tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126103.post5993035871239378946..comments2023-06-04T10:26:09.731-05:00Comments on The Ark of Our Covenant: HabitsCourtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13677010442934664757noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126103.post-42904626979150047792009-09-18T21:18:24.583-05:002009-09-18T21:18:24.583-05:00My son did the coughing, too. It took a long time ...My son did the coughing, too. It took a long time to get him to stop doing it, maybe almost a year. It was to wake us up because he wanted to get up at 6 every morning!! Nothing ever really worked, it just took time for him realize it just made people mad and no one ever got up with him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126103.post-37063280737839185222009-09-17T10:29:13.275-05:002009-09-17T10:29:13.275-05:00We tried music at night and it keeps Emily awake. ...We tried music at night and it keeps Emily awake. It always seems like what helps one, hurts the other. :) <br /><br />Danielle's picking really doesn't seem to be anxiety related--i.e., I don't see an increase in it when she's in stressful situations (lots of people, school starting, etc.) just an increase when she's sitting around (in timeout or waiting for the other kids get shoes on, for example). She only picks at her skin--not paper, clothing, or toys. I'm hoping once she understands more English and can be more engaged that some of it will go away. I may also try painting her nails as a "reward" to encourage her not to pick at them.<br /><br />The coughing is so frustrating because she actually will call out to us at other times at night (when she's scared or in pain). The coughing doesn't seem to be a way to get comfort so much as a way to get company. Although her 4 yo sister crying because she's been woken up doesn't seem like much company. :) :)Courtneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13677010442934664757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126103.post-82894003885982823602009-09-17T10:19:29.803-05:002009-09-17T10:19:29.803-05:00My Joseph is also a picker. It is DEFINATELY stre...My Joseph is also a picker. It is DEFINATELY stress/anxiety based in his case. If he's not picking at himself, he's destroying something else. He picks at anything and everything that can be picked at - scaps, eyebrows, nails, paper, anything made of foam, stickers, plastic toys, etc. I've yet figured out something that is an effective long term substitute or that stops the behavior - other than alerting him to the fact that he's picking. Yes, that will stop the picking temporarily, but more often than not, he just moves to some other anxiety based behavior - like wetting his pants. Joy.<br /><br />Because of Matthew's attatchment issues, we've yet to be successful in getting him to come to us at night, either - or really to get either of them to come to us consistently for help with anything...except when they don't really need it and just want the attention. More often than not, we have to remind them that they need to ask for help. <br /><br />One thing that has been hugely helpful both in deminishing the nighttime waking and especially nightmares and restlessness is to play a CD of soft, restful music as they are going to sleep. It has made an AMAZING difference for both boys. We now have very few nights where we have nightmares/night terrors. Both of them sleep a LOT better all night long since we started doing that.Dianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08444891084585965661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126103.post-18824379107525058972009-09-17T09:38:40.010-05:002009-09-17T09:38:40.010-05:00On the coughing. This is so familiar, except that...On the coughing. This is so familiar, except that our older son rustled his covers progressively louder and/or moved around in ways to get the bunk bed unit jiggling. You'd be surprised how loud one determined boy can get covers to rustle! Anyway, I love your approach and wish we'd thought of it way back when. (We're past this phase now.) We did have gradual success with practicing (repeatedly practicing) calling us in the night. We would practice it in the middle of the day -- role play everything -- and again around bedtime. I liked that it was teaching him to attach to us. Sometimes the night wakefulness is related to fears/anxiety churning through their minds/bodies (at a biochemical level), and they need help soothing. So we figured if we could get him to call to us, then we could go sooth him. And one call that we could hear, didn't tend to wake up the younger brother.<br /><br />On the picking: This too may be anxiety. I am wondering whether you can substitute something appropriate for her to fiddle with or pick at. A squishy, for example. (See Diana's blog at Gold To Refine -- or get back to me.) Or some cotton balls that could be picked apart. I'm trying to think of soft things because that softness might be comforting to Danielle. You could even tell her that the softness is like your love for her. Just a thought.BThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11802465316673594087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126103.post-10603116284182896142009-09-17T09:23:18.157-05:002009-09-17T09:23:18.157-05:00Courtney, when I was a kid, I would chew on my fin...Courtney, when I was a kid, I would chew on my fingernails until they bled. My Mom would clean those and ONLY those self-inflicted cuts with alcohol instead of hydrogen peroxide. It didn't take long for me to stop drawing blood. Just a thought!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00745192498626871220noreply@blogger.com