Wednesday 20 June 2012

Where did my baby go?

Kah Yen fell sick after our KL Camp trip two weeks ago, she had fever for a few days, followed by running nose and cough until now. I know looking after a sick baby is difficult, but I don't know a sick toddler is so different from a sick baby! It is much more than crying in pain, frequent night wake-ups and low appetite for food, she is displaying bad behaviors, throwing tantrums and rejecting most of my instructions. It is like an adult in a typical bad mood - I am not feeling well, so nothing is right in my eyes. She had always been such a sweet and good girl but these days she had turned into a totally different person, which left me wondering: Where on earth did my baby go?

She will throw things on the floor and refuse to pick up when I ask her to. Usually she doesn't throw things and she will even pack her own toys after playing, but recently she started dumpt things on the floor - not randomly, but purposely, with frustration and anger, a clear signal of "I DON'T WANT TO PLAY WITH THIS TOY - THE END!". Yesterday she even threw her beloved Baby Pooh on the floor, when I asked her to pick up, there was no action from her, she just moved to something else. I was nearly furious and almost going to demand an immediate response from her, but husband said she was not feeling well so let's leave the obedience training to later.

She also refused to be changed to her Pajamas, despiting me telling her a few times that "8 o'clock is your bedtime and Mummy is going to change you soon". Yesterday when I tried to change her, she protested for nearly 10 minutes. She would cry, refuse to lie down, ask to be carried. When I ignored her and tried to remove her shirt, she pulled her shirt desperately and then waived her arms randomly to protest. I have never seen her behave like this before, NEVER. She is usually mroe than cooperative and in fact our changing time has always been a fun time together - I would recite her nursery rhymes, tickle her, play peek-a-boo or Eyes, Nose and Ears with her. Yesterday was my first real battle with her, and after 10 minutes or so I decided to withdraw and let the husband take over.

She had always been falling asleep on her own too. Bedtime was always a breeze for us. After putting her down, saying a prayer followed by a good night kiss, we can come out of the room and switch on the TV right away (Ok we don't really watch so much TV, but that's how easy it was). These few days she would cry if we leave the room. We tried to wait for 5-10 minutes to let her calm down herself, it was no use. The cry only got louder and when we went in, we saw she was sitting on her bed, apparently not prepared to sleep at all. Husband and I have been taking turns to pat her to sleep the last few days. Ok we know she was not feeling well, but shouldn't you be more than happy to lie down and sleep when you are not feeling well? I guess it is another of my assumptions that is true to adults but is no way going to be applicable in a toddler's life.

She also wanted to carried all the time, and sometimes only wanted to be carried by Daddy and nothing to do with Mummy. But when we brought her outside the house, she was perfectly fine. She was happy to even walk back from the park all on her own two little feet.

I am perplexed and frustrated. What happened to my sweet little angel who has always been sweet, bubbly and playful? I just hope that it is her fever and flu to blame, not the infamous "Terrible 2's" that I have read so much about. I even hope that I will never have to deal with the terrible 2 phase because I choose to believe that two-year-old does not have to be terrible, but can be terrific.


Toddler - Terrible or terrific?


2 comments:

  1. I get bad behaviour from Sophia too when she's unwell. When she was teething plus having a flu she would spit out any food we feed her and scream whenever we lie her down in bed. Kah Yen sounds like a very good girl already!

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    1. Hi Elaine, Thanks for saying that.But she is really difficult these few days. I just hope that whatever she is displaying now will not become habitual when she is well

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