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Tiny Tears, Huge Tantrums

How Do You Know What's Normal and What Could Signal a Problem?

By Renee Roberson

"You don't need to think of this behavior as a habit that needs to be broken," Dr. Tobin says. "A baby of this age is purely trying to communicate with his behavior."

However, if your baby displays this type of behavior on a regular basis and seems to have a hard time self-soothing, it could be a sign of a more serious problem, such as sensory-regulatory disorder, or SI, named by occupational therapist A. Jean Ayres after studying patients who seemed to have a problem processing information received through the senses.

According to Dr. Mark Sossin, a pediatrician and behavior and parenting expert in New York, these so-called tantrums could turn out to be a sign that something isn't quite normal in your child's development.

First and foremost, Dr. Sossin agrees with Dr. Tobin that a parent should step back and try to determine the onset of their child's unhappy behavior. It could be a gastrointestinal problem, such as colic, which often causes children to cry inconsolably for several hours a day, often in the early evening hours, and to tense up as if they are in pain.

Babies with sensory-regulatory disorders may be over- or under-sensitive to certain kinds of stimuli, have difficulty with self-soothing, dislike change and have a hard time regulating their sleep cycles. They may dislike snuggling, find soft music too loud or on the opposite end of the spectrum and may not respond to soft colors or sound unless they are brighter or louder than normal, Dr. Sossin says.

Want to see more?

• Check out our Article Library.
• Tantrums, Tempers and Tears: Could Your Child Have ODD?
• Car Seat Crying: When the Buzz of the Engine Doesn't Lull Your Baby to Sleep
• Crying Times: A Colic Primer for New Parents
• Talk about it!

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