17 month old severe tantrums

My niece is 17 months old.  She has recently started having severe tantrums with no apparent cause.  She pulls at her hair and teeth and does not want to be touched or talked to.  This can last for up to an hour or more.  She does not have health insurance right now and my sister is very concerned.  My nieces grandmother has schizophrenia and her dad may be bipolar or something.  I have been searching the internet and have found nothing helpful.  Is there any advice you can give?

[girlybuff]

I would have her evalluated by a state sevice.  Contact Welfar services and you can probably get it done for free.
Athough my daughter is 17 months old and has her tantrums too they don't last for an hour or morfe.
I wouldn't worry about bi-polarity or schizophrenia yet.  For one, schizophrenia cannot be developed until a person is at least in their mid-twenties.  They can have a pre-disposition for it but they cannot "have it" until then.
She's probably just being a 17 month old child.
Try talking to her and acknowledging her anger.   Maybe a calming voice will help her.  They don't have the language skills to express themselves yet so when things upset them, they have to get physical.

[jess39]

this advice is inaccurate, the answer states that schizophrenia can not be developed until the mid 20s when actually common onset is in the late teens, yes people can have a pre disposition to it meaning they are more likely to develop it however the common onset is 18 for males and 23 for women although it can occur before and after these ages. Very rarely children usually aged 7 and up can present with schizophrenia (1 in 40,000 children compared with 1 in 100 adults) although their presentation and symptoms may differ slightly than their adult counterparts. with regards to your neice at 17 months it is unlikely to be the develpment of schizophrenia at this age and could be linked to a wide number of possible other reasons but the best thing is to have your neice assessed for what the problem may be.
Registered psychiatric nurse working in child and adolescent psychiatry.

[specialmom]

Hi there.  Thanks for that Jess as it is indeed true that schizophrenia's onset/diagnosis is often before someone reaches their 20's.

I agree that I would not look into such psychiatric disorders at this time.  She is tiny and tantrums are not uncommon for a little one.  They have limited ways to communicate and that is one often chose for those of that age.  

Some children have difficulty self soothing.  They tend to have longer tantrums.  Eventually, they develop ways to calm themselves such as rocking, chewing on fingers, etc.  My son has sensory integration disorder which is part of the nervous system and inability to calm himself is part of that.  So, when he was set off as a toddler, his melt down could be monumental in proportions.  And in that state, it is VERY difficult to change the dynamics.  Here is the key----------------  look at what proceeded the meltdown.  Start having your sister document this and look for a pattern.  Then you can adjust things to avoid it before it starts.  And also look for early signs of the tantrum--------  what does it look like as it is just getting started.  My son stopped smiling, closed his hands in fists, was agitated.  Things like that are red lights to mom to change what is happening at that time.  

You may find, for example, that if she is off schedule and tired that she is more prone to a melt down.  So . .. mom works hard to keep the routine and ensure proper sleep for her.  She may always react like that if she is hot.  She may be over stimulated, etc.  Track it and see what you come up with as it is very telling about what is going on.

And as she begins to use her words and become more developmentally ready, help her with appropriate ways to express these feelings.  Use kid friendly language (Oh, you look mad.  What can we do when we are mad?) with her to give her the words to use.  I read books on emotions with my kids from the age of 2 on to help with this.  They make lots of them that you can find at the library.  Then give her 'actions' to do when mad.  Counting to 10, deep breaths, going to a cool down spot where no one can bother her until she comes out (an enclosed space like a pop up tent is helpful but we use a corner behind a chair with lots of pillows in it), using words, etc.  Teaching her to ask for help is good too as many little ones become frustrated easily.  You can have her put her hands in paint and then press them onto paper to make prints.  Tape that to the wall and call them her "helping hands".  When mad, she then can go to her helping hands and push really hard.  This actively slows the nervous system and helps calm it.  These are ideas she will be more and more ready for as she grows.  

Also, key to any difficult child is also giving them choices.  Mom should give her 2 choices on things as often as possible.  Then she feels like she has control (even though mom is actually giving the choices so she ultimately has control)------ and kids are more apt to comply and be happy about it.

good luck