rachel always used to cry when another baby would cry but now it's gotten to the point that she cries when another baby screetches with laughter or even yells a little. she just lays on the floor and loses it. we went to a families home last night and every time their little girl would open her mouth rachel would start balling. i have NO IDEA how to fix this. please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciate!!

_________________
Maggie, mom to Rachel (9/19/09), duodenal atresia repair on 10/26/09, Crohn's Disease
and Charlie (8/12/11)
www.maggiefluck.blogspot.com

2 of my dd's did this. One with DS, one without. I'd love to say I have a wonderful solution, but really I think they both just out grew the stage. We did explain to them that babies use crying to speak because they don't have words yet, but really, time was the biggest help.

_________________
Laura - proud mom to my 4 girls

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.com/

http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a6729133/unlimited_potential

it just really stinks because we found this music class to go to and i've started a play group and if she's going to cry the whole time i won't be able to do either. ugh.

_________________
Maggie, mom to Rachel (9/19/09), duodenal atresia repair on 10/26/09, Crohn's Disease
and Charlie (8/12/11)
www.maggiefluck.blogspot.com

Noah does that too but it's because of the noise level. It's just too much for him, so he puts his face on the ground and covers his ears and screams bloody murder. The only way I have been able to stop him is by actually going up to him, taking his hands off his ears and making eye contact then telling him "that's enough, you're fine"

_________________
Mom to: Nicholas (May/02), Nathan (April/04), Charlene (June/06), Noah (DS, ASD) (May/07), Jesse Lynn (July/08 ), Tessa (Apr/10), Kaitlyn (Jun/12)

"Sometimes the things we can't change end up changing us"

This seems to be a VERY common sensory issue for our kids with DS. I have read that with , auditory sensory issues, the noise is painful for our children. Melissa can not tolerate loud crying, my loud laughing or my dogs barking/howling. We have been trying to teach her to cover her ears when she is bothered by these noises.

You may notice that your daughter may go through periods where the noises bother her a LOT and then there may be periods of time when the noise doesn't seem to bother her much at all. I have to wonder if allergies, stuffy noses/ sinuses or fluid in the ears contribute to the sensitivities. It makes sense to me.

Michelle

mellysmom wrote:

This seems to be a VERY common sensory issue for our kids with DS. I have read that with , auditory sensory issues, the noise is painful for our children. Melissa can not tolerate loud crying, my loud laughing or my dogs barking/howling. We have been trying to teach her to cover her ears when she is bothered by these noises. You may notice that your daughter may go through periods where the noises bother her a LOT and then there may be periods of time when the noise doesn't seem to bother her much at all. I have to wonder if allergies, stuffy noses/ sinuses or fluid in the ears contribute to the sensitivities. It makes sense to me. Michelle

for the moment it's only other children that make her like this. i haven't seen any other issues. she is actually very clear right now as far as ears and nose so i can't say that is contributing.

_________________
Maggie, mom to Rachel (9/19/09), duodenal atresia repair on 10/26/09, Crohn's Disease
and Charlie (8/12/11)
www.maggiefluck.blogspot.com

Natalie was like that until about a week or two after bringing Alyssa home. She would fuss and cry every single time Alyssa cried. At the time we thought it was sensory but looking back I really think that she was just bothered by Alyssa being "sad". We would hold Alyssa and Natalie at the same time while A was crying and talk to Natalie "She's ok, see? Mommy isn't scared or sad, it's ok if Alyssa cries..." After a couple of weeks she just stopped being bothered by it. Hope fully the same will happen for you guys.

_________________
Lori
DH and I are 34

June 19, 2008~ Alyssa

Natalie's web page
Natalie's video montage
Alyssa's web page
My photography website

Ali did this too. Even other kids just making noises in restaurants would make her cry. We didn't really "do" anything for it. She seems to have grown out of it for the most part. Now a CD skipping can set her off

_________________
Maresa,
Mom to Alisa (10-29-2008) DS, complete AV canal repair on 3-6-2009

AliMama wrote:

Ali did this too. Even other kids just making noises in restaurants would make her cry. We didn't really "do" anything for it. She seems to have grown out of it for the most part. Now a CD skipping can set her off

did you go to her when she cried or just ignored it?

_________________
Maggie, mom to Rachel (9/19/09), duodenal atresia repair on 10/26/09, Crohn's Disease
and Charlie (8/12/11)
www.maggiefluck.blogspot.com

We would comfort her and say "Baby's okay", or something like that. It seems like spending more time around other kids helped to make her less sensitive to it.

_________________
Maresa,
Mom to Alisa (10-29-2008) DS, complete AV canal repair on 3-6-2009

Ragan has the same problem but it is not crying that will set him off..it is coughing and laughter. Our OT gave me a brush to give him sensory imput as it would seem that it is sensory defensiveness we are dealing with. We talk to him when it happens saying everyone's okay...over and over until he stops crying. My husband had a virsus and was coughing for a month, you can only image how fun that was... My husband would put our son's hand on his throat and repeat the noise again saying its okay and Ragan would stop crying really quickly. It just seems sudden outbrusts of unexplained noise from PEOPLE just really bother him. The brushing does seem to help but it doesn't eliminate it, now it is a bottom lip sticking out and a tear but once we assure him everything is okay it is done. I had a really bad coughing spell once as I inhaled food into the airway that dropped me to the floor..I have always wonder if this is where it started. However, laughing sensitivity started much earlier.

_________________
Lisa.
Ragan 5/1/08
[img]

Ragans Mama wrote:

Ragan has the same problem but it is not crying that will set him off..it is coughing and laughter. Our OT gave me a brush to give him sensory imput as it would seem that it is sensory defensiveness we are dealing with. We talk to him when it happens .

i'll have to talk to rachel's new OT about it when i meet with her on thursday......

_________________
Maggie, mom to Rachel (9/19/09), duodenal atresia repair on 10/26/09, Crohn's Disease
and Charlie (8/12/11)
www.maggiefluck.blogspot.com

Matt is very nearly 8, yet still gets really really upset when his little sister cries. It's got to the point where we get so stressed over her crying - and it's probably unfair on her - but when she does cry, the effect on Matt is awful. He screams, hits himself and gets so so upset even when she's just 'crying' for attention or in temper. I don't know how to fix it, except to tell her to stop. Reassuring Matt seems to make him worse, like we're alerting him to the fact that he really should be worried! Any solutions I'd gladly welcome too!

_________________
Helen

Mum to ...
Rachael, Matt - DS & Autism - and Hannah. My gorgeous kids!

I make eye contact with Noah, and tell him to stop more or less. I tell him "Noah, that's enough", but I keep the eye contact. I take his hands off his ears and make sure he is looking at me when I do this. It's how I try to help him "cope" with his overload...babies are going to cry, people are going to make sudden loud noises...that is just life, so I try my best to help him realise that he can get through it...and I'm here to help him.

_________________
Mom to: Nicholas (May/02), Nathan (April/04), Charlene (June/06), Noah (DS, ASD) (May/07), Jesse Lynn (July/08 ), Tessa (Apr/10), Kaitlyn (Jun/12)

"Sometimes the things we can't change end up changing us"

Oliver did that. It was terrible! It got to the point where we could NOT go out to eat. The sound of someone laughing or a baby crying was too much for him. He'd freak out, cry, try to hide, climb up me, try to bury his face in me. It was miserable. It went on for a couple of years. Risperdal took care of that problem pretty much overnight.

_________________
--Beth
Mom to Oliver, 5 (DS, ADHD)
and Sebastian, 4

My little guy has always done this...I just feel he is so compassionate that he can't stand to see someone else cry ** but more likely he just can't stand the noise** hee.
˜Lauri

_________________

thank you all for your replies....i don't want to go the way of drugs and saying "no" does not work with her. sooo, i think we will have to try and break her in slowly. i just hope she works through it quickly!

_________________
Maggie, mom to Rachel (9/19/09), duodenal atresia repair on 10/26/09, Crohn's Disease
and Charlie (8/12/11)
www.maggiefluck.blogspot.com

Austin did this forever! Even now.. at 7 he can not stand to hear a baby cry. This is especially hard now that he is an uncle of a baby nephew. When he was younger... he'd start crying and have a melt down. We couldn't go to restaurants, play areas.. anywhere there might be small children that cried. He'd hit his head, out yell the baby. It was embarrassing. Then we realized he had more than the average kiddo with DS... sensory issues. We started going to an OT who specialized in Autism, Sensory disorder. She made simple recommendations for us such as getting a MP3 player or CDplayer with ear phones. When we would go out to eat, he'd listen to his music at the restaurant. Worked like a charm.

now that he is older, we realize it's not just that noise, he's scared. Not of the baby, but scared for the baby. He now wants to check to make sure the baby is okay. We can now explain that the baby want's his mommy, he's hungry.. ect.
It does get better!

_________________
Keep the Faith, Amy
Mom to Kristin (26) Jessica (24) Rebecca (21) Rachel (16) Sarah (14) Hunter (11) & Austin (7) DS

Sounds like she may have some sensory issues. Mya doesn't like when babies cry, yell, scream...anything loud, whether they are sad or happy. If you look up sensory processing disorder you can find out more. Not that I would diagnose just from that, but you can learn more about sensory sensitivites. I will say it's gotten better as Mya has gotten older. I try to gradually expose her to sounds (and crowds) without completely overwhelming her. It continues to be a struggle for us though. There are noise reducing headphones too, if it continues to be a problem.

_________________
Emily
mom to Mya, 5 years old (3/16/06)