[fraidycat]

My 16 month old cries a lot. He wakes up crying and continues to cry even when he is picked up. Other times he cries when he wants to be picked up out of his cot. He cries when he wants something. How do you deal with this? It is starting to send me nuts. It is the start of tantrums.

[TheAP]

Have you had him checked by your GP? My DS gets like this when he has a middle ear infection or a mild UTI.

If he's otherwise healthy then you just have to hang in there. Find something that distracts him when you first get him out of his cot. Get out and go for a walk with the pram if it's getting too much through the day. My DS cried a lot at about 14-15 months and then had a language explosion. As soon as he could communicate and get us to understand the crying stopped. He must have been frustrated!

Hope you're ok.

[greengoddess]

My little guy at 19 months is still very whingey like this - cries for/at everything! But he's not saying a whole lot yet and I'd agree with the PP that it's frustration at not being able to communicate yet. We've done some signs with him and that does help a lot as he can tell us specific things, like when he's hungry or needs a nappy change etc.

[Jenflea]

My daughter turns 2 this month and still whinges and cries more than the few babies I've known have done.
I think it can be part of who they are really, just have to ride it out.
I can count on maybe 2 hands the number of times she's NOT woken from a sleep or nap crying.
Now she's getting better at speech, she tends to wake up wit a chant of "mum mum mummumumum" which is a touch better than crying!

[fraidycat]

Thank you for your comments. I didn't know if what he is doing is normal. He has not got an ear infection but is cutting 5 teeth. I dont really know when it is appropriate to give panadol.

[Jenflea]

If he's cutting FIVE teeth I'd be giving him panadol (or Nurafen which works better on inflammation) at the suggested doses for a few days at least.
And see if he'd chew on a cold teething ring or wet washcloth.