pallid attacks

[willsmum]

My three year old was crying this morning in class and a teacher (who he didn't really know) picked him up to see what was wrong. I was in the room, but not close by and he immediately went into a screaming panic calling for me.

When I rushed over and took him out of her arms, he shuddered, his eyes rolled back and he fainted. According to Dr Christopher Green (Toddler Taming) this is a "pallid attack" and is an involuntary response to fear or trauma such as injury in particularly sentitive kids. He did it once before when he fell off his bike - at the time I thought he was winded, but thinking back it was more like a fainting spell.

He is a bit of a sooky kid - has only ever been cared for by family - no child care etc yet - and is therefore not very good at being told what to do by someone else, or for that matter being somewhere without a family member. He is extremely clingy, especially since his sister arrived 6 months ago.

Anyone have any ideas? :confused:

[Lucybelle]

I think you are supposed to show no outward signs of panic/fright yourself and talk calmly to the child to settle him.
My friends son used to do this (or a close variation) when he could'nt get his own way. He was only 12-18mths old at the time though and it really used to upset his mum.
His parents used this plan of attack - if dad was home when it happend, mum would go straight out of the room, dad would pick him up or sit with him on the floor adn firmly say, thats enough. After a while kid realised he wasn't getting the attention he wanted, adn coudln't see the effect it had on mum! All friends were warned to ignore this behaviour and it did work fairly quickly. Mum got strong enough to do the same when she saw the end result.
He was feeding off the effect it had on his parents, until the reward was stopped.

If it happens again, let the teacher handle it, walk over to him (don't rush) with a smile. Let him know by your actions that he's not going to DIE! everything is just fine, and mummy is just over here.

If he finds your weakness, he WILL exploit it! He has a few things to adjust to in his life of course, but it would be better for all if he could learn to have fun at pre-school. It can be something just for him, not the baby. Baby is TOO SMall for painting, only big brothers can do that!

Good Luck