they create counter pressure that eases some of the pain and throbbing.

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Baby Teeth Chart: Which Baby Teeth Come In First?

If your little baby is acting different lately because of teething symptoms, take heart there’s good reason. Soon enough, her little pearly whites will surface. Here’s a quick look at which baby teeth come in first:

Baby Teeth Chart What Order Do They Come In chart by Mama Natural

For more on which baby teeth come in first, check out this whole post on the subject.

Baby Teething Pain Relief

While all of these baby teeth come in, we don’t have to be victims to teething symptoms. There are some great things we can do to comfort baby in the midst of the teething process:

Lower inflammation: Inflammation from teething stimulate nerves, causing pain.
Boost the immune system: There is some debate whether teething lowers the immune system, or whether the emergence of colds and fevers while teething is simply a coincidence. Either way, boosting baby’s immunity can’t hurt.
Apply cold and pressure: Cold helps numb the area, while pressure soothes inflamed gums.
Try teething toys: Safe and non-toxic objects that baby can chew apply counter pressure to aching gums.
Herbal remedies: To help ease teething pain, make an herbal tea, soak a washcloth, freeze it, then let baby chew on it.

Want to learn more? Check out my full post on effective teething remedies.

How About You?

What teething symptoms did your baby have?

Overview, Symptoms, and Pain Relief

Teething Syndrome: Overview, Symptoms, and Pain Relief

Medically reviewed by Karen Gill, M.D. — By Shannon Johnson on August 16, 2017

What is teething syndrome?

Teething syndrome — or simply “teething” — is a normal process that some infants go through as their teeth break, or cut, through their gums. According to the American Dental Association, babies start teething when they are between 6 and 12 months old. By the time a child is 3 years old, they should have a first or primary set of 20 teeth.

Having teeth means your child will be able to eat a bigger variety of foods, but getting there can be tough on both baby and parent. There are ways you can make your child more comfortable during the process, and there are signs that signal when it’s time to call the pediatrician.

Understanding why babies teethe

Babies are born with a full set of teeth underneath their gums. During the first year of life, these teeth begin to cut through the gums.

These teeth break through the gums in stages. Typically, the classic bottom teeth — often referred to as pegs — come in first, followed by the top middle teeth. From this point on, the remaining teeth will cut through the gums over a period of three years, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Some children may even get their full sets of teeth after 2 years of age.

Symptoms associated with teething

Each infant has a unique mix of symptoms during teething. The most common symptoms are mild irritability and a lack of appetite.

Many babies have few or no symptoms when their teeth break through the gums. Some babies will show at least one or two of the following symptoms when they begin to teethe:

drooling
chewing on solid objects
mild fussiness and crankiness
irritability
loss of appetite
sore and tender gums
red and swollen gums

Relieving your baby’s teething pain

While teething is a natural process, there are some tried and true methods to help relieve your baby’s discomfort. You can try rubbing your child’s gums with a damp washcloth, a clean finger, or a special gum-rubbing finger pad.

Teething rings are also popular options. Babies can chew on these to ease the discomfort. If you can, chill a teething ring in the refrigerator beforehand. This provides pressure on the gums along with a soothing coolness. You should never freeze the ring because it can break and possibly choke your infant.

With time, you should begin to introduce harder foods, like cold fruit and vegetables, to your baby’s diet. This is an important milestone that can also alleviate teething discomfort. Make sure to stay with the child at all times so you can monitor their chewing and prevent choking.

During teething, a baby’s constant drooling can irritate their skin. Use a bib to keep your baby’s chin as dry as possible.

Relief with medications

If your infant is really having a tough time, you might want to give them infant acetaminophen to relieve discomfort. You can also apply a teething gel. However, avoid gels that contain choline salicylate and benzocaine. These are not safe for infants, since they can reduce the levels of oxygen in the blood. Teething gels give only brief, if any, relief.

There are other supposed remedies out there that should be avoided. In fact, such methods can actually harm your baby. Never:

give a baby aspirin or rub it on the gums
use alcohol on the baby’s gums
put completely frozen objects directly on the gums
allow your child to chew on hard plastic toys — this poses both an oral health risk as well as a choking hazard

Many parents believe that high fever and diarrhea are also symptoms of teething, but this is usually not the case. Contact your pediatrician if your baby develops a fever or diarrhea, or if they’re having continued discomfort.

Outlook

Teething is a natural part of an infant’s growth and development. Due to the pain and discomfort, it’s easy for parents to become anxious about the process. Know that the symptoms of teething will eventually pass, and that your child will one day have a healthy set of teeth thanks to your efforts to keep up with good oral hygiene. Any specific concerns or prolonged discomfort should be addressed with your child’s pediatrician or family doctor.

Last medically reviewed on August 17, 2017

Parenthood
Baby

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Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

A
pediatric guide to oral health. (n.d.).
aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Oral-Health/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc=/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Oral-Health/Documents/OHFlipChartPPFinal.ppt&action=default&DefaultItemOpen=1
Mayo
Clinic Staff. (2015). Teething: Tips for soothing sore gums.
mayoclinic.com/health/teething/FL00102
Schmitt
BD. (2012). Teething.
seattlechildrens.org/medical-conditions/symptom-index/teething/
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(n.d.).
ada.org/en/Home-MouthHealthy/az-topics/t/teething

Medically reviewed by Karen Gill, M.D. — By Shannon Johnson on August 16, 2017

The child is often psychotic and capricious

Author: Marfa Goncharova, magazine “My Baby and Me”; consultant: Yulia Andronnikova, pediatrician of the highest category, head of the pediatric department of the Center for Traditional Obstetrics and Family Medicine.

The expressed emotional state of the child is a message of discomfort. Leaving these messages unattended means ignoring the needs of the baby, which can be physical and psychological.

Inconsolable crying, screaming, stubbornness and irritation out of the blue – what upsets parents so much and outrages outsiders who have become unwitting witnesses to an unpleasant scene is usually called whims. In fact, if in an adult a completely unreasonable whim can be called a whim, then children’s whims, as a rule, have a serious reason.

Yulia Andronnikova: “Children under one year old are not characterized by whims in their everyday sense. If a child suddenly starts behaving in an unusual way for him, this is always a signal for his mother, a message of discomfort. No doctor can say for sure: if a child cries for minutes ten – this is normal, and if longer, then this is a sign of illness. Mom’s intuition should work here. After all, already in the first 2-3 months of life, being in close contact with the baby, the mother studies him so well that she knows perfectly well what is typical for her child and what goes beyond normal behavior. 0003

If the baby is crying, the mother calms him down with the usual methods that suit him. Children love to be picked up, maintaining skin-to-skin contact, being rocked, talking in a low, calm voice, and being placed on their chest. Someone stops worrying in a warm bath, and someone better to undress for a while. The set of techniques may vary, but if the baby continues to cry despite the usual stress relief rituals, the mother should watch him more carefully. “

Infectious diseases

Unusually prolonged crying for a child or, conversely, lethargy, refusal to eat in children of any age are often the first sign of the development of an infectious disease. Like it or not, it becomes obvious in just a few hours: the temperature may begin to rise, a cough or runny nose will appear. For babies who still can neither say nor show that they are in pain, loud crying can be a sign of otitis media that has begun. If the ears hurt, there may be no fever or other signs of a cold, it is precisely the abruptly changed behavior that will cause suspicion: the child is inappropriately naughty, shakes his head, sometimes screams sharply, starts crying when the position of the head changes, refuses to eat, because it provokes pain. In such a situation, you should definitely call a doctor.

Meteosensitivity

The peculiarity of the response of the autonomic nervous system to changing environmental conditions is called meteosensitivity. Training the nervous system and blood vessels of the baby will help to cope with meteosensitivity. Thanks to hardening, the adaptive capabilities of the organism will grow, and the reaction to a change in the weather will become less violent or disappear altogether.

For toddlers, outdoor walks in any weather are the best hardening. Not only a change in pressure, rain, a thunderstorm, but also simply cloudy weather or a long absence of the sun in the sky can affect the body. In newborns, sudden changes in the weather are often worrisome. After a few months, the majority of such meteorological dependence disappears, but in children with a weakened autonomic nervous system, it can continue to manifest itself and even intensify against the background of stressful conditions.

Chronic diseases

But what if the baby not only suddenly changed his behavior, but is constantly in a depressed state – he is lethargic, whimpering all the time and practically does not smile? Yulia Andronnikova: “The general well-being of a child is an important indicator of his health. A healthy baby may start to act up in the evening when he is tired, but he should wake up in a good mood – this is a signal to his mother that everything is in order with him.

If the child is naughty every day and is in a bad mood all the time, and you have ruled out the presence of any infections, it is worth bringing this to the attention of your pediatrician. Constant whims, pallor, lethargy, lack of a smile from birth, low weight gain and height are a set of symptoms characteristic of hormonal disorders. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the better, because with the timely initiation of treatment, the disease can be compensated and the life, health and intelligence of the child can be saved. If such diseases are suspected, the pediatrician will refer the child to an endocrinologist.

Approximately the same symptoms can be with anemia or kidney problems. Routine blood and urine tests will help clarify the situation, confirming or dispelling such concerns.”

Overwork

If a child is naughty in the evening, mothers usually explain it like this: “I didn’t sleep well during the day” or “Went to class, he got too excited talking with other children there.” Perhaps here it will be enough to put the daily routine in order, give the baby more opportunities for rest, sleep and walks. If the child is excitable in itself, cannot sit still, control his emotions, and at the same time gets very tired, pedagogical problems are superimposed on physical ones, since parents literally do not keep up with the baby. A competent neurologist will help normalize the regimen and strengthen the nervous system, for example, with the help of massage and hardening techniques. A psychologist will advise parents about the features of proper communication with the child.

Caprice as a message to parents

Caprice is always a child’s message about discomfort, which he cannot express in an acceptable form. If the child is naughty all the time, and you have excluded physical causes (malaise, fatigue), it is worth considering what state of mind he is in. Psychologists note that often the child’s inappropriate behavior is a reaction to intra-family disharmony. The grandmother is unhappy with the way the young mother is raising the baby, she is constantly indignant and gives unsolicited advice. Or parents begin to quarrel every time the baby needs to be put to bed. Explicit or unspoken claims and conflicts, a tense situation in the family most affect the child. In this case, his “whims” are the materialization of the discontent and irritation surrounding him. And the situation can be corrected only by establishing relationships in the family.

Certain pedagogical disturbances in the family can also easily become a source of whims. If the parents allow the child absolutely everything, and he simply does not understand the word “no”, any attempt to prohibit it leads him almost to hysterics. As a rule, parents are afraid of such a reaction and are ready to do anything to avoid its repetition, which means they continue to indulge the baby. And this inevitably deepens discord in the family and makes its members even more irritable. The opposite situation can also involve the whole family in a vicious circle: they behave with the child too strictly and literally stop all attempts to act independently and make decisions. The kid protests, parents become even stricter with him. The same effect occurs if different family members adhere to diametrically opposed parenting styles – for example, mom is very strict with the baby, and dad allows absolutely everything. All these situations are best dealt with by a family psychologist.

Struggle for independence

Parents often mistake the child’s desire for independence for whims. From 8–9 months, the baby is already beginning to “test the strength” of the surrounding adults. They give him a toy, he throws it on the floor and immediately demands it back. This can be repeated many times in a row. The child finds out the boundaries of what is permitted, and when communicating with mom, dad or grandmother, the boundaries can be different. At the same time, it is quite easy to distinguish the crying of a real need from a “testing” cry: “checking”, the baby sometimes stops crying, looks around and listens in order to evaluate the effect produced. Such stops are a sign of the need for attention to oneself. This does not mean that in this case it should be ignored, it is better to talk softly with the child, give reasonable arguments, explain your actions, including the necessary refusals or prohibitions. Such verbal contact, if established at birth, makes it easier to distinguish what exactly caused unusual behavior, and to cope with the situation.

At the age of 2–3 years, the time comes when the child literally answers everything: “I myself!”. Moreover, if attempts to do something on their own are not very successful (spilled, raked, broke, fell), the best strategy would be not to scold the baby, but to celebrate his achievements and offer to bring the matter to the end together. Often, the mere fact of recognizing the child’s independent attempts to do something is already enough to live in harmony and reduce “whims” to a minimum.

Stubborn facts

Even if the baby likes to cry in principle, certain conditions should alert parents. These are the so-called emergencies.
A child’s loud, pronounced cry for two or more hours, in which no ordinary methods of calming help, is a signal to call a doctor. With problems such as intussusception (intestinal volvulus) or appendicitis, a young child may not have any other obvious external signs other than intense continuous crying. Only a doctor can diagnose the problem. It cannot be said that these cases are frequent. If a mother breastfeeds her baby and is well acquainted with the principles of introducing complementary foods, then volvulus, caused by a sharp transition to unfamiliar food in large quantities and at too early an age, does not threaten her child. Appendicitis in babies is also rare, but since the exact causes of this emergency are still unclear, it cannot be discounted.

Helpful Hints:

Any inner feelings of a child (enrolling in a kindergarten or school, troubles in the family) can lead to stress. No need to try to protect the baby from difficult situations, but teach him to overcome difficulties. The kid will endure stress much easier if he knows that at home he will always be understood and supported, that for mom and dad he is the best in the world.

Your love and attention are the best “medicines” for stress. Talk with the baby, give him the opportunity to speak out, find out the reasons for the experiences. Play with him, draw, involve him in sports, but try to protect him from excessive loads.

The article was published in the magazine “My baby and I” (2014) and posted on the website krokha.ru.

Evening whims of the baby: the pediatrician told what to do to parents – Parents.ru

Baby crying is a healthy response to stimuli. The child still does not know how to explain himself, express thoughts, desires, and the only way to attract the attention of adults is a loud, drawn-out cry.

By crying, the baby informs the parents that he is hungry, tired and wants to sleep, or he is tormented by pain, discomfort. Therefore, to begin with, possible negative influences should be excluded: feed the baby, check the diapers, see if the room is hot (or, conversely, cold). When the baby is cold, he becomes pale, the arms, legs and nose become cold, blue may appear in the area of the nasolabial triangle. If the child is hot, he blushes and sweats.

Quite often, crying also indicates the baby’s ailments. For example, about colic or headache.

Bloating and colic usually affect babies up to 3-6 months of age. At this age, the process of digestion and movement of food through the intestines is imperfect due to insufficient contractility of the muscular layer of the intestine, low activity of enzymes, microflora that has not been formed or is disturbed for any reason. However, tummy massage, proper nutrition and colic remedies can solve the problem.

Headache in infants is a common reaction to changes in the weather or atmospheric pressure. But if migraines disturb the baby too often, the child should be examined by specialists, since in rare cases headaches are a sign of perinatal encephalopathy syndrome (PEP), characterized by increased intracranial pressure, changes in muscle tone and excessive excitability.

Seek medical attention without delay in the same cases when:

crying of the baby is piercing and painful;
child crying non-stop for more than 3 hours;
the baby has a fever, vomiting, stool disorder, a rash.

I’m so tired!

Quite often evening whims arise due to banal fatigue. For a small child, every passing day gives a lot of vivid impressions. A new rattle, a walk in the park, the introduction of complementary foods – any minor detail for adults for a baby is a discovery, a serious accomplishment that requires mental and intellectual costs. And by the end of a typical day, the child may feel “squeezed out like a lemon. ” And he can protest, show discontent, be capricious, sob.

Of course, the best thing is not to bring the child to a state of extreme fatigue. Babies need a routine where mom knows exactly what time to feed the baby, when to bathe and put to bed in order to prevent “hunger riots” or overwork. It is also important to observe daily rituals: bathing, light massage, lullaby or reading at night.

Many infants from birth to three months of age have a phenomenon called “evening dysrhythmia”, where the baby whines and whines for no reason. The child may ask for a breast or a bottle, suck a little, quit, turn away, cry, then start eating again. This behavior is typical for babies who have not yet developed a sleep-wake regimen. Over time, this problem will disappear by itself.

Photo: Getty Images/Moment RF

If tantrums cannot be avoided, it is important to remember that crying relieves the accumulated stress. In each situation, you need to take into account the character and temperament of the baby: one child can be comforted by carrying it in her arms, and the other should be left to cry alone for a few minutes, and then return, hug tightly, caress, and then put to bed. But in any case, it is impossible to punish the child for hysterical scenes that arose against the background of overwork, or leave the baby without consolation or support.

A moment of attention

Often, nervous breakdowns in young children are associated with a lack of attention from parents. Babies are especially sensitive to separation from their mother. For example, when a mother goes to work and the baby sees her only in the evenings. Trying to compensate for the lack of communication, the child can literally “terrorize” the parents with endless whims and whimpers. Some adults, feeling guilty before the child, begin to pamper the baby. And others, on the contrary, react sharply and harshly to whining and anxiety.

Need to find a “golden mean”. On the one hand, you should not succumb to hysterical provocations, but on the other hand, it is important to create an atmosphere of security and care for the child. For a baby, hugs, joint games on the carpet, family reading, and conversations are vital.

Three calls

Sometimes evening tantrums can also be associated with a child’s unwillingness to go “on the side”. After all, the need to go to sleep forces the child to stop an interesting game or communication with his parents, whom he missed during the day. Try to avoid exciting activities shortly before bedtime. Remind the baby several times that after a while you will have to “round off”, step into the bathroom, and then into the bedroom. The first warning is 20 minutes in advance, and remind about upcoming plans 2-3 more times. An abrupt cessation of an entertaining game or conversation is not easy for an adult, and even more so for a child whose attention is switched more slowly.

Direct transmission

We are accustomed to keep negative emotions in ourselves at work, at a party, and relax at home and throw out a bad mood on loved ones. But tension and irritability are easily transmitted to others, especially children, who, trying to relieve the burden, begin to cry and whine, which only aggravate the situation. When you feel irritation, fatigue, first relax: take a bath with aromatic oils, do self-massage, sit for a few minutes in silence, breathing deeply, meditate. According to scientific studies, in 30% of cases in mothers suffering from depression, children are also prone to depression. Toddlers are extremely sensitive to the moods of their parents, and a positive attitude, calmness give the child a sense of balance and peace. If during the day an unpleasant event occurred in the family, a scandal that alarmed the child, be sure to discuss them with the baby in the evening. Explain to the child what happened, discuss the feelings that he experienced: “You were afraid that we screamed,” or “We will try not to swear anymore,” or “We love you very much. ”

More useful materials about caring for a baby – in our channel on Yandex.Zen.

Kristina Sandalova

“Crying – distract, but do not pick up.” Psychologist about the mistakes of parents | FAMILY | FAMILY

Vladimir Grishin, a psychologist and head of the Moral Family charity foundation, told AiF-Voronezh about how not to raise a capricious child, how to accustom him to housework and entertain him during self-isolation.

Try not to babysit

Anastasia Khodykina, AiF-Voronezh: Vladimir Nikolaevich, how important is it to know the basics of psychology for raising children?

Vladimir Grishin: A capricious child, poor learning ability, unsatisfactory behavior are often the fruits of improper upbringing due to ignorance of the basics of psychology. On parenting forums, moms often ask me questions about how to solve such problems. Therefore, I decided to help such families in an organized and free way and created a charitable foundation to help parents in the moral education of children “Moral Family”.

Many couples want more children. But not only material, but psychological issues interfere. After all, children need attention and the right attitude, otherwise big problems are not ruled out.

– Is it true that a child is already born with a certain character?

– Human behavior and activities depend on heredity and previous events. Each newborn is born with its own biological (type of nervous system) and psychological (accentuation of character) heredity inherited from parents. Therefore, everyone is unique. You can often hear: “This is not a child, this is an angel.” Such a child does not create problems. But there are difficult children who are called difficult.

– What should you pay attention to when raising a child?

– First of all, to whims that can manifest themselves even in infancy. They depend on biological, psychological heredity and on the environment of mental development that the baby’s parents built. If the child’s development strategy is wrong, whims appear depending on the child’s innate characteristics: he can whimper, scream, squeal in anger, bite, throw everything that comes to hand, fall to the floor in hysterics.

Let’s look at the origins of this. An infant begins to act up when he is uncomfortable, cold, damp, when he wants to eat, or when he feels that he is alone, but they do not approach him. In orphanages, this issue is solved simply: cry and stop, the need for attention disappears. Not so in a family. The child is seven or eight months old, he is standing in the playpen, crying and pulling his hands up to be taken. Nine out of ten mothers will take him in their arms. From frequent repetitions of such actions, the child develops a reflex – in order to fulfill a desire, one must cry. Then the child wanted to eat, and he understands that he needs to cry. As a result, he cries. Ultimately, in any situation when he does not like something, he begins to act up. For some, this proceeds more or less calmly, while for others it comes to tantrums in public places, and parents cannot do anything. And it all starts with this. This negative conditioned reflex is a wake up call for parents that they are making the first mistake.

– What is the right thing to do in such a situation?

– The child cries, pulls his hands up. You can divert his attention. When he is silent, you can take him in your arms. It is necessary to foresee such states – periodically approach the child in order to communicate with him, hold him in his arms, hug him, showing love. And the baby will feel that they will take him in his arms when he does not scream. This is a useful conditioned reflex.

In the second or third year of life, the baby shows individualization. He climbs into drawers, and onto the sofa, and onto the table. So the child wants to become socially significant. Do not wait for your baby to start showing symptoms of a crisis of three years – stubbornness, denial, when he does the opposite of what his parents say, but unquestioningly follows the advice of strangers. To avoid this, you need to organize your own room for the child, or at least a personal corner. The kid should feel that he is the owner of his toys, which should not be too much for the game, so that it is easier to clean up before going to bed. Indeed, often children at this age make huts – in such a small house they are calm and comfortable. In addition, the child must be treated with respect, asked about his affairs, play with him on an equal footing, give in somewhere, but so that he does not notice it. For example, parents bought something tasty, it is important not to give everything to the child, but to share it among all family members. Then someone from his share can treat him. If the child has to help his mother in cleaning the apartment, let him do something feasible, for example, wipe the lower doors. The main thing is to participate.

Homemade games and family competitions

– How to entertain children during self-isolation?

– For the smallest children who do not yet know the letters, you can make a game. Cut out squares from cardboard – five by five centimeters, draw or stick objects, animals on one side, and write the name on the other. Periodically introduce the child to both sides of the card, and over time he will recognize the name of the picture by the word.

With those who can read, you can begin to master the technique of speed reading. You can find many tutorials on the internet. You can also create an association game. On the squares prepared from cardboard or thick paper, on one side we write the word, for example, Moscow, May 9, winter, summer, fast, and so on, and on the other, Red Square, Victory, holidays, slow, and so on. We show the child a card on one side so that he can read it, and show the other side quickly so that he tries to guess what association is hidden there.

In addition, you can do physical training – it contributes to the development of the intellect and emotional sphere of the child. At home, you can arrange long jump competitions from a place, do squats every day. Outdoor games are also beneficial in the development of the child. If space in the apartment allows, you can play “knock out”.

Stick to one position

– How can a child be taught to work?

– The child’s activity begins with play, and it is so natural that there are no problems with it. It is only necessary to add “building material” – props and favorite characters. Over time, gaming activity becomes impossible without labor – after all, after the game, the cubes must be collected in a bag. Not all children will do this with pleasure, so the child can be interested, offer him, for example, the game “excavator-dump truck”: the child loads the cubes with a scoop, and the adult holds the bag, as if it were a body.

How do you get your child to go to bed on time, for example? On the forum, one mother shared how her little daughter gets ready for bed: the girl puts the toys she played with in a row – so she puts them to bed and then goes to bed herself.

– What other mistakes in raising children can modern families make?

– The simplest rule for parents is not to show a “command” voice. A child experiences negative feelings when he is rudely forced to do something, and this should not be a system. It should not be like this: “You clean up at home, otherwise I will punish you, deprive you of something.” If parents have different approaches to education, conflicts often arise, and the child is brought up incompetently. In education, it is important to take into account age psychology and not to miss the child when he is still small. The first form of protest is whims that form on an unconscious level, then negativism and stubbornness arise. All this can persist into adulthood. Such people are ready to do their own way, even to the detriment of themselves.

Some parents, unfortunately, come to realize late that the child must be taken into account. One day, a divorced mother of a teenage daughter approached me. She worked as a boiler room operator on the second shift and, one day, when she came home, she saw a mess, a broken mirror. How she scolded her! The girl went to her father. This was to be expected, because the woman reacted rudely.

To change any person’s beliefs, you need to know his position. I ask the woman: “If, for example, it were not you who came, but her friend, then how would your daughter behave?” Probably, she would tell what happened, her friend would support and help her. She herself worries, because all these consequences are unpleasant for her. And then the mother came and collapsed with insults and threats. Of course, she decided to run away, and there was where. There is almost no psychology here, just rational behavior.

Many people are now interested in psychology. But where to get the right information? There are many programs on television about health, about how to renovate an apartment, how to cook and choose products, but there are no programs about the development of children. But this is the most important thing.

How to respond to the whims of children

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How to raise a child?

How to respond to the whims of children

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1-3 years
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7-12 years old
children’s whims

Children’s whims worry many parents: they occur suddenly against the background of a completely safe behavior of the child. Most moms and dads are familiar with the situation when generally calm children begin to act up for any reason. And the older the child becomes, the more reasons for tantrums he may have: they didn’t buy a toy, like other children, they didn’t give him sweets, they went to play on the wrong playground. In order not to form a habit in a child to get what they want with the help of crying and screaming, parents should figure out what are the reasons for children’s whims.

Each age has its own whims

The propensity to whims is associated with the age and psychophysical characteristics of children. Most often whims appear in early childhood. Moreover, the younger the child, the brighter he has such manifestations.

Capriciousness in children under two years old

At the age of two years, whimsical childhood may be caused by overwork, change of scenery or illness of the child. But they are easy to avoid. To do this, parents need to properly organize the daily routine of the child and make sure that he feels comfortable and safe.

Whims in children from two to five years old

In the period from two to five years old, the child begins to actively express his disagreement with the actions of his parents and tries to force them to fulfill their own desires. Adults should not establish dictatorship and put pressure on the baby with the authority of the elder. Such relationships with children are considered the most unfavorable for the formation of personality. According to research, an effective parenting style is cooperation, which is based on the principle of bringing all family members together. You can learn about what parenting styles exist by reading the article “Problems of Education”.

Whims in children after the age of five

Whims in children aged five and over are the result of an established habit to achieve one’s own goal not by dialogue, but by shouting and crying. Recommendations to parents in this case – first of all, ignore attempts to manipulate yourself. Invite the child to think about whether he really needs what he asks you for. If his request cannot be fulfilled, then explain to him why. Your refusal will not be taken painfully if the child understands why he cannot get what he wants.

How to deal with the child’s whims: 7 tips for parents

Many parents do not know how to respond to children’s whims and give vent to emotions. The child psychologist of the portal “I am a parent” gives advice on how to behave to moms and dads when a child is naughty.

1. Remain calm in every situation

Try to remain calm in every situation. Do not yell at the child: find a way to get your point across to him differently. Explain why you won’t do what he wants. If the child does not respond to your arguments, wait until he calms down and can accept your words. In order to bring the child out of hysterics, hug him tightly and hold him in your arms for a while. Tell your child that you love him even in those moments when he is angry, but it upsets you if he screams loudly and throws himself on the floor.

2. Be patient

It is better to wait out a fit of tantrum in a public place without reacting to the child’s behavior and the comments of others. If possible, take the screaming baby to the car or take it out of the store to the street. When he calms down, calmly discuss the situation with him and explain that it is unacceptable to behave in the presence of strangers.

3. Keep your word

If you said no, stick to this no matter how sorry you feel about your baby. Many parents are ready to allow their children anything, as long as they stop screaming. By doing so, they reinforce the child’s undesirable behavior. Psychologists advise all family members to adhere to the same parenting strategy. This will help prevent children’s whims at the stage of their inception.

4. Use reasonable arguments

Try to “negotiate” with the child. Children over the age of four already understand the connection between their bad behavior and subsequent punishment. To do this, set clear rules for your child. For example, “if you don’t stop screaming, you will be left without cartoons.”

5. Switch the child’s attention

Do not punish your child for whims. It is wiser to divert his attention to something else. For example, asking to find some product on the shelves or offering to carry a basket in a supermarket. The need to perform any action will help distract the child from his whims and desire to insist on his own.

6. Prevent children’s whims

Try to prevent children’s whims. Avoid situations where the likelihood of a tantrum in a child is high. So, parents should not go to the store with a hungry and tired child if they do not want to cause a new explosion of emotions.

7. Do not leave the child alone

If the child does not make contact, do not leave him alone in a stressful state. Excessive guardianship of the baby in this situation is also devoid of common sense. After all, it is by whims that children protest against parental supervision and demonstrate a desire to be independent. So just keep going about your business. Then the child will know that you are always there, and your decision is final.

Svetlana Koroleva, an actress, TV presenter and mother of three children, told the portal “I am a Parent” about how children cope with their whims in a large family.

Ekaterina Kushnir

Take a psychological test on the portal “I am a parent” and find out if you spoil your child.

Do you spoil your child?

If the baby is naughty. Expert advice – Alevtina Lugovskaya

Your baby is naughty: he is ill, wants to attract your attention or achieve something, protests against excessive guardianship or is simply tired … After reading this book by a practicing child psychologist Alevtina Lugovskaya, you will find out the reasons for your child’s whims, get the necessary recommendations on how to learn how to prevent their occurrence, whether to indulge children’s whims, how to behave during a child’s tantrum. In the book you will also find games, riddles and nursery rhymes that will help distract the baby from the whims.

Chapter I. Why a child is naughty
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Baby got sick
- 3. Call for fellowship
- 4. Response to parental prohibition
- 5. Self-affirmation
- 6. The invisible causes of whims
Chapter II. What to do if the baby is naughty?
- 1. Whether to indulge his whims
- 2. How to respond to tantrums
- 3. About parental love
Chapter III. How to distract a child from whims
- 1. Rhymes
- 2. Riddles
- 3. Games
  - Sun and rain
  - Duck
  - Geese are flying
  - hide and seek
  - Chepena
  - Handkerchief
  - Silent
  - Land and water
  - Treasure hunt
  - What’s your name
  - Body
  - The sea is worried once …
  - Guess
  - What did I think
  - Blind Man’s Bluff
  - Snowball
  - Magic words
- Games with improvised means
- Mini-games
- Game Rules
4. The kid draws
IV. Conclusion

Chapter I. Why a child is naughty

1. Introduction

My dear parents! If you have taken on this hard work – being parents, you will have to study all the subtleties of one of the greatest sciences in the world – the science of raising children. And this is oh so difficult, not to mention the fact that it is even more difficult to apply the theory of education in practice, and even to your own child.

Imagine that you are going to work, in a hurry, and your beloved child starts acting up, crying, or even hysterical for no reason. You grab your head and don’t know what to do. Or at the table, the baby suddenly refuses to eat, screams, throws a spoon, and by no means manages to calm him down and feed him. Sometimes the baby refuses to sleep. In the middle of the night, he suddenly starts calling you loudly, not thinking about sleep. He seems to be testing your patience, and you, with half-closed eyes, struggling with sleep, sit by his bed and tell him the same tale for the third time. What happens to him?

It turns out that at the age of one to three or five years, a child goes through restructuring, during which he gains new experience, begins to understand more, and more acutely experience emotional conflicts. It was at this time that the baby begins to act up, having learned that in the world, in addition to the word “yes”, there is also the word “no”.

Some pediatricians refer to this age as the “first age of stubbornness” (the second refers to 12-14 years). So unexpectedly, your seemingly docile son or daughter becomes capricious and obstinate, stubbornly refuses to fulfill any requirements, while they can behave very ugly: stomp their feet, cry, scream, throw everything that comes to hand, rushing on the floor, trying in this way to achieve the desired.

The causes of such hysterical attacks are usually very simple, but an adult does not always manage to recognize them immediately.

So, why is the child naughty? There are several answers to this question.

Option one. The child is naughty, cries, if something bothers him, he is sick, but he does not understand this. After all, small children cannot feel what is happening in their body, the way adults feel and understand it.

Option two. The kid wants to attract attention. He chose this way to communicate with you either for purely selfish reasons, since he is better off with his parents than alone, or he really lacks attention. If the latter is true, it is worth seriously considering it.

Option three. Capricious, the child wants to achieve something very desired, namely: a gift, permission to go out, or something else that the parents forbid for some motives incomprehensible to the child.

Fourth option. The child protests against excessive care and demonstrates a desire to be independent. This is quite natural if you adhere to an authoritarian parenting style, because he wants to be independent, and you constantly lead him: “You will wear this shirt!”, “You can’t do this!”, “Stop looking around!” etc.

Option five. There is no reason that could cause a tantrum. It is simply an expression of the child’s inner conflict with himself. Or maybe he just didn’t get enough sleep today? Or was he very tired during the day and therefore became capricious? Your family quarrels, scandals can also affect his mood. Think, analyze everything. As Janusz Korczak said, “A child is undisciplined and angry because he suffers.” In the causes of his suffering lies the answer to the question of why he is capricious.

And now let’s look at each option in more detail and try to understand the reasons for this or that behavior of the child and how to help him cope with himself.

2. The child fell ill

The whims of the child may be evidence that he is ill, but he cannot say about it, because he himself does not understand what is happening to him.

One of the signs of illness is a change in behavior. At the same time, appetite usually decreases, the baby is easily excited, cries for no reason, then lies down on the sofa, then sits with an indifferent look. Attentive parents will immediately notice these changes and proceed to further examination.

Feel his forehead. For greater certainty, measure the temperature, since an increase in temperature is a consequence of infection of the body with an infection. It is sometimes difficult to tell by eye. There are children who play even at a temperature of 38–39.5 ° C, without realizing that they are ill.

The first manifestation of a viral cold may be a runny nose. In this way, the body usually tries to stop the infection. Coughing can also indicate the onset of the disease. Runny nose, cough and shortness of breath occur, for example, in diseases of the respiratory system, as well as in acute infectious diseases.

Ask the child if his ears hurt. It is during otitis that children are especially restless and capricious.

Abdominal pain often occurs in preschool children, and not necessarily as a sign of any disease. Sometimes pain in the abdomen is noted in nervous children, with increased excitability.

Another sure sign of illness is a headache, as it rarely bothers healthy children.

Observe the child’s stool and urine for vomiting. Frequent urination can be one of the symptoms of a cold of the bladder and urinary tract, less often – kidney disease. Diarrhea indicates a digestive disorder, both infectious and non-infectious. Nervous children, on the contrary, are prone to constipation. Vomiting can also be the first sign of many diseases.

Examine the child’s body for a rash. The cause of its occurrence is infectious diseases and allergies. Moreover, the rash appears before such signs of infection as fever, lethargy, refusal to eat, etc. The specific color of the skin indicates the presence of some kind of disease, for example, cyanosis indicates a sick heart, yellowness indicates jaundice, etc.

So, there are a lot of ways to find out if the baby is sick. This is an examination, and a conversation with the child, and observation of him. In any case, if you come to the conclusion that he is sick, he should be shown to the pediatrician as soon as possible. I do not advise self-medication, it is very dangerous, especially if the baby cannot yet understand and correctly explain what hurts him.

Be prepared for the fact that sick children are very capricious. Everyone knows that getting sick is bad. The patient cannot run, play, he lies in bed and suffers. And it often turns out that for sick children, relatives try to do everything possible to make them feel good. They immediately find themselves in the center of attention, they get and buy any toys, sweets, fruits, indulge their whims. Is it necessary? After all, the baby, realizing that when he is sick, everything in this house is done for him, he can later resort to simulating the disease.

I do not advocate depriving a child of parental care and attention. But you should consider whether your efforts are not excessive. The main thing is not to overdo it.

3. A call to fellowship

From the very beginning of life, a child needs parental love. However, if he is surrounded by excessive care and attention, he unconsciously begins to abuse them. So, already at the end of the first year of life, his cry, crying can mean not only that he wants to eat or drink. Crying becomes a way for him to call his parents to him, to attract their attention. Of course, he needs communication. But at the same time, you can’t run to him at every cry and fulfill all his desires. Otherwise, then he will have only one goal – to attract the attention of adults.

I will give an example from my practice.

Helen is 11 months old. Parents noticed that recently the girl has become very tearful. As soon as the mother leaves the room and begins to do household chores, she begins to cry, and if the mother does not return, she screams. Worried parents went to the doctor to find out if something hurts their daughter. But if they were a little more attentive, they would understand for themselves that Lenochka is naughty, feeling uncomfortable without her mother. There is only one way out: firstly, parents need to pay more attention to her, and secondly, not to indulge the girl’s whims and not follow her lead. Gradually, she must learn to play alone, because mother also has housework to do.

An increased demand for attention to oneself can manifest itself in different ways. For example, a child is naughty and demands to approach him, or turn on the light, or fasten a button. Usually parents try to influence him with such words: “Finally stop whining!”, “If you continue, I will lock you in the room,” etc. As a rule, swearing and threats do not have an effect. After a while, the child begins to do the same, and often even more naughty.

If you want to avoid whims and nervous breakdowns, try to spend more time together with your baby. The child feels more confident in the presence of parents, this creates a sense of security in him. You have probably seen such a picture: when visiting strangers, the baby clings to his mother all the time, hiding behind her. But gradually he begins to look around and from time to time makes “walks” from her to the guests he likes, constantly returning to his mother.

Many parents at receptions and in letters complain that they do not have enough time to communicate with their children. But the main thing is not how much time you spend, but how you spend it. It is necessary to use all the opportunities that you have: evenings, weekends, etc. At the same time, you can not give up household chores, but communicate with the child in the process of doing them. Just pay attention to the baby, talk to him, and he will be very happy about this.

It is very important to be sincere and natural when communicating with a child. The child will immediately feel false. Therefore, to communicate with him, you need to tune in, remove irritation, forget about your worries. And then the time spent with the baby will bring joy to both of you.

Organize more family holidays. It is very good on such days, in addition to the traditional feast, to come up with some surprises, entertainment for the whole family. You can go to the theater or take a country walk. There are many ways to spend family time. It would be a wish!

4. Reaction to parental prohibition

Sometimes a child’s tears can be caused by an unexpected rejection of something he likes very much. Reasons for rejection on your part may vary. For example, too frequent consumption of sweets led to diathesis, and the doctor advised to refrain from this at least for a while. But how to explain this to a small child? Or you noticed that your concessions and constant connivance led to the fact that the child became simply uncontrollable and stopped understanding you.

It is difficult for a child to understand what is “possible” and what is “impossible”, and you must help him with this. Do not forget about the peculiarities of the psyche and physiology of the baby at different periods of its development.

At the age of one, a child reacts very strongly to bright and catchy objects. It is quite natural that with screams and tears he will demand to give him the subject of interest to him. For example, the baby saw a crystal glass that shimmers so beautifully, but you are afraid that with one careless movement the child will smash it to smithereens and even cut his hands. In this case, you should switch the baby’s attention to a safer toy.

Very often parents love their child so much that they buy too many toys. But after a while, they all get bored. And then the child strives for something new and often forbidden. To prevent this from happening, do not give him all the toys at once, but simply change them from time to time.

Do not forget that at the age of one year the child has a need to put everything in his mouth. This is due to the fact that he is teething. Make sure that among the toys there are no toys that are made of fragile and fragile material. If you buy a bright rubber toy, be sure to ask the seller what material it is made of. Recently, cases of poisoning by young children with paint, which are covered with toys, to attract the attention of buyers, have become more frequent.

One mother told a story at the reception. She loved her daughter so much that every day she tried to surprise her. The baby had a lot of toys, but she was already bored with them, and she did not pay any attention to them. And then the resourceful mom wrapped some of the toys in foil. In this way, she wanted to make them more noticeable. Naturally, my daughter was very happy, but soon discovered that the foil can be unrolled. Immediately there was a need to taste it. She accidentally choked on a small piece of foil, and her mother had to call a doctor.

Closer to the age of three, a child tends to get to know the world around him. If at an early age visual and taste impressions played a big role, now he is striving to become a full member of the family. He wants to participate in all household chores and realize his importance.

At this age, parents often fall from one extreme to another. I know one family that clearly divided the world into “adult” and “children’s”. Parents gave their child a separate room and limited his access to other places, such as the kitchen. This was not due to educational goals, it was just that the parents loved the baby so much that they were terribly afraid for him. It seemed to them that in the kitchen a pan with hot compote might fall on him, in the living room he might be exposed to TV radiation. They even forbade him to run, because he could fall and hit the battery.

But the curious child did not reconcile himself to the situation and rushed to forbidden places whenever mom or dad was distracted from his person. He was afraid of being noticed, so he tried to do everything quickly. Every time something fell, beat and broke. His parents tried to divert his attention from dangerous objects with sweets. Every time a child became interested in an object, access to which, according to the parents, children are strictly forbidden, they gave him a candy or something tasty.

The son learned this very soon and created such situations constantly and intentionally. Only each time his demands increased and he cried harder, and shouted louder. Parents, concerned about the state of his psyche, turned to me for help.

With great difficulty I managed to convince them of their original wrong. After all, a child at this age tends to copy the world of adults, and you must help him in this. Let him become an assistant in all household chores. Just present it in the form of a game. Do you erase? Give him a small bowl and let him wash his socks. Do you cook in the kitchen? Let him do the same and feed his toys. There are several benefits to doing household chores together. Firstly, the child is always nearby and you avoid unpleasant surprises. Secondly, you have a great opportunity to explain to the baby the purpose of some objects and show which ones are dangerous for him.

You think that the child is very small and does not understand anything. This is the most common misconception. He understands much more than you think. Whims, and sometimes even tantrums, are a kind of way to test your reaction. In such cases, you must be firm and consistent. Let the child be alone with himself and soon he will realize that he was wrong and change his behavior.

You will have to face certain difficulties when it is time for your child to go to kindergarten. If you have spent a lot of time talking with your child, and he has already learned what is possible and what is not, that’s good. It will be enough for you to talk to him again and explain that it is impossible to buy everything at the same time. One boy has a car, another has a locomotive, a third has a gun… It is clear that he wants everything at once and now. Explain that this does not happen, so you need to share.

If that doesn’t work, play a game called “Shop”. Give him toy money and ask him to make the necessary purchases. Very soon the money will run out, and the baby will understand that sooner or later everything comes to an end and not always what you want is available.

You will find the way to your child’s heart by talking to him as an equal. If the baby understands that you want to figure out this or that issue with him, many whims and troubles can be avoided. And the baby at the same time will grow calm and unspoiled.

5. Self-affirmation

As already noted, an immoderately enthusiastic attitude towards children, in which they feel excessive parental love, forms egoism and selfishness in them. The child has hypertrophied self-esteem, that is, he is undemanding to himself, but he is intolerant and over-demanding to others. At the same time, some children get so tired of parental love that they experience emotional overstrain, which is expressed in tears, whims, stubbornness, in opposition to everything that comes from adults.

The child perceives parental care in different ways: sometimes as a manifestation of love, sometimes as a hindrance and suppression of his “I”. Numerous studies by psychologists show that a child needs a certain balance of guardianship and freedom from an early age for harmonious development. He must feel that he is not only taken care of and surrounded by care, but also given the right to make an independent choice, understand and respect him. For example, the baby begins to misbehave at the table. He refuses some dishes, asks for other food, demands a pacifier, although he has not used it for a long time. If in this case openly put pressure on him, he will continue his whims and become even more stubborn. It is necessary to agree that he has become independent and can choose his own dishes and eat as much as he wants. Believe me, he will not die of hunger, his life instinct will not let him die. Treat what is happening with patience and humor.

Many parents believe that they have a democratic parenting style, but in reality this is not the case. “Caring” mothers literally don’t let some children take a step: “Don’t go there! Don’t take it in hand! Don’t play here! These are just some of the replicas that can be heard on the playground from morning to evening. Yes, parents should protect their kids from trouble, help them live in a difficult world, but is it always so necessary? Still, a child is not a doll, not a piece of clay, and in many ways he creates himself, whether we like it or not. He needs to learn everything and try everything himself, and without stuffing bumps this will not work. It is better if you explain to the child how to act in a given situation, and not be overprotective and prohibit everything in a row. Otherwise, he will never gain independence and self-confidence, he will always act on your orders and remain infantile (and there are plenty of examples of this).

Pull yourself together, be patient and act like one wonderful mother who told her son when he came from the street: “You didn’t walk well, since you came clean!”

To give a child the right to independence, it is necessary to distinguish his desire from his own interests. I will give an example from my practice.

Dad really wanted to give his five-year-old son a present. He took him to the toy store. There the boy began to ask for a wonderful, in his opinion, blue typewriter. But dad, having examined her, said that the machine was fragile and would quickly break down. And he offered to buy another, much more expensive. “But it’s nice to look at her!” He said admiringly. The purchase took place. The father was pleased, and the child, barely holding back tears, secretly looked at the car he liked. “Why don’t you thank me, son?” asked the father in surprise. He did not understand that he did what he wanted, and his son only succumbed to his pressure. This gift brought neither joy nor satisfaction to the boy, because he was not chosen by him. In this case, the egoism of the father towards his son was manifested. The child was given to understand that he was still small and could not do anything on his own. By the way, the father also broke his promise to his son. After all, he took the boy to the store so that he himself chose a toy for himself.

Sometimes in many families excessive strictness, drill is dictated by the interests not of the child, but of the parents, to whom an obedient child causes less trouble. After all, it is always more convenient if the child is quiet, calm, sits in a corner and does not interfere with anyone, does not distract adults with questions and requests to play. But how will such a baby grow up? Will he be a harmoniously developed, creative person or will he remain “downtrodden” and limited for the rest of his life?

6.

Invisible causes of whims

At the age of five, due to insufficient life experience and the impossibility of critical reflection on what is happening, any situation can become a super-strong irritant for the baby. This is the wrong behavior of parents (quarrels and conflicts between them, fights, aggressiveness towards the child, other family members or pets), and some street impressions.

It is known that people are born with different types of nervous system. Those who have a strong type of nervous system are calm, do not get upset over trifles, and are resistant to all sorts of troubles. People with a weak nervous system are more sensitive, vulnerable, they are more acutely experiencing everyday difficulties.

Children with a weak nervous system are overly excitable, they have an increased response to various external and internal stimuli. For example, some children react very strongly to even minor pain: it makes them hysterical. A lump in porridge can cause vomiting, a scary movie watched at night can deprive you of sleep. Such a child is difficult to stop if he is naughty. Try to calm him down, distract him, and if you notice that the stressful state does not go away for a long time, contact a neurologist or psychologist.

Chapter II. What to do if the baby is naughty?

1. Whether to indulge his whims

In order to raise and educate a child, parents often have to sacrifice personal affairs, work, and finances. But we must distinguish which sacrifices are necessary and which are harmful, since one of the troubles of “home pedagogy” is precisely that parents make unnecessary sacrifices. Trying to give a child a treat that is emphatically intended only for him, to buy an expensive toy, another new thing to the detriment of yourself, you pamper him and give him a reason to feel “one and only”. And this can lead to the development of selfishness. If a kid from an early age is accustomed to being the center of attention, not being denied anything, this gradually becomes a life norm for him. He no longer understands or does not want to understand that the fulfillment of his desires infringes on the interests of other people – he is still capricious and insists on his own, regardless of anyone.

Of course, in middle-income families (and especially in low-income families), all the best is given to children, because there is no way to equally provide for all family members. But it is worth doing it in such a way that the child does not notice that he is given preference. Give him the most delicious pieces discreetly, buy new clothes without focusing on it. So that the child does not grow up greedy, from a very young age it is necessary to teach him to share toys with his comrades, to rejoice in their successes, to talk not only about himself, but also about them. Raise him so that he is not selfish. The situation is worse if your baby is the only child in the family. He often becomes spoiled, from the cradle getting used to being the center of attention. And if he is also the only grandson of grandparents, the danger of raising him selfish and capricious increases.

As a rule, such a child develops in greenhouse conditions. Adults deprive him of independence, and he grows up unadapted to life. And it all starts, in general, innocently, with such conversations: “Whom do we love more than anyone else in the world? Of course, Vanechka (Kolenka, Dima, etc.)! Who is our best? Of course he is!” Several years pass, and it turns out that for Vanechka, only he is the most beloved and dear.

In an atmosphere of overprotectiveness, only children get used to taking the service, the help of their parents, for granted. They begin to feel strength in their weakness, abuse the attention of their parents and make excessive demands on them, becoming “little despots.” They cannot be denied anything, otherwise they fall into hysterics.

All this can be avoided if the system of education is reasonably built.

First, parents should take into account that love should be expressed not only in tenderness and affection, but also in exactingness.

Demandingness is an obligatory element of proper upbringing. The understanding that in life there is not only “I want” and “I don’t want”, but also “I must”, should be instilled in the baby from a very young age. He should be guided not only by his own desires, but also by the need for this or that for other family members. If a child is accustomed from childhood to fulfill the reasonable requirements placed on him, he will quickly get used to the conditions of the kindergarten, to study at school, he will grow strong-willed, organized and disciplined.

When children’s “give” and “I want” begin to go beyond the limits of reason, they must collide with your “no”, “no”, “I do not allow”, and the success of your entire education system will depend on these first forbidding words.

I advise you to express your demands in a persistent, but calm and friendly manner. If you only scream at the child and constantly pull him up with the words: “Don’t you dare!”, “Don’t run!”, “Don’t touch!” – nothing good will come of it. Shouts only unnerve and annoy the baby, but they do not teach him anything.

Secondly, we must remember that a necessary condition for proper upbringing is the unity of requirements for the child. It is impossible for one parent to allow what the other forbids. For example, mom did not let the baby go for a walk, but dad allowed it. Parents, having learned about the inconsistency of their requirements, begin to swear and pull the child: “you will go”, “you won’t go”, etc. The discrepancy in the requirements prevents the baby from firmly learning the need to obey his parents and makes him capricious. Sometimes inconsistency in requirements can lead to opportunism. The child will quickly understand which of the relatives can be moved to pity, from whom to achieve the fulfillment of their desires, and with whom one must be quiet and obedient. With a strict dad, he will behave in a disciplined manner, and with a kind mother, he will begin to “get out” and achieve his own.

It is very bad if, in the presence of a child, adults begin to argue about the correctness and incorrectness of his upbringing, accuse each other of pedagogical mistakes, excessive kindness or severity. In this case, on the one hand, parental authority is undermined, and on the other hand, the child suffers because of the quarrel between father and mother. But the authority of parents should always be high, otherwise successful education is unthinkable. Your child believes that his mom and dad are the best. Do not destroy his faith with senseless quarrels and mutual reproaches! It is painful for a child to hear something bad about a father or mother, to see them scolding each other.

If you set an example for your child with your lifestyle, and your requirements for him are the same and you always keep your promises, then your authority will be recognized and this will help you avoid many problems.

2. How to respond to tantrums

We have already considered the possible actions of parents in situations when the baby is naughty.

But a child can also have a real tantrum with fits of rage, during which he throws everything that comes to hand. From strong tears, with which the baby literally chokes, he may even faint. Such fainting does not cause serious harm to the health of the child, but still it is better not to allow them: tantrums should be stopped as soon as possible, without bringing the baby to a critical state, while remembering that such seizures are a signal that the child is experiencing a strong internal conflict.

The behavior of parents during whims and tantrums should be based on three principles: try to understand, indicate the limits of acceptable behavior, show sympathy.

For example, you already know that the baby really wants to be independent and at the same time is afraid of losing the care of his parents. Contradictions torment him, and this results in a violent refusal of everything that is offered to him, in whims or hysterics, even in fits of rage when the child throws toys, pushes you, fights. In no case do not yield to the baby, but also do not answer rudeness with rudeness. Staying calm, talk to him like an adult, don’t think he won’t understand. Ask what happened, and based on his story, try to figure out the situation with him and find a compromise.

Explain to the child that you cannot agree to his demands, that there are limits to everything, and that you are not going to indulge him. At the same time, show that you love him very much and sympathize with his experiences. Tell them that adults can’t always do what they want either. Promise that now you will play some interesting game with him.

Let me give you one example. When four-year-old Maxim was put to bed, he always violently resisted: he got up, walked around the room, played. His parents made him go to bed again. It ended in swearing and beatings. Why was the boy behaving like this? He just tried in such a strange way to attract the attention of dad and mom. After the punishment, he calmed down, but the next day the situation repeated itself. Parents became more and more angry and annoyed, constantly scolded and punished the boy. It turned out a vicious circle: the more the child was capricious, the more he was punished, the more he was punished, the more he was stubborn. There was a real domestic war. Moreover, usually in such a war children win, while spending much less effort than their parents. Toddlers quickly understand how to “bring” adults, and skillfully use it.

Some parents believe that a capricious child must be kept in check, otherwise he will do God knows what. At the same time, they do not take into account that often the whims of the child are due to the fact that he lacks understanding and warmth.

If the child refuses to sleep, this may be due to increased excitability of his nervous system. Invite the baby to go to bed with his favorite toy or tell him a story, sing a lullaby.

The child’s internal conflicts can be expressed in a kind of “regression”. He suddenly begins to speak badly, asks for a pacifier, demands feeding from a spoon. Don’t be scared. This is a typical reaction of preschool children to the contradictions that torment them. In this way, the child, as it were, is protected from difficult and incomprehensible situations for him. Take note of these conditions, but don’t be horrified by them. Over time, the regressive phenomena will pass. If they remain for a long time, seek help from a qualified specialist.

Try to communicate with your baby in a humorous way. Teach him to love jokes and entertainment. In some situations, you can gently tease him or laugh at yourself. Laughter can help you cope with the whims of the child, avoid conflict situations.

3. About parental love

Don’t be afraid to show your baby that you love him. Some parents think that it is impossible to openly express their feelings for a child, otherwise a minion and a sissy will grow out of it. Everything is good in moderation. There is a difference between the constant exaggerated admiration for your child: “Oh, you are our beloved, you are our dear!” – and a true, natural expression of love for him. It is unlikely that a woman will believe in a man’s love if she does not hear the words of recognition. Why are we so afraid to tell our children that we love them? After all, they themselves often exclaim: “Mommy, how I love you!” – not ashamed of their feelings. For a baby, confirmation that he is loved is very important, especially when, for some reason, he is separated from his parents. In numerous experiments, scientists have proven that children who end up in the hospital tolerate separation from their parents better and recover faster when they are sure that they are loved, and do not think that their parents left them there as punishment for bad behavior.

An example could be given.

Five-year-old Olesya was capricious and screamed loudly every time she didn’t like something. At the same time, she stamped her feet and threw toys. The adults could neither calm nor persuade her. In the end, the parents decided to do this: let the girl cry alone. But so that she does not feel rejected, abandoned, her mother will affectionately talk to her and try to explain that everyone in the family loves her and it is very unpleasant for them to hear her crying. Parents achieved their goal: Olesya believed in parental love, became less capricious and eventually calmed down completely.

A few words about ways of expressing warm feelings. They can be verbal and non-verbal. The verbal way is verbal expressions, the non-verbal way is facial expressions and gestures. Both of them are very important. Some parents believe that when the baby grows up, he no longer needs physical contact with his parents. However, experimental data show that at the age of up to five years, it is precisely such contact that is necessary not only for the emotional, but also for the mental development of the child.

Chapter III. How to distract a child from whims

One way to recover from childhood whims and tantrums is to turn the child’s attention to something else. For example: “Oh, what big tears disappear! Let’s put them in a bottle!” Or: “Look, a whim sits on your shoulder and cries. Let’s get her out!” You can distract the baby’s attention with some new bright object or offer him an interesting activity. For example, watch a filmstrip, a cartoon or read your favorite fairy tale with him.

You can invite your child to participate in an activity of your choice (cleaning the apartment, cooking, etc.), or decide together what you will do. Or you can join your child’s activities. Stop being a strict parent for a while, become an equal participant in some children’s game.

For example, play as a family. Take on the role of a child, and let your baby be a father or mother. Playing the role of an adult, he will use the experience gained in the family, and you will see yourself as if from the outside. And this is sometimes very useful!

All three types of communication are important. When a child connects to your affairs, he feels his need, joins the world of adults. If you decide together what to do, he gets used to democratic communication: he learns ways to choose what everyone likes, and not just him. By playing a children’s game, you yourself learn to understand the baby, and the child feels his importance (after all, in games he is always the main one, and the parent is only a timid student). But the most important thing, of course, is that in all cases the child enjoys communication together, feels parental love and becomes more understanding and gentle himself.

1. Nursery rhymes

You can distract and amuse your child with folk rhymes.

Little finger, where have you been?
I went to the forest with this brother,
I cooked cabbage soup with this brother,
I ate porridge with this brother,
I sang songs with this brother.

At these words, the adult touches the child’s fingers: first the big one, then the rest.
Take some soft toy, for example, a cat, and, turning to it, jokingly shaking your finger, say:

Pussy, pussy,
Pussy, scat!
On the path
Don’t sit down!
Our baby
Will go,
It will fall through the pussy!

At the last words, the adult hugs the baby and presses the cat to him.
A child may also be interested in a poem about a bunny.

Once upon a time there was a bunny
Long ears.
Frosted bunny
Ears on the edge.
I froze my nose,
I froze my tail
And I went to warm myself
To visit the kids.

Try to beat this poem about a bird:

The bird sat on the window,
Sit with us for a while!
Sit, don’t fly away,
Flew away. – Oi!

At the beginning of the poem, a toy is shown, and at the end (at the word “Ai!”) it hides. You can show a live bird sitting outside the window.
Depict a steam locomotive and this will amuse the child. The content of the poem “Locomotive” includes his baby in an active game, motor and onomatopoeic.

The locomotive roared
And the wagons were taken.
Choo-choo, choo-choo!
I’ll rock you far!

The poem must be read in a clear rhythm, chanting the last line, imitating the locomotive whistle. You can stand up, holding each other, and moving around the room to the beat of the words, repeat together: “Choh-choh, choo-choo! choo-choo, choo-choo!”
An adult can pretend to be a horse, shaking his head, and then go on a journey with a baby on his back.

Hop! Hop! A living horse,
Both with a tail and a mane,
He shakes his head –
How handsome!
You get on the horse
And hold on with your hands.
Look at us –
We are leaving for mother.

You can, as it were, “wrestle” with a child and make him laugh with a nursery rhyme:

I will tie a goat
To a white birch.
I’ll tie the horned
To the white birch:
Stop, my goat,
Stop, don’t butt,
White birch,
Stop, don’t sway.

If there is a cat in the house, bring it to the child and sing this joke:

Like our cat
The coat is very good.
Mustache like a cat
Amazingly beautiful,
Bold eyes, white teeth.
The cat went to the street,
The cat bought a bun,
Should I eat it myself,
Or should Borenka (Petenka, Vanechka, etc.) take it down?
I’ll bite myself,
I’ll take down Borenka.

2. Riddles

Ask your child riddles about animals, maybe they will interest him and he will forget about his whims.

You will find her
In the summer in the swamp.
Green frog,
Who is this? (Frog.)

***

Cunning cheat,
Red head.
Fluffy tail – beauty!
And her name is … (Fox.)

***

Gets up early,
Sings in the yard.
There is a scallop on the head,
Who is this? (Cockerel.)

***

She is usually not in a hurry,
She wears a strong shield on her back. (Turtle)

(Cuckoo.)

***

Shaking his beard,
Wandering across the lawn,
“Give me some weed,
Me-e-ee.”

(Goat)

***

I don’t understand,
I don’t understand,
Who is mooing all the time: “Moo-u”?

(Cow.)

3. Games

A very good distraction for a child who is capricious is joint games. Some of them I want to offer you. These games are not only entertaining, but also educational.

Sun and rain

A game for toddlers aged 2-3. She teaches children to designate one object with the help of another. So, a chair or table in this game will be a house in which you need to hide. You can use a circle outlined in chalk as a house, or a corner of a room. The driver says: “The sun is in the sky, you can go for a walk.” Players jump, run, dance. At the words of the driver: “The rain starts, hurry home!” The children should run to their houses. The driver praises those who did it faster and more dexterously.

Duck

In this game, the adult takes the role of the duck, and the children take the role of the ducklings that follow the duck with its tail. The duck calls the ducklings with a tongue twister:

Faster, faster, ducklings,
Faster, faster, wild feathers.

The duckling (or several ducklings) line up one after another after the duck and follow it around the room, overcoming various obstacles – crawling under chairs, climbing over the sofa, etc. At the same time, you can offer the kids to imitate the quacking of ducklings for greater authenticity.

Geese are flying

The adult in this game is the driver. He names various birds that fly: “ducks fly”, “geese fly”, etc. After these words, children should raise their hands and wave their “wings” if the named bird really flies. But when the driver says, for example, “pikes are flying,” the players stand without raising their hands. The one who makes a mistake gives the driver a phantom (the thing belonging to him), and then, at the request of the driver, performs some task. In this game, the driver names only those animals and birds that are known to children, that is, tasks must correspond to the age of the kids.

Hide-and-seek

You can play hide-and-seek if your apartment has enough space for it. Children love to hide, and this game will quickly amuse a naughty toddler. Everyone knows the rules of the game, I will not repeat them, I will only note that you should not try to hide so that the child cannot find you, and you should not find him very quickly either. Look for him, intrigue, then, having found him, make a very surprised look, they say, how did you manage to hide like that, I barely found you (found)!

Chepena

A fun game reminiscent of the well-known team game “If life is fun, do it…”. The players stand in a circle, the driver is in the middle. If you are playing alone with your baby, stand opposite each other. You will be a chepena – the leader of the game. The child must repeat all your words and movements. And the words are:

Left foot, chepena,
Goy, goy, chepena.

(The players repeat the words and bounce on their left foot.)

Right foot, chepena,
Goy, goy, chepena.

(All the same, only they jump on the right leg.)

Let’s go ahead, Chepena,
Goy, goy, Chepena.

(Children repeat the same.)

Let’s go back, Chepena,
Goy, Goy, Chepena.

(Players repeat.)

Movements can be invented indefinitely. You can finish everything with a dance:

Let’s dance, chepena,
Goy, goy chepena.

Handkerchief

A game of skill and attention. Recommended for two or more participants. The players become in a circle and lead a round dance (it is possible to the music). At the end of the music, or just at some point, the driver throws up a handkerchief. The task of the other players is to catch him. Whoever catches the scarf first wins!

Silencer

Before the start of the game, the participants say some kind of rhyme, for example:

An apple rolled around the garden
And fell right into the water…
Bull!

After that, everyone should be silent. The host tries to make the players laugh with different movements, words, facial expressions. Whoever laughs, he lost. He gives the leader a phantom, and then performs some task.

Land and water

Reaction game. She will laugh and distract the child from the whims. The leader is in charge of the game. It can be you and your baby. You can also involve other family members in the game, for example, a grandmother or a baby’s brother (sister).

When the leader says “land”, the player or players jump forward, when the word “water” jumps back.

Tasks can be changed at will. For example, do not jump if not everyone likes it, but raise your hands, squat, say something. The leader’s words can also be changed: “shore-river”, “sea-land”, etc.

Treasure hunt

Hide some sweets or toys in the room. Interest the child in the fact that the “treasure” is very tasty or very pleasant for him. Then outline the place where you need to look for it. The degree of difficulty of the task depends on the age of the child. You should not hide the “treasure” so that the baby, exhausted, simply stops looking for it. He must find what is hidden, and the joy of knowing that he was able to do this will be great.

What is your name

The host gives the player or players names: Button, Broom, Bubble, etc. After that, he asks the player questions to which he must answer in one word – his game name. If the participant makes a mistake or hesitates, he loses.

Body

For this game, you can take a basket or present it. The players should, as it were, put different items in a basket in turn. Condition: Item names must start with one letter. For example, we put in the basket all the items with “a”: orange, alphabet, watercolor, watermelon, etc.

What is this? For this game you will need a scarf, toys or various small items. The participants in the game take turns blindfolding and trying to determine by touch what kind of object they were given. The objects must be familiar to the child so that he can guess them without much effort. Your task, on the contrary, is to think longer, to pretend that you are at a loss with an answer. The consciousness of one’s superiority will greatly delight and amuse the child.

The sea is rough…

This game can be played alone with a child or in company. The driver pronounces the words: “The sea is worried – one, the sea is worried – two, the sea is worried – three . ..” And then the task sounds: what figure should the player portray, and in conclusion: “freeze the marine figure!” After that, the driver should try to make the players laugh. The one who laughs becomes the leader. Children love this game very much: they are happy to invent tasks and depict various figures.

Guess

This game distracts the baby from his problems, entertains, and also develops attention and visual memory. An adult shows the child several items, for example, toys (no more than 6-8, depending on age). Then he discreetly removes one or two of them. The child must remember what toys are missing. Instead of toys or objects, you can use pictures with images.

What did I think

The leader guesses some object in the room. His task is to describe this item to another player, without naming it, but in a way that is understandable. The player must guess what the driver guessed. After that, they change places.

Blind Man’s Bluff

This game is known to everyone and does not need a detailed explanation. One of those present (adult or child) is blindfolded and looks for the other, trying to grab him. Usually children like to be in the role of those they are looking for, they are amused by the helplessness of adults who find themselves in such a situation.

Snowball

The game trains memory well and develops attention. The players take turns saying any words that come to their mind. The main thing is that these are the names of objects or animals (nouns). When the first player calls a word, for example “house”, the second player must first repeat it, and then say his word. The next player repeats all the previous words and calls his own. This continues until someone fails. Then you can repeat the game.

Magic words

An adult acts as a leader who gives simple commands to other players: “Please raise your hands! Get up on your toes, please!” The players must repeat his commands, but on the condition that they sound with the word “please. ” Whoever makes a mistake is out of the game.

Games with improvised means

If there is a hoop in the house, you can compete with your child who can crawl through it faster or jump from wall to wall in it.

You can think of many games with a children’s jump rope. For example, “harness” dad and play “horse”. The kid happily runs around the apartment, holding on to the “reins”.

If there is a ball, you can play football. In order not to break the dishes, change the conditions of the game: blindfolded, you need to make one hit on the ball. This will not be an easy task, because first the player is blindfolded, then they circle him in one place, and only after that he is given the opportunity to find the ball and hit it. If you don’t find it, you lose!

You can have a skittles competition. For example, who will collect them faster blindfolded. Or knock them out with a small ball – who will bring down more.

Interesting games-competitions can also be arranged with other items: tennis balls, toys, balloons, pencils, strings, etc. or jokes, try to invent them, because everything ingenious is very simple!

For example, invite your child to go for a walk and arrange a competition “Who can get dressed faster” or “Who can run to the hallway faster”. You can organize the game “Dress me.” Let the child dress you for a walk, and you dress him. You have to play the role of an inept child and put on everything wrong. Let the baby laugh at you, the main thing is to calm him down, relieve nervous tension.

Game Rules

Even the best game should not be long, only then it will interest and amuse the child.

Play with your child willingly. If you only pretend that you are playing, and your head is busy with other things, he will immediately understand this, because children are very sensitive to falsehood.

4. The kid draws

A capricious kid can be distracted by an offer to draw together. Indeed, at the age of 1 to 5 years, all children love this activity very much. It promotes mental and creative development, accustoms to independence.

Invite your child to draw with anything: pencils, felt-tip pens, paints, inks. Put a large sheet of paper in front of him and draw something yourself. I’m sure he won’t resist and will start drawing after you. In no case do not treat his art condescendingly-mockingly, cheer and praise him. And he will be interested in this interesting business.

IV. Conclusion

If you, dear parents, really want to help your baby get rid of whims, support him on the difficult path of becoming a person, then look at the world through his eyes more often in order to understand how he sees the family around him, you, himself. And many of the unresolved problems will become more understandable, you will get rid of the difficulties in education.

Remember that a child’s good or bad behavior is the result of his inner activity. And in order for this result to be only good, you must help him.

Why is the child naughty | Huggies® Official Website

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All parents encounter the whims of the child, his crying or unwillingness to fulfill the requirements at least occasionally. You need to feed the child or put him to bed, take him away from the store shelf with toys or collect him in the kindergarten in the morning, and the baby cries, gets irritated, does not listen to you, and sometimes even fights, stomps his feet or throws a real tantrum with rolling on the floor. Why is the child naughty? How should parents behave in such a situation?

The causes of children’s whims can be very different, and they strongly depend on the age of the child. Very young children express any dissatisfaction or pain with the help of crying, because other means of communication are not yet available to them.

Older children defend their point of view with whims and try to assert themselves – it is not for nothing that psychologists distinguish certain periods of crisis, during which the child is constantly capricious and becomes uncontrollable.

Why is a child naughty before going to bed?

Problems with the tummy, characteristic of children in the first months of life, worsen in the evening.

There is a reason to visit a gastroenterologist if you see that:

the child pulls his legs up to his stomach;
squeals or weeps angrily;
arches when feeding;
the child has “bubbling” in the tummy;
child spit up profusely;
the child has no stool;
stool, on the contrary, too frequent and loose;
Mucus, greenish or bloody streaks, undigested lumps are observed in the feces.

The doctor will prescribe the necessary examinations and select enzymatic preparations for the baby that improve the absorption of milk or formula and reduce gas formation in the stomach, and evening whims will stop.

If parents ask a pediatrician a question: why is a child naughty for 5 months, doctors usually immediately refer to the teeth. Indeed, around this age, babies begin to salivate profusely, they pull rattles or their own hands into their mouths, while the children are irritable and restless, and their gums look loose and red when examined. Often, six to eight weeks pass from the onset of “dental” whims to the eruption of the first teeth – this is an acute period during which the teeth move inside the gums, causing anxiety to the child and justifying his evening whims. To reduce pain, doctors recommend using gels with a local anesthetic effect or antipyretics in syrup or suppositories.

Why is a child often naughty at the age of one year?

The age of about a year is the period when the child already knows how to walk, actively play, interact with others, but still does not know how to speak well and, if necessary, cannot explain what is wrong with him. If a child is very irritable and restless, his appetite has worsened and there is no fever, cough, runny nose and other visible manifestations of the disease, his ears may hurt. Show the child to a doctor who will conduct an examination and, if necessary, prescribe tests to find out the cause of the ailment.

Many mothers are worried why the child is naughty in the evening, because the period of colic has long passed. Evening whims at this age speak of emotional overexcitation. The impressions and experiences accumulated during the day do not allow the baby to relax and fall asleep peacefully. This is especially true for hyperactive and excitable children who have given up daytime sleep.

To solve the problem of evening whims, you can consult a neurologist. In some cases, children are prescribed sedatives.

But all capricious children, without exception, will benefit from the following recommendations:

walks in the fresh air before going to bed;
room ventilation;
reduced physical activity and a ban on watching cartoons a few hours before bedtime;
quiet games, reading books;
in the absence of allergies – water procedures with the addition of sea salt, needles, hop cones, chamomile decoction, mint, string to the bath;
consumption after consultation with a pediatrician of herbal soothing tea from chamomile, motherwort, fennel, mint (you can buy a ready-made collection in a pharmacy).

Why is a 3-5 year old child acting up all the time?

At the age of three to five years, the child’s psyche is rebuilt, he understands more, emotions become deeper, which often leads to conflicts between the child and others and even with himself. An accommodating and kind child suddenly becomes aggressive if he is forced to obey the parental will, he does not respond to prohibitions and tries to challenge them.

A child of three to five years old is naughty if:

he is accustomed to increased self-care, and now he lacks communication;
wants to attract attention or get what they want;
protests against overprotection and reacts with whims to prohibitions;
trying to prove his independence and the right to make decisions;
conflicts with itself (didn’t get enough sleep, tired, undisciplined and therefore couldn’t do something, didn’t have time).

At this age, parents are often surprised why children are capricious with their mother or other close relatives, and behave peacefully and politely with strangers.

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