Same here -- my older son was either nursing, or worn in a sling, until
6 months. Literally could NOT put him down. Travel was a nightmare,
because the car seat was apparently a torture device to him. Irregular
sleep patterns -- he could only sleep in our bed and was otherwise awake
at night. Now age 12, he finally has himself mostly centered -- we
follow the Feingold Program which has helped tremendously. And we did 6
months of occupational therapy, focusing on his sensory issued. His
sleep is still disordered, and he takes melatonin every night and cannot
sleep without it, and requires a fan running to block out household and
street noises.
Anyway, he was THE fussiest baby, especially during days prior to
mastering any new skill. He was standing at age 7 mos and walking at 9
mos. As a new mother, I was so proud that my baby was so much more
"advanced" than everyone else's offspring -- only years later did I
learn that the lack of proprioceptive feedback via creeping/crawling was
a missing piece in his sensory development, and helped complicate his
school work because his handwriting was so awful. So not only could he
not pay attention, but when he did, he produced scrawls that he later
could not read. Not a good combination.
With intent, I refuse the label "ADHD" for my son, because I think it's
only an FDA-approved pseudo-disease for the purpose of selling drugs,
and doesn't really address the sensory, developmental, dietary, or other
issues that caused the symptoms in the first place. Only after a couple
of years of Ritilin did I throw up my hands and seek some other path --
the pressure to diagnose ADHD and prescribe stimulants is very powerful
and persuasive. However, for my son, with his sensory issues, Ritilin
made the world seem like it was on maximum volume at all times,
resulting in self-mutilating behaviors, tics, spontaneous weeping -- but
the teachers did love it because at least he sat quietly in his chair
while he was peeling the skin from his palms with his teeth.
I don't know that you can pinpoint any single disorder that might arise
from an excessively fussy infancy -- kid just might be born crabby! But
I think the parents ought to be on alert that the risk for some type of
sensory processing diagnosis, and to seek treatment from an occupational
therapist as a first approach. Perhaps even during infancy rather than
later! Until all of this, I had no idea how dramatically a sensory
processing problem could affect every aspect of a person's life --
academics, socialization, physical and emotional health.
Deb McCallister
Louisville, KY
LACTNET automatic digest system wrote
>Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:30:33 -0500
>From: Kathy Eng <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: <No subject given>
>
>Cathy wrote: I just read a scary abstract (trying to get hold of the entire
>paper)
>that related excessive fussing (but not crying) during infancy with
>later risk of sensory processing disorders.
>
>While reading "The Bi-Polar Child" book, I noticed that the authors equate
>fussy, irritable babies with children who turn out to be bi-polar (manic
>depressive). I found this a very interesting link. How many babies do we see
>that are just "not right with the world"? Or even toddlers and young
>children.
>
>Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC
>
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