Is this a symptom of Autism?

Is there perhaps something else wrong? Have you mentioned it to a doctor? How old is he?

17 mths old seems to be a bit above the age for crying at night time, unles he is having night terrors, there are soo many symptoms for autism alot in speech delay and social interaction. I would take him to the pediatrician and voice your concerns to him to find out what could be causing the crying.

talked to at least 4 different doctors about it, they all said he seems fine it just takes some babies longer to sleep through the night, I mean I admit hes doing much better now than 4 months ago (and for so many months when he was first born he literally woke up every hour on the hour) Its just extremely hard on me that I havent actually slept for more than a couple hours at a time for SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long/

I'd hit up your relatives for help, take an evening's vacation or something. You sound like you need a break.

i agaree

i dont think that the doctors are right for some reason can you figure out why he is crying? i have a friend that had a baby and he did the same thing--i cant remember why he was crying but it was an easy fix.

As a mother of 3, it sounds like his daytime crying is mostly frustration and developmentally normal.

About the nightime...not one of my 3 kids slept through the night until they were 22 mos. or older. And even after that they still woke sometimes, even a few times at night here or there until they were around 4 years old. My solution was the family bed. If they woke crying I would pat them back to sleep or nurse them if they were still nursing. A lot better than getting up to go to a child's room 1/2 awake. It used to make me insane too...and exhausted. But anyone who tells you that's not normal has probably put their little ones through "crying it out" or some form of sleep training. I don't personally agree with that, I'd rather just ride out this rough time. My 12, 8 and 4 year old sleep great and are very secure and loved because I sacrificed for them when they were younger and more demanding.

You will survive and this difficult time will be a distant memory. My advice is to find a mom's group/playgroup/playdates with other moms who share your viewpoint. This is a time when you need support. Nobody tells you this when they are younger but the under 2 age is hard as all. It is probably the hardest time of your life. But the older they get the easier it gets.

Great books on tantrums and sleeping through the night are by William Sears, the baby book etc. He is a Christian Pediatrician whose wife is a lactation specialist and they have over 7 kids. Hang in there...you can do it.

Blessings,
Deb

I hear you loud and clear! First I want to ask you, is crying the only symptom he has? My son cried insessantly from about the age of 6mos or so to 4 years old. (I went on antidepressant medication because I went into major depression). But there were other symptoms, holding him wouldn't soothe him (like a normal baby crying), when he would look at you he would just seem to be looking "through" you or "past" you, His language development was late.

My doctor told me all was normal, but it was not...at the age of 12 he was diagnosed with PDD-nos (not Aspergers or Autism but on the Autistic Spectrum) He had and still has semantic pragmatic disorder (also on the spectrum) These children find it more difficult to extract the central meaning or the saliency of an event. They tend to focus on detail instead; for example the sort of child who finds the duck hidden in the picture but fails to grasp the situation or story in the picture or the child who points out the spot on your face before saying 'hello'.

Don't leave it too long, however the sleep habits should improve (though I always found my son to be the lightest sleeper and seem to require alot less sleep than our other son.

Hope this helps a little.

I would contact your pediatrician and see what he thinks is wrong in the meantime it is important that you have some time for yourself and recruit friends and family to give a helping hand.

I have heard of people driving their kids around for 20 minutes or so and somehow it puts the youngins at peace of mind just enough for them to fall asleep (even though gas is sooo expensive). maybe it's a useful tip. i wish you luck with your child, i'm sure he or she is fine

Here is another thought - My oldest son cried and cried. Nothing would comfort him. I finally figured out it was his tummy. He was breast fed exclusively so it wasn't an allergy to a formula. His belly just hurt him. He had gas and was in pain. Gas drops helped tremendously. You could give it a try as simethicone (gas drops) are benign and won't hurt your baby.

Is there any possibility that your little guy is in pain?

3 of my 4 boys had colic. I know how you feel. Car rides and putting the car seat on top of the dryer with the baby in it and turning on the dryer can soothe a little one.

Georgia59 is right. You need a break from this. See if anyone would watch him for you so you can take a walk, run to the store, just get away for a bit.

If you are not satisfied with the answers the doctor is giving you then find another doctor. Crying like this is not the norm. You know your baby so don't doubt yourself. Keep looking - the answers are out there.

I had one son that slept through the night, the next son didn'[t. He was quite colicy. I think every child is different. My first one was breast fed, the second one was bottle fed. I don't know if that made a difference o not. It could be anything. I agree that a break is a good idea. If you have family nearby or sometimes yo can get respite. Good luck, and hang in there.

I'm sorry to hear you haven't slept for sooo long. I had a lot of problems with my son from about 2 - 6 months. We took him to the doctor literally every week, and we kept hearing that he was a little colliky. We ended up giving him lactose free milk, which helped tremendously. But what I found to be the most helpful thing was a sound machine, which he still uses. The brand is Homedics. I turn that on when goes to sleep at night and when he takes naps. Without that he doesn't sleep as long or as good. There are different sounds and all. Since he's been sleeping better, he is very well rested and rarely cries. I'm not sure this will help, but it's just an idea. Sometimes the vacuum cleaner is great too. Have you tried that?
Good luck and try to find a way to get some rest.

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Hi...
Does your son show any other Autistic signs, my son screamed, cried like he was in agony from teething and i used to medicate panadole from the age 16monthes.... however it was the frustration of not being able to communicate... we had him fully diagnosed by the age of 2.5years.. however we were told from the age of 18monthes it was leaning towards Austism...

Maybe you should get your son assessed...my advice is if your gut feeling is telling somthing is not right than its probely not...and the most important thing is to take care of yourself....