Out of routine and out of control

[rufalina]

Poor DS. His life has suddenly turned upside down. Our FDC carer has gone on a months leave and as such DS is totally out of routine. He is with a new carer for 2 days and then with my mum and sister and her little girl for 2 days, and the poor little guy is not coping well.

He is not sleeping and napping and we arrived at the new carers house today and he started screaming at me. Not like him at all. He is generally so happy and cheerful... Breaks my heart to see him like this...

I am constantly explaining the changes to him, and we spent time with the new carer together and it went well. And he has a great relationship with my family and we spend a lot of time with them, so that is nothing new. But I know he is not coping with the changes, and I then next month when we go back to normal it will be another change and i don't want to go back through this again.

He is generally a 7.30 - 7.30 great sleeper (touch wood) but, in the past few days he has been waking in the night and screaming for comfort. To the point where I need to hold him and comfort him while he screams for 2 hours. And nothing eases the screaming except cuddles. And when I say screaming I mean screaming till he makes himself vomit, almost tanty screaming IYKWIM.

He did this yesterday during his afternoon nap and DH tried to calm him down, but again, it needed constant cuddles and reassurance, and eventually he was calm and lying back to sleep, with a comforting hand on his back, but fought that sleep and needed after standing with him for 1/2 hr we got up.

Please tell me this is normal for a little one who suddenly has his routine (which has been in place since Feb) to be broken? Is there any way I can make this easier on him? Or do we just have to ride it out?

[kelebek]

your poor little man Ruf How has it been going?

I think his reactions are perfectly normal. He is clinging to DH and yourself for reassurance. As you said his day routine has been thrown out the window. I think you might just have to ride it out, keep telling him what the new routine is and keep up the cuddles (which I know you are doing )

Hope things have settled for you now.

[onthefly]

Has he settled down now? I know DS was extremely unsettled when we started him in daycare, but eventually got back to normal.