Sensitive kids group

[polaris]

Hi Tacey, really pleased that you found this thread! Welcome! Don't worry about the big post, I think we all tend to talk a lot on this thread! As you say, it's nice to have somewhere to off-load and talk to others who understand and get suggestions too.

Thomas has a difficulty with toddler groups too in that he doesn't really enjoy them very much and certainly doesn't mix with other toddlers at them. He tends to just hang around me and listen in to my conversations or try and drag me off to play with him. He is fine with groups in which there is a structured focus, e.g. swimming, art class, but just doesn't really enjoy unstructured toddler groups much. I had been planning to take him twice a week but I must admit that I have backed off too because he doesn't want to go and will tell me so in no uncertain terms. If we do go, he usually asks to leave early. He's OK with children who he knows well and who have a similar temperament to him, but he doesn't really participate in group situations and finds boisterous extraverted children a bit overwhelming/confusing. I understand totally what you mean about the pressure to "socialize" them, I find that a lot of people are very critical of my decision not to start Thomas in preschool until next year as it would "bring him on so much" but I think he will be better off being a year older so I'm pretty comfortable with my decision at this point. Do you mind if I ask where is the pressure to have Alice assessed coming from and what are the specific concerns?

Thank you both for your input on the saying sorry issue. I already do make a point of apologizing to him or to OH if I do something to try and show him that it's OK and that it is a nice thing to help the other person feel better. Tacey, I think I will definitely adopt your approach and relax about it and just name what's going on for him and as you say the word will follow.

Daisybee, I'm sorry your mum is not going to be any more supportive but at least you know where you stand. I know it's not quite the same but you are very welcome to vent on here to us. The bathroom situation sounds very difficult, poor Megan. Luckily we don't really have those self-flushing toilets in Ireland, we did encounter one in a UK airport once and it totally freaked Thomas out too.

 

[DaisyBee]

Tacey - welcome!!! I'm so glad you are joining us! And I love having somewhere to discuss things as well ( if anyone hasn't noticed with my long posts! lol) as sometimes it seems that others don't really get it. And even in our kids they all are different, but they are very similar in some ways.

Tacey - what kind of activities are you finding that she does better with? Is your son very different or similar to Alice as a baby? I saw in another thread you mentioned him pulling up to stand already! That seems so early! Maybe he will be a go getter. I don't even think I've seen Jordan roll over in a week. Ha!

Polaris - that make sense what tacey said about the saying sorry. Is it when he really feels upset or guilty that he can't say it?

 

[polaris]

Daisybee, thank you for asking about Thomas. He was very unwell at about 18 months with a condition called TEC. It is a blood disorder that they believe is triggered by a viral infection, basically the bone marrow shuts down and stops producing red cells so over time the child becomes very severely anaemic as the red cells die off bit by bit. But because the onset is so gradual, the child's system adjusts to compensate and they tend not to show many symptoms until quite a late stage. We knew Thomas had been off colour for about six weeks but we put it down to a run of coughs and colds and also to developmental factors. By the time I finally brought him to the doctor and got blood tests, his haemoglobin was only 3.7 and we were rushed straight into A&E that day as levels that low are a cardiac risk. He had a blood transfusion and a bone marrow biopsy to rule out leukemia and other serious conditions, but thankfully it turned out to be a relatively benign condition and he has made a full recovery and been discharged from the haemotologist now. However, it has made me a little bit paranoid about his health and I tend to err on the side of caution when I feel that he is not well in himself.

So I took him down to the GP this afternoon. She agreed that he has visible black rings under his eyes and that it isn't right that he's so low in energy, wanting to go in the buggy everywhere and not wanting to go out. She has referred him for blood tests and also to the opthalmologist to get his eyes checked/tested. She checked him over and took a urine sample but she couldn't see any obvious signs of anything specific. Typically, he has been much more energetic this evening and ate a huge dinner! Hopefully he is on the mend now and it has just taken him a couple of weeks to fully shake off the illness that he had a few weeks ago. Still, better safe than sorry.

 

[polaris]

Polaris - that make sense what tacey said about the saying sorry. Is it when he really feels upset or guilty that he can't say it?

Yes, that is exactly it. It's like he just feels horrible already about it and I don't want to make him feel worse by going on about it. Like the other night, he stood on the backs of my calves when I was kneeling down bathing Clara and it was absolute agony. So I cried out and told him it was really sore and it really hurt me. I knew he didn't mean to hurt me and I could see that he was sorry, he just lay down and hid his face and wouldn't look at me. But I wanted him to say sorry because it really did hurt! So I was asking him to say sorry and it was just making him feel worse - so then OH stepped in and gestured towards him hiding his faces and said something like "look, he is sorry, that's his way of saying sorry" which is similar to what Tacey is saying and it really did work to defuse the situation. Another example would be when he does something to hurt Clara, either by being too rough with her or just by accident.

 

[Tacey]

Glad Thomas is on the mend. After going through a health scare like that, I'm not surprised you're worried

Pressure is probably a strong way of wording it. Maybe 'concern' is a better word, but friends, family, and the HV (although I don't see much of her these days!) have mentioned Aspergers as a possibility. To be honest, it seems quite likely to me, but I'm not sure if a diagnosis would benefit us. I'm not making any big decisions just yet, as it's been a bit of a tumultuous time lately.

Daisybee - Arthur is entirely different from Alice, and was from his first day! He's laid back and generally a happy little chap. It actually makes me realise just what hard work Alice was. Amazing how their personalities shine through so early! The pulling up was quite a surprise - he doesn't roll over yet! Apparently he's not read the books on the sequence of milestones...

 

[OmarsMum]

Hi

I'm on phone, will post later about omar's sensitivity

 

[polaris]

Hi Omarsmum, glad you found this thread!

 

[OmarsMum]

This is going to be long so bare with me

I will start from the beginning.

When Omar was a baby, we noticed he was different. He couldn't handle noise, or any type of stimulation, he used to shut himself down by sleeping almost all day & night. He wasn't a cuddly baby & he preferred his space. Feeding was a real challenge, I couldn't feed him while holding him, so I had to feed him on our bed, on a pillow, with the blinds down.

He also didn't put any random objects in his mouth, weaning was a struggle as he was too sensitive to textures & tastes. He used to notice minor changes in dishes like adding a different herb or forgetting to add an ingredient he had earlier in a dish. He hated the feeling of food on his hands.

He's also cautious by nature, he was few days old when I was trying to put him down in his baby tub, he held his arms tight around his body & shut his eyes close. He used to get startled easily.

He started to get more sensitive while growing up. We noticed that he's very cautious, he didn't touch anything before we do, he used to measure the distance between his head & the table edge before going under the table to get a toy.

He's very detailed oriented, he notices small changes like moving furniture, changing bedsheets, etc.

He was 7-8 months when he noticed a new painting at my aunt's house (we didn't notice it) & he started to push his dad towards the painting to touch it.

He touches everything with the back of his hand to get it's feeling,

His pillows & duvet should be cold when he goes to bed, all pillowcases should be cream, he will not sleep on a pillow with pattern on it. The pillowcase & bedsheet should be smooth to the touch. He rubs the back of his hand on the pillow for soothing, & he folds the pillow to stretch the pillowcase.

He needs several breaks during the day to overcome overstimulation. He gets overwhelmed easily, he goes from playing happily to screaming out of blue moon. I give him several lie-ins during the day & relax times.

He's an introvert, he can't handle crowd or busy places. It takes him months to settle in a toddlers class. We struggle when we go out, when he can't handle the stimulation he asks to go back home which is not always do-able. If he's given the choice, he will spend all day at home. It's his comfort zone.

He's social with adults & older kids, he seeks their attention, but he struggles to fit with toddlers his age. According to him, they are babies

He's a perfectionist, he will not do something he doesn't master. He wanted a bike but when took him to the shop to choose one, he got frustrated when he fell down, he was embarrassed, then he pretended that he lost interest. When we went to my aunt's house & he saw his cousin (same age) riding his bike easily, he cried with real tears & he pushed his cousin away & went into the house, then he asked to go home

When he wants to learn something, he will not try around us, he sits in his room & keeps trying, when he masters it, he shows us.

He's very advanced for his age, he was 20 months when he was able to recognize all letters upper & lowercase, now he can write all letters, he can read simple words & he can write & spell many words.

He asks many questions, he doesn't stop, things should make sense.

He suffered from several sleep regressions, his sleep is better now, but he still doesn't sleep so well.

Food is another issue, at some point he was eating almost nothing, but now it's getting better & he's not so resistant to self feeding.

He's very empathetic, he doesn't like shouting, he hates it when someone is sad or crying. He's very cuddly although he hated cuddles when he was tiny. When he's tired or overwhelmed he asks me to hold him tight.

He started to bite his nails recently to cover his sensitivity sometimes I feel like he suffers from some sort of anxiety

He's not a typical boy, he loves to paint, write & read books. He's quiet in general & well behaved.

We had tantrums from 2 yrs until recently, but he started to have more control over his emotions.

Sorry for the long post, I wanted to cover all issues related to is sensitively

 

[DaisyBee]

Welcome omarsmum!

I haven't written all about Megan in here, and that's a great idea. I'll do that a little later. And I'll comment later about what you wrote as well, As will be long I think. Lol

Polaris - that would be so scary going through all of that with Thomas. I am so glad that he has been doing better. I didn't realize it had been an ongoing thing. That must be stressful for you. Hopefully the past weeks he's just been getting over his sickness. I'm glad they are looking into it. maybe his day yesterday means he is starting to get better.

Tacey - is the wonder about asbergers the reason for the questions in toddler group about how other kids are with playing alone and how they are in groups?
I keep wondering in the back of my head if Megan has something or another, but for now I'm going to just concentrate on her and see how things progess, as you say is a label going to even help? I was concerned with Megan with the idea of spd with her issues with loud noises, etc.

I wonder if that is why Megan did great in the class this summer, it wasn't really free play with the other kids. So it wasn't so chaotic. It was controlled more as the teacher was doing specific activites and songs with them most of the time.

 

[DaisyBee]

Megan was born 3 weeks early due to my bp issues. She couldn't latch and I've had a breast reduction so was told I had to pump every 2 hrs around the clock from the start to see if I could get my milk supply to come in. Those first weeks are a total blur as dh was back to work a week later and was on call that week. He worked a few 24 hr shifts. It was horrible. I stopped trying to breastfeed but continued pumping every 2 hrs. Megan was also having a bottle every 2 hrs. She was tiny and the ped. Didn't want her losing weight. So I really have no idea her true personality those newborn times. I know she wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her. She was awake all night long. And I was exhausted trying to figure her out and feed her. We didn't figure out swadding or white noise or any of that til 6 weeks I think. By 3 months she would meltdown when we would go places or after we would come home she would cry for hours. We couldn't figure out how to help her or how to stop it. We felt like we tried everything. We realized she wouldn't sleep well on anyone and wouldn't sleep unless in a dark room anymore. We realized she stared at the tv and then had meltdowns even after 5 minutes of watching it. She cried at every diaper change. She cried at every bath. She had a horrible startle reflex and was very jumpy. She was afraid when we would try to put her down, her arms would fling. She didn't like us touching her shoulders at all, either with dressing or just in general. By 4 months she had stranger anxiety and she would cry if anyone she didn't know would even look at her. They couldn't give her any eye contact at all or she would get hysterical. Her grandparents could no longer hold her as she wouldn't tolerate it. She wanted to be held a lot. She didn't like being put down. But she didn't like carriers. She didn't like her swing at all, only mildly tolerated her bouncy chair. If anyone would sneeze or cough or move suddenly she would startle. She didn't like noises, wind, sun, bright lights. Flashy toys, her mobile, too much playing would all overstimulate her.
She couldn't handle being off her schedule. She got overtired very easily and cried a lot. She was a very high needs baby. It took a lot of effort for us to get smiles from her. She wouldn't fall asleep in a carseat or stroller. She loved food though. She never liked her bottles and wasn't a big drinker. We would give her bottles right before she would sleep otherwise she was too distracted to drink. Her dr called her nosy and told us not to rescue her which I didn't know what that meant at the time but I realized what she meant by the time Jordan was born.

Now when she is older she is still upset by noises. But I think she is starting to be able to handle some things. Last night was the first time I used the bullet blender at dinner to blend up something for Jordan and we told Megan and she covered her ears, we told her the exact time I was going to push the button. And she handled it. No tears! No meltdown! She has been upset with sirens, vacuum cleaner, blenders, hand dryers, dogs loud barking, etc. She does ok now with wind, sun, etc.

She notices everything. Little details. She notices the moon immediately when going outside even when it's a sliver of white in a sky filled with white clouds. She noticed when the neighbor moved his car or if I've cleaned something during her nap. If i move anything. But not in foods. She is a very good eater for a toddler and not picky compared to a lot of kids. Her noticing things is with her eyes and ears. But she knows all smells, I eat something and then hold her and she knows exactly what I ate before I even say a word.

She doesn't handle changes well. She has a hard time sleeping when we do anything fun at all during the day or if off schedule. Overall though I do think her sleep is improving. Xmas and bdays aren't as fun as she ends up getting overstimulated with things being too much for her.

She was an early talker. She has a huge vocabulary and loves singing and rhyming and books. She is very aware of her feelings and others feelings. She worries about other things and people. She gets anxious very easily. If we scold her she gets upset inwardly. She will get a look or start biting her nails. She doesn't start crying, we weren't always realizing how sensitive she is to what we say. She takes our tone of voice for exactly what it is. She loves sharing and wants things to be fair and equal. She cries when hearing songs that she thinks are sad sounding or when she is so happy she will also cry. She is very emotional. She has been very scared about things recently and can't handle reading books or seeing shows that even hint about scary things. My dad was talking in a suspenseful way asking her who was that? Who went into the bathroom? And she ran to me clinging as the way he said it seemed scary to her. She loves shapes and music. She memorizes all songs she has heard. She loves messy and sensory play. She doesn't love letters the way Omar does.

Ive read different books and things online and a lot of them have talked about temperament. She tends to fall in all of the difficult categories. She is very intense, active, not very adaptable. In short she is exhausting. she is not quiet unless she is more observing when around a lot of others. She isn't calm. At home she is very loud and intense. If she is happy everyone knows it as she is very happy. If she is upset the whole neighborhood knows I'm sure. Lol she feels things very deeply but also responds with gusto. She is very busy always, she never sits still it seems. Books are one of the only times she is sitting for long. She has a huge attention span for books. She is very curious about how things work and what they things are for. I think her curiosity sometimes overtakes her pause and check. But she does check where the table or edge of something is so she never bumped her head even as when crawling. She was never a climber as she was too cautious. In some ways she seems too mature, and in other ways not mature enough.

When overstimulated she tends to get wired or hyper. She then melts down. Her weighted blanket has been helping a lot with that and calming her down so much quicker. She is introverted but likes being around people but doesn't like crowds. She just needs down time to decompress after being around others.

She has times when she can handle things and other times she can't. Like tags on clothes sometimes she won't notice and other times she can't function until that tag isn't touching her skin. The other night she was overstimulated and took off all her clothes. She is very affectionate when it's on her terms.

She hasn't really ever had big tantrums. She will get very upset but gets over it quickly. Her issue has never been kicking screaming tantrums. Her issue is meltdowns when overstimulated.

 

[OmarsMum]

Thanks for starting this thread - I will likely be dropping by here from time to time to see your tips and possibly ask for advice. My Christina is sensitive, and I have appreciated reading the other threads you all have posted in the toddler section.

I have not read the book, but I would like to! Is this it? https://www.amazon.com/Highly-Sensitive-Child-Children-Overwhelms/dp/0767908724

My first question: How do you handle behavior management? What type of discipline (if any) do you use? I'm wondering if I maybe have coddled my DD a little much because I know she is so sensitive and needs more assurance and I try to respect her emotions. When she was younger, the slightest sharpening of my tone of voice would make her upset, and she's generally a pretty well-behaved kid, so she didn't do anything wrong very often. As she's getting older, I am struggling with how to discipline. The times we have sent her to her room for a time out (for example, she pushed baby sister and refused to say sorry) were disastrous. Originally she'd be upset or crying over being in trouble, but rather than calming down by staying in there for 2 minutes, she had gotten herself so worked up that it took ages for us to calm her back down. Now she is reaching the age where she is becoming intentionally defiant and pushing boundaries, and I'm finding it difficult to discipline while respecting her extreme emotions that come along with sensitivity.

Hi Hun.

I do time ins with Omar. If he misbehaves I talk to him firmly & tell him what he did is not acceptable while explaining to him that hitting/ pushing is not nice as it hurts, if it end up with a meltdown, I take him to the dark bedroom & I place him on our bed, I stay with him & I cuddle him (if he allows it) until he calms down. Then we talk about it while cuddling. He used to push his cousin all the time when he was staying with us.

Timeouts don't work for us as Omar gets worked out if he's left to cry & he gets distressed.

Now I can know the type of his cries from his tone, if he's screaming out of anger, I ask him firmly to stop screaming or I will not listen, it works most of the time, but if he doesn't listen, I ignore him until he's done, then i ask him if he's done, if he says yes, he gets a cuddle then we talk about it.

 

[DaisyBee]

Jordan has always been very aware of everything like Megan was as a baby. By 3 months she stopped sleeping in the swing, wouldn't sleep in the car, etc. She gets overstimulated in crowds and busy places. But she seems to be able to handle it more as she is getting older. I hope it means she will be less sensitive than Megan as I feel sometimes we have to walk on eggshells with Megan. Both girls are very very light sleepers. They wake each other up all of the time even with both having white noise.

Jordan seems to notice little details on things. She pays attention to details on the rug, the feel of fabric, pictures, etc. She won't drink her bottles unless in a dark room with no distractions. But is ok with foods. But she won't try any food unless she has smelled it. She is constantly smelling everything including us. Lol I don't remember megan ever smelling things like Jordan does.

So things like that make me think she is like Megan a bit. But she is not overstimulated all day anymore. And she actually napped in the car this weekend. So maybe she is outgrowing some of the overstimulation problems?

She calls me mama and only me starting right before 5 months. And she understands lots of what we say. When I tell her to burp she will start hitting me before I even start patting her back. She has been clapping for 2 months on command or if we say yay! Or sing pattycake or something, and waving bye at dh when I am taking her downstairs to bed. The past few weeks I've noticed she is getting bored with her toys so gave her some of megans play food and dishes and she makes an eating sound with them. Like a plastic banana or apple and she holds it pretending to eat and makes the sound.

She can't handle tv or the mobile at all. She is just starting to handle being outside without melting down. Most of the summer she would meltdown if she was outside for even 5 minutes.

But her startle reflex wasn't bad. I can sneeze and it doesn't phase her at all. She has always been fine with diaper changes and baths. so I don't know.

 

[OmarsMum]

Tacey, what type of classes do you go to? & for how long have you been going to those classes?

We've been going to the same centre for 2 yrs now. I found that Omar doesn't cope well in crowded classes. He doesn't cope well in music classes or classes with loads of activities.

We started soccer class last summer in May, but we stopped in August, & we went back this month. For the 1st 2 classes, he didn't enjoy it although he knows all kids & teachers. Today he really had fun. We he got tired & overwhelmed, we sat in the corner & we cuddled.

Today he was so excited when we were getting ready, but once we were in the car, he asked to go home.

We also had an arts class before the soccer class, & he did really well, last week we sat in the corner all class. He loves arts classes, as he concentrates on the project he's doing, but I have to be around. He loves to show off his writing skills, today he was able to write the teacher's name when she spelled it using phonics, he was so excited. He loves attention. In those classes they give each kid individual attention, they talk to them, they encourage them to join in & interact with the activities.

We tried a hiphop class few weeks back & it was a disaster, it was too noisy for him.

Today for the 1st time Omar said his name in the class instead of hiding his face behind me, he also interacted with the teachers, & he called one kid "his friend".

The manager was looking from the window, DH was there, & she commented on how she can notice a big change in Omar since we started to come to classes, there is also a teacher who really loves Omar but we don't attend any of her classes this term, she went in to both classes & she took notes, she also commented on how she noticed that Omar is more social & now he says hi to everyone when he enters the place & he likes to chat with mummies around & the staff.

I also found that when we arrive before all the other kids, it's much easier for Omar to settle in class.

I also found that the more we stay at home, the more difficult it gets to convince Omar to go out. He likes to stay at home.

Omar doesn't play alone, he doesn't sit in a room if we are not with him. He suffers from a very bad separation anxiety.

 

[OmarsMum]

About clothes, Omar will not wear long trousers! I have no idea what we're going to do now the weather is cooler! Last winter we used to have a meltdown everytime I tried to dress him in long trousers & full sleeves shirts. He sleeps in a wide t-shirt, with a sleeveless vest & underpants.

He gets irritated from tags, this is why he always have a vest under his tops. He will only wear cotton t-shirts, he doesn't like shirts.

 

[OmarsMum]

Daisybee- Omar couldn't latch on the breast, he was starved for 18 hrs to establish bfing, but it didn't work. I didn't have milk to pump, he finally latched on after 3 weeks but there was no milk, he used me as a paci for an hour then he used to scream from hunger. At that time I gave on bfing as it wasn't working,

He was very alert when he was tiny, we had a horrible time at the hospital when I gave birth, he was placed on his tummy under the light for his jaundice, it was horrible, he used to pull himself up on his arms & move his head around, his eyes where closes so he was so irritated. I had to move the machine over my bed & move him in with me to keep him from moving around.

 

[DaisyBee]

I will have to remember to post a picture of Megan and dh taken very shortly after she was born. He had been wiping her off and they were bonding and she lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him. It's an amazing picture.

I didn't have much milk with the reduction and we were supplimenting so much formula I gave up the pumping around week 4 I think and weaned myself off of it vs cold turkey just for my sake. I was also having lots of pain so combination of everything, it wasn't worth it anymore. Most of what I remember from megans first month is only things related to feeding and pumping as really it's all we did.

I am glad Omar is doing better with classes and being social! That is great progress. I do think some of it is finding the right situations for them where they feel comfortable.

Have you tried baggy sweatpants kind of thing with Omar? Megan has been complaining about her underwear and we are in the hunt for some that have tags in them so that we can cut them out. The ones I'm finding have the writing inside vs tag and the writing bothers her. I get the impression sometimes that she likes clothes. She likes wearing hats, sunglasses, hoods, coats. She likes layers and sweatshirts. She won't sleep unless wearing socks. She also refuses to sleep without her sleep sack, even when she is sweating hot she refuses. good thing it is getting colder! She likes being comfortable and knows what she likes. She is ok with jeans but is particular about them. She will let me know if she wants to change clothes or doesnt like something for how it feels. She tends to say it's scratchy.

 

[OmarsMum]

I'm so p*ssed off now! He regressed, he was doing great with the dummy weaning! For 10 days he's been sleeping so well at night.

Yesterday SIL came back from her trip. We went to my parents place after the classes for dinner, we told SIL clearly to avoid giving her son his dummy infornt of Omar. Her son wasn't crying, he was playing but she decided to give him his dummy!

Omar cried so hard when he saw the dummy he was so emotional & it was heart breaking

My brother was so annoyed & he took the dummy from his son. Omar asked to go back home so we left. He asked to go to bed at 10.30 which is his bedtime anyway, we spent 1.5 hrs in bed but he couldn't sleep. Then he started to cry & he said he's a good boy but he needs his dummy

Now he's with his dad watching TV & he can't sleep!

 

[polaris]

I love the idea of writing a full description of the issues with sensitivity and I will try to do that for Thomas later when I have the energy. It's really interesting to read about everyone's LOs as they are all different but yet with similarities too.

Omarsmum, it sounds like the classes are going really well. It's great that Omar is feeling more comfortable and becoming more social. Thomas is also much better if we arrive early before the other children, so he has time to settle in before everyone else arrives. I think part of our problem is that the local toddler group is quite chaotic and doesn't really suit Thomas's personality. I must have a look around for other suitable activities. We go to an art class once a week which he really enjoys and swimming once a week which he absolutely loves. Sorry to hear about the dummy issue, I agree that was a bit insensitive of your SIL, poor Omar, my heart would just go out to him. I think you should stick with it though at this stage rather than back-tracking. Hopefully he will be back on track tomorrow.

Daisybee, Jordan sounds such a bright little girl! That's amazing some of the things that she is already doing for her age. It sounds like she is definitely sensitive but that she is better able to handle it now, especially as she gets older. I think they all have their own specific things that bother them and then things that they are fine with. Thomas was always absolutely fine with nappy changes and baths and he's not really fussy about clothes (except socks).

 

[DaisyBee]

Lol polaris - it's the only reason I wrote jordans out was to see what you all thought. And the brightness I feel like is her paying attention to everything, like if she wasn't so aware of what was going on then she wouldn't be doing things or having words already. So it makes me think she is sensitive but she is much different to Megan in some ways.

She is much easier going and calmer then Megan. She smiles easily and isn't so intense. But then again intensity is a totally different temperament trait. I think a big reason megan is such a handful is dealing with her intensity with the sensitivity.

I would wait til you have energy to write about thomas. Writing megans out was exhausting. Just thinking about it all like that vs day to day like we've been doing in the thread. It's hard to think about it all at once vs little pieces at a time. It's a bit overwhelming for me.

Omarsmum - I'm sorry that happened with the dummy. Hopefully it will soon pass and he will be able to see one without issue sooner than later. Megan mentioned hers a few times those first few weeks but after a while she didn't. We were worried about Jordan having hers when taking megans away.

Polaris - yes those toddler things here are more chaotic as well. They don't offer a lot around here for classes. I think Megan would love an art class but haven't seen anything like that available. No soccer or things are offered for 2 year olds here. But now that she is turning 3 more things should be available but will be a bit of a drive to get to them vs right in our small town. They offer dance here I think though. Was going to start looking into things for after Xmas season.

 

[DaisyBee]

I just reread what I posted earlier about Jordan and realized that i have been thinking that just because she isn't overstimulated all the time might mean she isn't sensitive. Well that doesn't make sense. Megan is sensitive and not overstimulated all of the time. So maybe it is helping her a lot that I've been through this before. Ive been able to help stop the meltdowns and do something before it's out of control. And she gets less attention then Megan did as a baby. I can't tend to both girls all the time. One of them has had to cry sometimes just during the day doing things like eating, megans toilet training, etc. It was very obvious last week the day that mil took Megan for the day. I realized then how much less attention Jordan gets. As it's not tons of one on one attention. But for overstimulation problems that is actually probably a blessing in disguise. She doesn't have people messing with her or bothering her all day, lol.

And yes everything I wrote... She does sound sensitive as well doesn't she?!