We are scheduled to have our 2 year old evaluated for sensory integration/spectrum disorders, but wanted to put my feelers out to those that have had similar experiences.
HISTORY/BACKGROUND:
My daughter has a history of insomnia/sleep disorders, beginning at 12 months and continuing to today. She has never been able to 'travel well' or sleep in unfamiliar places--things outside of her normal routine. Recently there has been a lot of change in her life. We moved, welcomed a new baby into the home, have had lots of family visiting, etc, etc. It's understandably a lot for a 2yr old to digest, and she didn't handle it well. She decided to stop sleeping all together, standing in her crib for 8-10 hours on end (no, that's not a typo), waiting for mom and dad to come back into the room. Most nights she would fall asleep standing up. This lasted 3 wks and stopped a week ago after introducing melatonin. We will taper off the melatonin in the next few days and hope her sleep cycle has 'rebooted' and she will be able to fall asleep on her own once again.
RECENT EVENTS
Recently she started covering her ears at loud noises, and cling to our legs in fear of them. She is petrified of sirens, and covers her ears at even the most distant of siren sounds. Cars, motorcycles, trucks, ambulances, and thunder have been the most common culprits. What's interesting is that it's not loud noises in general that she reacts to. It's only certain noises (such as those listed above) and it's not necessarily only when they're loud. She reacts to these noises at volumes that wouldn't bother anyone else. When we're inside the house, if a car or truck drives by the house she covers her ears and says "noise!". This behavoir has progressed significantly over the last week. She's getting worse almost by the hour, and it's scaring us.
Has anyone else gone through this?
EDIT:
Somebody mentioned that sensory integration disorders usually effect more than 1 sense. While I don't know if that is right or wrong, I neglected to mention in my original write-up that she has also been telling us "hurt" every time we put on a new pair of shorts/pants/diaper and has a new obsession with tags on clothing, telling us they "hurt" even when they are not touching her.
Not so much the loud noises, that can be perfectly normal. It is usually noises that no one normal would react to. Like I think Andy was 8 or 9 before he stopped screaming for everyone to shut up when singing happy birthday. Now I could sing it and he was okay, actually anything I sing is soothing to him. Sensory issues are strange.
I'm basing this ONLY on what you've shared in your post so far. I don't think it's Sensory Integration Disorder/Sensory Processing Disorder. It encompasses far more than just one sense (in this case, hearing) but would include most if not all of her senses. It would interfere with daily living. She would be overly sensitive to certain things and under-sensitive at other times. She would engage in sensory seeking behavior to stimulate her senses, but she would also engage in sensory avoidance behaviors when she's overstimulated.
It's very, very complex. What could be happening is that yes, she's sensitive to certain sounds. It happens. Many people are. One of my nieces (now 16) has always had trouble with typical sounds being too loud for her and too aggravating and distressing because of the shape of her ears. Her outer ears are shaped in such a way that they capture and funnel sounds into her ears so that she hears everything much more loudly than is typical. She's only just now growing out of it and "into" her ears.
It seems that with all of the major changes that have happened recently, she didn't have any chance to truly transition. That had to all be very stressful for her. It sounds like she's have a stress response and it's something she can't control. It's not something she just decided to do.
What I'm curious about is why you made your 2 year old wait for you for 8 hours or at least for long enough during the night that she fell asleep standing up??? Don't you realize that in a new house in a new bedroom AT NIGHT with a new family dynamic (new baby) with all new night sounds outside due to the new house, everything is all wrong to her? Nothing in her life is the same right now. She's scared because nothing is really familiar and for all she knows, since everything else she felt was stable and secure was ripped away from her, Mommy and Daddy will be too some time during the night.
There's proof if you're letting her stand in her crib crying to fall asleep. She needs reassurances. She needs explanations and soothing. She's still a baby at only 2 years old. She needs to have her old routine adhered to as much as possible and have as much attention from you and daddy as much as possible. ESPECIALLY when she's feelings these fears at night.
EDIT: I do have a daughter with serious Sensory Integration Disorder as it relates to her Autism. At first your post reminded me of when we moved into our house when she was 18 months, then had a baby when she was 2 years old, moved her out of her crib right when we moved, and we had all of these changes in her routine and she didn't handle them well. Except she also had the Autism that we didn't realize. She was also lactose intolerant. She had additional behaviors due to the Autism and the full spectrum of Sensory Integration Disorder as well as other food intolerances and issues I don't have time or space to go into here.
You know, about half the people who answer this question will say "you need to get her evaluated" (I can see the future lol) and about half will say you have a normal child.
I am no psycologist, but I have two children, and I have seen a huge trend lately in diagnosing and labeling perfectly normal children with things that will follow them for life, and they will play up to.
Every child pretty much has some degree of fear, weird behaviors and eccentricities. I know my 8 year old would be diagnosed with ADD, ODD aspergers, SPD etc if I took him to a doctor, but I don't want to to carry those labels, when it could be a natural stage in his life. He has gone through the exact phase you are describing, and actually still hates loud noises, certain songs, and will cover his ears, and hide under a blanket at them. But I also hate loud noises, and polystyrene squeaks, and lots of other seemingly innocuous noises, but I am pretty much not crazy.
It has been hard to do stuff with my son, because of his fearfulness, but I try to ease him into things gently, not take him to too many noisy crowded places if I don't have to, and reassure him. A lot.
it sounds more like anxiety than sensitivity to noses. She's anxious about what those particular noises mean. Maybe she relates the truck outside to the sound of the moving van. Maybe she relates the sound of sirens to going to the hospital to visit new baby. I'm just throwing out possibilities, but it really does sound more like anxiety, given the change in sleeping patterns and all the disruption to her schedule and surroundings..
There is a book called The Highly Sensitive Child by Elaine Aron, and it might give you some insight into your daughter's behavior. I checked it out from the library to see if my son falls into this category. She also has a website (www.hsperson.com) if you want to check that out as well. It could be that your daughter is just reacting to the change in moving plus having a new sibling, and her ability to adjust to the change is taking longer than it would for other children. The book has some interesting ideas on children who are highly sensitive; they don't fit into any category as far as being diagnosed, but they still react differently than other children to certain things (loud repetitive noises, doesn't do well with big changes or large crowds, etc.). The website has the list of characteristics and behaviors that fall into this category of being highly sensitive if you want to take a look. Good luck!
As far as the loud sounds. Around two years of age my daughter started something similar with covering her ears at any "loud sound." Of course if she made the loud sound it did not bother her (like screeching in that high girly voice that makes adults cover their ears). At age 5 my daughter is still senstive to loud noises but she quickly covers her ears and when the noise passes she uncovers her ears. I have found it is a certian pitch, no matter the loudness of the pitch, that bothers my daughter.
To my it is all apart of growing up. They are processing so much and I think that certian pitch/noise is too much for them. I have thought of taking my daughter in to get tested but after 3 years of living with this it seems to be getting better so I will not take my daughter in. I simple help talk her through it or I tell her cover her ears because we can not avoid the noise so shs has to learn to deal with it (of course I help her learn ways to deal with it). All I did was research online and at the library with ways to help teach my daughter how to deal with what she is afriad of, I decided to skip the doctors because I do not want my daughter labled if I can help teach her skills to deal with it. Now if that stops working or does not work then I would approach the doctors.
My daughter also does not sleep well in strange places. So if I can sleep next to her or near her she seems to adjust better. At age 4 my daughter became afriad of the dark, out of the blue, so we talked through it got a LED night light that casts a small glow on part of the room and she does much better. Kids are processing so much, everything is changing all the time as they are learning more about something. Talking through all those things can help, it may take a long time to over come but every child is different.
You are in a new house, new baby, her world is changing and she is reacting to all those changes, all of which are happeneing ontop of her new level of learning. She needs to be reassured, you may already be doing this, just keep doing it and look for new ways to reassure her about all the changes. I spent TWO night sleeping in my daughter's room when we first moved to show her it was ok. I told her I will sleep in her ONLY two nights so you know it is ok, and then a few years later we had to get a night light. It is not easy for you and it is not easy for her but hopefully in time things get better or you both learn how to deal/live with it.
Hope you get answers and ways to help your daughter. I recommend the book Highly Sensitive Child too, it really helped me understand my daughter better so I could help her in ways that worked for her. I really had to throw out everything I was doing before, which was hard, but changing the way I apporached things helped my daughter.
based on the sleep issue and ear issue, I would agree with the evaluation, however I would do some additional research.
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/
this is where I went to get prepared for my son's evaluation.
I may be way off here, but my son has always had what I called supersonic hearing. He reacted much the same way as your daughter to the same sounds. Come to find out he has allergies and had a lot of fluid in his ears (eventually had to have tubes placed and it is getting better). The ENT explained that deeper noises affected him differently because of the fluid in his ears. Also, he was never a good sleeper but since the tubes he is doing better. Doc said the pressure from the fluid when he was lying down could very well have been the culprit.
Just a different thing to possibly consider. I never knew he had allergies because he didn't present with the typical symptoms--no runny nose, sneezing, etc.
GL and hope you get some answers fast!
Auditory Integration Therapy helped our son in this area. Good luck!
One of our children has seemed particularly sensitive to loud noises and would startle easily. That meant NO movie theatres and issues at any sort of concert, festival or fireworks. She STILL has issues with thunderstorms. I even asked her this week if she wanted to camp out in the backyard with us and sleep in a tent and she said, "No way Mom, those crickets and outside noises drive me crazy and I can't sleep!"
When she was 2 we did our best to eliminate or remove her from situations we knew she couldn't handle. I also bought a big container of those foam ear plugs for her and we'd take them everywhere - even to parades due to all the bands and sirens passing us by.
She has no "disorders" (although we never took her to a dr for this either). She is getting better with age and at understanding "what drives her crazy". She does not tantrum anymore, she just is able to tell us what's bothering her. We have learned to have her cover her ears, hum or read a little book until a storm passes.
At two, the best you can do is comfort her, validate her fears and help her cope.
My daughter does sort of the same thing. She will yell noisy or scary, but she doesn't clap her hand over her ears. I think for her it's just an attention thing, she knows that saying those things will get a reaction from us, even if it's just a chuckle and a "It's just a truck, it's ok". I think the more you react probably the worse it will become. I am glad you are getting and eval. Even though I think she is ok, it will give you some peace of mind. Hang in there and good luck.
My daughter started doing this around her second birthday. Sirens, trucks passing if we were outside, motorcycles, our house alarm and door chime, the doorbell, car alarms, etc. would make her cover her ears. When she looked at me with concern, looking for my reaction, I just smiled, chuckled, told her what the sound was and ignored it. She has stopped for the most part, but still does it when she hears a knock at our door or the doorbell. We still call her a silly girl, laugh about it and ignore it. Never have I even considered it a sign of a problem, just a toddler quirk. They are strange little creatures, toddlers are, and they do some silly, weird things and it's PERFECTLY NORMAL.
It could be your reaction to these behaviors that your daughter is seeking. With all the changes, if this gets your undivided attention for a few minutes, it's paying off for her. That would also explain the increase in these behaviors. Before rushing her to a diagnosis, unless she shows other sensory issues with food, clothing or interpersonal issues like communication, affection and interaction, try simply changing your response. If she clings to you, remove her firmly while telling her what the sound is and laughing it off. Don't draw it out into a snuggle session or a lot of one-on-one time, act as though she's not doing it at all. Keep that up for a week or so and see if the incidents lessen. Good luck!
My 8y nephew does this. What I've noticed, is that if he sees what is causing the noise, he isn't as quick to do it. Also, when he is playing music with his cousins and wants it to be his turn again, he will cover his ears, and scream that its too loud, but then within a minute HE is playing the instrument.
Strangely enough, his mom signed him up for drum lessons as a bonding thing with his step-dad. When he is at his lesson he does not have a sensitivity problem, but when he's in Grandpa's basement, and one of my kids is playing the drums, all of the sudden the noise hurts his ears....
Not saying that there isn't a problem, just in my case he's learned to work the room.
M.
