Ok so for a few days the new plan worked and now we are back to not wanting it done again:banghead: . And already I can see the difference in his eating crying and everything else. All he does is cry and scream if I don't get things for him right away. Signing is going ok we are learning shoe,hungry.more and eat. He has picked up more,eat and shoe almost right away. But his crying is driving me nuts. I was already told that some kids fail with brushing but we have to try everything we can before we declare failure. And you know this doesn't sit well with me already feeling like a horrible mom for not "trying hard enough"I want to paint my dining room but I can't b/c KC doesn't want to watch Barney b/c all he does is cry no matter what I do. He has started to like the Wiggles but even that is a no go. What do I do now? I am going to continue to try but even distraction isn't working anymore. I know that we will be at my sisters on fathers day(dh has to work) so it might be alitle more difficult to do it but I am going to give it a shot. Maybe going into my moms rom might help. I really don't know what I am doing wrong. If anyone has anymore suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

I know how frustrating this can be....just today Stephanie was getting very emotional because Jayden doesn't "do" anything.....not to say he doesn't do things but he doesn't talk, interact much, sign, no communication other than grunting, crying and screaming here too......it's so hard to constantly be watching , teaching, praising...constant constant constant......and then to feel like everything your doing has no good outcome.......I wish I could give you some advice to help, but I wanted to let you know your not alone......we are in the same boat sweety:hug: and some days ya just want to let that boat drift off to sea. It's very tiring.

Thanks Deb. I am trying so hard not to let him fall any further behind but It is not easy. I have three other children who demand my attention and I feel like I am ignoring them to keep up my threapy with KC. And not to mention my house work has suffered so much. If I am not on the phone with some Dr or therapist I am doing his therapy. I am spread so thin and when dh tries to help I start yelling at him. I am wondering(just like everyone else here) when will this end. Or is this gonna end. I have three people that are going to help with signing my sil is deaf so she will help him and a couple of friends of mine as well. Dh knows a litle bit so he is going to help when he can. I am sending you and Steph great big hugs as well. :hug: . I hope everyhting gets better for you all. There is a great web site with "pretty pics" for signing. I will have to get you the exact name of the site I have it on short cut so I will get it soon.

Lauren,

Why can't you just let him cry for a little while? It's not going to hurt him. He'll learn that you've got some task to do and you'll pay attention to him again when you're finished. All toddlers are into immediate gratification, some more than others, but they need to learn patience. Catherine goes from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds if I don't jump the moment she wants something. Well, little missy, that just isn't going to happen. The more she shrieks "wan it" (want it), the longer she's going to wait for it, whatever it is.

By the way, I've never tried brushing with her but I can't imagine her being receptive to it. She won't even tolerate running your fingers through her hair or rubbing her back for more than a second or two. I get screams of "No, mama!" and her twisting away as fast as she can.

Please don't feel like you failed - brushing is not the cure all for all kids with sensory needs. Talk to your OT again as there may be some other type of input that he will enjoy that will have a calming effect on KC. Also like Lesley said it is OK to make him wait a minute or two before you get him what he wants. Toddlers think the world revolves around them but in reality it does not and it will benefit him to learn a little patience.

Lauren, I know how you feel. When Jason is one of his moods, I will basically just bring him up to his room, put him in his crib and just let him fuss it out for 10 minutes or so. Usually that helps to settle him so when I pick him up, he is fine again. You're not a failure. Having a child with sensory issues is difficult on its own. Jason has received an indoor hammock swing, a trampoline (he loves this and is good at jumping!) and a pressure vest from EI. Jason has proprioceptive vestibular issues and some oral tactile with food.

Here's a great website for signing. It's got little videos so that you can "see" what your hands are supposed to be doing:

http://www.mybabycantalk.com/content/dictionary/dictionaryofsigns.aspx?letter=A

Ava can't stand to be touched, especially if it's a light touch...we failed miserably w/ the brushing protocol, and our OT agreed that we're nowhere close to ready for it. Don't feel like a failure, Lauren!

I also agree with Lesley...I have to just let Ava get it out. Her fuse is unbelievably short...our OT was amazed by how she loses it so quickly. She just has to learn that things don't just appear out of nowhere and that sometimes I'm doing things that I HAVE to do...like using the bathroom, LOL.

I know the brushing works for some, but man, it was torture for all of us, so we'll wait until we get the go ahead to try again before even thinking about it. Don't feel bad...our OT told us that it's a really, really long process and that it's really frustrating. I leave OT totally exhausted, b/c Ava screams the whole time and cries and throws herself on the floor. She usually starts gagging, and it's just so hard to watch her dry heave in the name of therapy, kwim?

I don't have any advice, just a hug...we're in the same boat!:hug:

You aren't supposed to let them cry b/c it is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. On days we can brush him he is fine and others he screams his head off. He just woke up a couple of minutes ago and I am going to try and brush him. I am going to talk to his ot when I see her on monday about something else that may work and about Janes suggestions. I was also told not to make a big deal about it just do it while he is distracted. So we will see what happens. Thanks ladies.

I tried while Ava was distracted...still a no go. Our OT can occasionally brush like, one arm, if Ava is distracted enough in the ball pit, but she pulls away almost instantly. I also tried varying the intensity...Ava cannot STAND a light touch, like stroking her hair, lightly scratching her back, or rubbing her arm. So, I tried to do it w/ a firm touch...still didn't work. I really was hoping that she'd start to like it...the OT who did our eval said that most kids end up enjoying it after awhile and start to ask for it...not mine!

What Ava really likes, if I can get her to let me touch her, is really firm pressure, like a bear hug. Our OT has encouraged us to really wrestle w/ Ava...we wrestle on the bed and flip her all over the place, which is a huge accomplishment, b/c at first, if she got out of a vertical position, she'd freak. So, like I said, it really stinks...it's frustrating and I feel like we don't see any progress, but I'm just trying to go w/ the flow and hope things start getting better.

Ya know what else I think? I feel like it's hard to distinguish sensory issues from some normal toddler behavior. Being that Ava is my only child and that I didn't really have any baby experience before, it's hard for me to know what's "normal". Ava is my weirdo kid, I know that, but sometimes I have to wonder if I read too much into things that are just normal. I don't know...I just get so tired of thinking about it all sometimes.:hissyfit:

Lindsay I knew when KC was born he wasn't like my others. Actually I knew while I was pregnant. Everything was not like the others. The whole pregnancy was different. NAd then when he was born I knew something wasn't right b/c He always cried. He had to stay in the room with me b/c he always cried. Whether he was hiungry or not he cried. When he finally slept he wouldn't eat for 5-6 or even 7 hours at a stretch. Scary thing is that non of the nurses thought that was strange wehn I asked them about it they just blew it off like I was a completet nut. Well anways a mom knows when there is somewthing not right with there kids. My girls always loved to be touched(I am a very huggy kissy kind of mom) The only time KC would let me hold him is if I wrapped him up tight in his blanket. He still gets wrapped up really tight and will let me hold him like " baby". SO when you say that you have nothing to compare this to you are wrong it is mother's intuition.