For the last month (or maybe it is two months now), L has developed a really annoying habit.  She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming.  And screaming.  And screaming.  She screams anywhere from 10 minutes to a record breaking 2.5 hours (last night from 2:00 to 4:25  lucky me).

The weirdest part about it is that she screams hysterically until she passes gas.  Then, she will immediately stop screaming and become very agreeable.  Then she lays down and goes back to sleep.  While she is a little stubborn and sometimes demanding during the day, this kind of tantruming is completely out of character for her.

At the beginning of this phase, it seemed like she might be having night terrors.  She didn’t seem totally conscious when she started screaming, though she would eventually seem to wake up and kept yelling until she passed gas.   Now, though, she seems fully awake.

It seems like the obvious answer would be to treat the gas issue.  I started giving her mylicon drops earlier this week.  And tums, just in case she has reflux.  That worked for one blissful night and one night only.

Now, I am moving on to restricting her diet.  As of today, girlfriend is banned from all dairy.  She ate ice cream and birthday cake (made with butter and cream cheese frosting) before her marathon tantrum last night, so it seems like lactose intolerance it may be partly to blame.

I am putting all options on the table.  I am going to start a food diary tomorrow, but I am also looking at all other possibilities too.  She passes some gas during the day, but not an unusual amount and it doesn’t seem to cause any discomfort.  She is sometimes constipated, but poop (or not having pooped for a couple days) doesn’t seem to be correlated with this issue.    I have even considered an attachment or trauma issue, but I think it really seems to be more  a matter of discomfort.

I am going to make her 3 year doctor’s appointment tomorrow, but in the meantime, I am trying to be diligent about helping this kid (and ME!) get her much needed sleep.

Oh wise internet, what is wrong with my kid?

(I will come back to those food questions, but seriously, I am way to exhausted tonight.)

Food Challenge: Day 10

Breakfast: ???

Lunch: L ate rice noodles. I ate a burrito.  Mr. A took leftovers and I think M took a bologna sandwich & yoghurt.

Snacks: Cake batter.

Dinner: Pigs in a blanket. Tater tots.  Broccoli.

Day 11

Breakfast: Coffee.   I don’t know about the rest of them.

Snacks: Guiness Chocolate cake  and ice cream for L’s family birthday party.

Lunch: We all went out for lunch for L’s birthday (our one eating out exception for the challenge) and had dim sum.

Dinner:  The girls went out with my mom and had restaurant food and ice cream.  I had a burrito.  Mr. A ate various leftovers.

Day 12

Breakfast: I slept through breakfast to recover from the no-sleeping fiasco.

Snacks: Everyone except L ate cake.  L at half an apple.

Lunch: M and I ate tuna helper.  L ate a graham cracker and rice noodles with peanut butter.  I don’t know what Mr. A ate.

Dinner: Pressed tofu, rice, egg.