So this travel thing has been tough. Mat and I have been
stressed and at moments each at what we like to call our "edges" but the
worst has been the development of anxiety attacks in Maia.
I have never seen a child have an anxiety attack before. I didn't even know they could.
During the packing up of the apt and the errands that led up to our move mat and I tried to keep things as "normal" as possible. We had playdates and took her to the park and played at home and kept a loose meal schedule and did baths and bed times. We didn't get rid of her crib till the night before we left and we co slept with her because she was waking up crying.
The last night she woke up and could not get back to sleep- she was crying and wanted to walk around the apartment checking things out. She also seemed to notice the cats were missing.
So we take the Amtrak from LA to Chicago and the first night she slept for 10 hours with no waking! Wow! Awesome. Maybe we should move onto the train!!
Short lived.
She began getting restless the next day and woke up a few times that night. When we get to Chicago she seemed upbeat. The hotel seemed to be exciting- she was laughing and running around. Great! This is going fine...she had thai food, ate cucumber and broccoli fresh, went to the Children's Museum and she had a blast.
Then we changed hotel rooms.
This is where things changed, she couldn't get to sleep, she was looking around confused and had what I can only call an anxiety attack. She was crying and gasping- looking around frightened- even when I was holding her she seemed to not completely register that it was me. She woke up 6 times crying.
TERRIFYING
As a sufferer of panic attacks since I was 15 there is nothing that I could ever fear more for my daughter.
We stayed calm comforted her and got through the night but at random times it happened again. It happened at the airport, it happened on the plane, it happened on the car ride home, it happened this morning when she was in the tub.
Google offered me no help- no information about anything except seperation anxiety- ok yes she has that and has for months- but she has recently been doing better and she has never displayed a "panic attack".
I know the move is stressful for her, its stressful for us! But I am concerned. Do 11 month old bounce back from stress?
A womyn at the hotel in Chicago was telling us that her 2 1/2 year old was pulling his hair out of his head after they moved to another state and in the end she had to choose meds or to shave his head- she shaved his head- and he got through it. But maia is 11 months old and even with trying to explain things to her there is no way to know what she understands.
So we comfort her, co-sleep, tell her "you're ok- we're here- we love you- your safe" we get close to her face and say "its mommie- its daddy- we won't let anything happen to you" we smile, we play, we distract her but we have no idea if what we're doing is right.
She is currently having the longest nap in the world and I am hoping she will wake up refreshed and feeling more like herself.
Any feedback is welcomed.
I have never seen a child have an anxiety attack before. I didn't even know they could.
During the packing up of the apt and the errands that led up to our move mat and I tried to keep things as "normal" as possible. We had playdates and took her to the park and played at home and kept a loose meal schedule and did baths and bed times. We didn't get rid of her crib till the night before we left and we co slept with her because she was waking up crying.
The last night she woke up and could not get back to sleep- she was crying and wanted to walk around the apartment checking things out. She also seemed to notice the cats were missing.
So we take the Amtrak from LA to Chicago and the first night she slept for 10 hours with no waking! Wow! Awesome. Maybe we should move onto the train!!
Short lived.
She began getting restless the next day and woke up a few times that night. When we get to Chicago she seemed upbeat. The hotel seemed to be exciting- she was laughing and running around. Great! This is going fine...she had thai food, ate cucumber and broccoli fresh, went to the Children's Museum and she had a blast.
Then we changed hotel rooms.
This is where things changed, she couldn't get to sleep, she was looking around confused and had what I can only call an anxiety attack. She was crying and gasping- looking around frightened- even when I was holding her she seemed to not completely register that it was me. She woke up 6 times crying.
TERRIFYING
As a sufferer of panic attacks since I was 15 there is nothing that I could ever fear more for my daughter.
We stayed calm comforted her and got through the night but at random times it happened again. It happened at the airport, it happened on the plane, it happened on the car ride home, it happened this morning when she was in the tub.
Google offered me no help- no information about anything except seperation anxiety- ok yes she has that and has for months- but she has recently been doing better and she has never displayed a "panic attack".
I know the move is stressful for her, its stressful for us! But I am concerned. Do 11 month old bounce back from stress?
A womyn at the hotel in Chicago was telling us that her 2 1/2 year old was pulling his hair out of his head after they moved to another state and in the end she had to choose meds or to shave his head- she shaved his head- and he got through it. But maia is 11 months old and even with trying to explain things to her there is no way to know what she understands.
So we comfort her, co-sleep, tell her "you're ok- we're here- we love you- your safe" we get close to her face and say "its mommie- its daddy- we won't let anything happen to you" we smile, we play, we distract her but we have no idea if what we're doing is right.
She is currently having the longest nap in the world and I am hoping she will wake up refreshed and feeling more like herself.
Any feedback is welcomed.
Aww, sadly I have no actual advice for you, but what you're doing sounds like the right thing to me--and Maia is tough, I really think she's going to bounce right back once she's settled again
ReplyDeleteThere have been a lot of changes in her life. Children really do need routine so this was bound to stress her.
ReplyDeleteWhat you're doing is exactly right. You and Mat are extremely sensitive people. Continue to follow your instincts when it comes to your daughter. It will take a little time for her to feel settled and get into a routine. But she will be ok..
BTW, routine doesn't have to be the same thing the same way all the time.. even differences in schedules can become her 'routine'..
xoxoxo