What I have been reading lately

Well, as I said in the post before I needed a bookmark for all the books that I have been reading lately and so here is a brief list of what I have been reading:

~"How to Raise Your Spirited Child"

~"1-2-3 Magic"

~"Raising a Sensory Smart Child"

My son who will be 4 at the end of May has been having some health/behavioral issues going on with him for a little more than a year now. There are certain foods that he can't have, we have only found 3 of the one's he can't have (chocolate, milk, food coloring)...when he does have them he sits on the floor, he totally tunes out the world around him (this means no consoling him at all) and he cries loudly. This usually happens when we are out somewhere, so all we know works for him at this point is to take him home (a long car ride home with him crying), put pj's on, tuck him into bed with his blankie and rub his back. He usually falls asleep, but when he wakes up an hour or more later he is fine except he has a headache and his tummy hurts or legs hurt. He just recently gave up his beloved pacifiers, it has been 4 weeks how without them...by them I mean he had 7 of them and he liked to rotate sucking on them and carry them all around with him everywhere. He also has sore red excema like splotches on the backs of his knees, on his arms, rough skin on his tummy ( I use Ucerin and also Aveno cream) and dark circles around his eyes...

The other thing we have noticed with him is that he is SUPER sensitive to everything around him, more so than you or I would be. If there is a little drop of water on the floor that he doesn't know about, and he steps on it...he acts like there is a tac on the floor, he will yelp jump a foot off the floor and run screaming down the hallway. Or he can smell things I can't smell for a minute or two after he does, certain lights bother him, certain clothes bother him (can't have tags, and can't have snaps or buttons). There are a few stores that I have to avoid with him, because as soon as I open the door to the store it is as if a switch goes off in him and he just has a complete meltdown. He is very good at puzzles, loves water play (bathtime is a fav. with him), loves to help bake things with me, loves sand play, playdough...he will spend hours there doing any of these things. These are also things I notice help calm him down too :)! Anything else really he doesn't seem to be able to sit still and focus on an activity long enough. He also doesn't have the vocab that probably a few children his age has, thinking the pacifier might have something to do with it.

We have tried lots of different forms of dicipline with him, they don't work with him...this is the main reason I was reading these books in hopes of finding something that helps. The "1-2-3 Magic" book seems to work with him, more than anything else we've tried!! So we went to our family doctor, but she didn't know anything about what I was describing to her..she sent us off to a doctor at our local children's hospital but he just said there was nothing wrong with him and to go home and enjoy him. I was quite upset about that appointment, because I am a trained E.C.E. person and have worked with lots of children...what my son is going through isn't normal!

I went to get my dd's 1 year needles last week, had to bring my son with us...he had an episode there in the office and the doctor asked me if there was something going on with him. I explained everything to him, he wanted me to come back to see him in a week...so I did, and we are now going to see the best allergist in our area at our local children's hospital and we are going to see another pediatrician who deals with behavioral issues. So we are waiting to hear when our appointments are, and hope we are on the right track to find out what is going on with our son...and get him the help he needs. Sorry for the novel, but it takes a lot to explain what is going on with him...lol!