However.....knowing when the tears have run dry, and being able to turn the emotions down seems to be a challenge for my daughter. I've noticed this for some time, but like my son before her, you just hope that they will grow out of it and listen to every ones advise telling you that it's normal for little girls to cry.
About two years ago I went to my Family Doctor and expressed my concerns about her behavior. It was a short visit as he also dismissed it as being normal "girl" behavior. All other aspects of her health and well being were in order, so I went home determined that it must just be that, and perhaps a discipline problem. I set out on a mission to put into place a reward system to help curb bad behaviors. The idea was to try and reward good behaviors by working on different household issues one at a time....
The kids would work each day to earn a sticker and would work towards small prizes and Mom bucks...at the end of the week they could cash in or save another week for a bigger prize.
Eventually within about a month the children would loose interest and would start expecting their rewards without actually doing to work...or should I say the behavioural changes I was looking for. So this ended with little change to any emotional or explosive behaviours I was trying to change.
About another 6 months went by and Olivia's excessive crying became more noticeable to others. It would happen outside of the home, in public or at friends and families homes. She also started having what appeared to be anxiety attacks. It would start with her crying about something that had happened that day or that a friend had showed her like a scary picture or story...this would turn into her being unable to breath...and bring her to being nauseous and afraid to be alone. I often would have to sleep with her overnight to get her to sleep at all. What at first was just once in a while, turned into every night. I was sleeping in her bed more then I was my own.
I once again went to my doctors and told him what had developed and was dismissed once again, he said that at her age the "big wide world" comes crashing down into their backyards and especially with technology some children have a hard time dealing with it. I was told to limit her TV time and screen time on the Internet if not all together, and introduce her to books again. I was also advised that because of her approaching age, her hormones may be starting to effect her and causing her to feel a bit unbalanced.
I really stressed to him how I felt that it was something more, I insisted I be referred to my son's paediatrician. I would not accept being told that her behaviour was normal...I was living with it, not him...I was seeing her fall to pieces every day over the simplest stress in her life.
Soon after I was sent the acceptance package from our paediatrician, and was booked an appointment. We visited her office and gave her an overview of the past year, good and bad. She listened to me explain Olivia's extreme crying, her anxiety issues and sleeping problems. I told her all that I had done to try and sooth her and help her cope...but to no avail. I was there for help.
Eventually within about a month the children would loose interest and would start expecting their rewards without actually doing to work...or should I say the behavioural changes I was looking for. So this ended with little change to any emotional or explosive behaviours I was trying to change.
About another 6 months went by and Olivia's excessive crying became more noticeable to others. It would happen outside of the home, in public or at friends and families homes. She also started having what appeared to be anxiety attacks. It would start with her crying about something that had happened that day or that a friend had showed her like a scary picture or story...this would turn into her being unable to breath...and bring her to being nauseous and afraid to be alone. I often would have to sleep with her overnight to get her to sleep at all. What at first was just once in a while, turned into every night. I was sleeping in her bed more then I was my own.
I once again went to my doctors and told him what had developed and was dismissed once again, he said that at her age the "big wide world" comes crashing down into their backyards and especially with technology some children have a hard time dealing with it. I was told to limit her TV time and screen time on the Internet if not all together, and introduce her to books again. I was also advised that because of her approaching age, her hormones may be starting to effect her and causing her to feel a bit unbalanced.
I really stressed to him how I felt that it was something more, I insisted I be referred to my son's paediatrician. I would not accept being told that her behaviour was normal...I was living with it, not him...I was seeing her fall to pieces every day over the simplest stress in her life.
Soon after I was sent the acceptance package from our paediatrician, and was booked an appointment. We visited her office and gave her an overview of the past year, good and bad. She listened to me explain Olivia's extreme crying, her anxiety issues and sleeping problems. I told her all that I had done to try and sooth her and help her cope...but to no avail. I was there for help.
