Rhiannon

by Pam
(Ballarat, Australia)

You cannot believe what a relief it was for me to discover your website, my daughter Rhiannon is now 11 years old.

From the beginning I was told it was my fault I was too stressed and that is why she just cried all the time, although it was more screams of pain than crying, she would sleep for maybe 2 hours out of every 24, to get any work done around the house I had to tie her to me so that she was tight against my chest, she would not allow anyone else in the family to hold her or do anything for her, if someone took her from me she would scream till she stopped breathing.

I spent my days driving from one baby clinic to the next trying to find answers, the pediatrician told me to resign myself to the fact that I had an angry baby, the child psychologist told us she needed to be disciplined as she was running the family.

People stopped visiting, because if anyone else came into the house she would scream, we couldn't go anywhere where there were crowds she would just cry all the time. Everything had to be done exactly the same everytime, putting her into a cot, only from the right had side, the blankets were not allowed to have any creases in them, her bottle had to be heated for exactly 37 seconds, not more or less or she wouldn't drink it. When she got older the fringes on the carpets all had to be straight, she couldn't stand the sound of the vacuum cleaner. Would not play with other children, I gave up taking her to birthday parties, because she would spend the entire time on my lap or hiding behind me. I had to rock her to sleep every night until she was too heavy for me, then I had to lie on the bed with her for hours until she went to sleep. Certain peoples voices drove her over the edge, she hated the car and would cry constantly.

She was also a very picky eater and would only eat very bland and white coloured foods, with the result we had terrible trouble with her stomach, always constipated,

She hated all clothing and would scream if cloth nappies were put on her, I did discover that she loved water, so from the age of about 5 months, I would strip her naked, put her in a bucket of water and carry her round the house so that I could do my chores. I tried everything, crystals, Hari Krishna's, Homeopaths you name it I tried it, eventually when she was 3 I took her to an OT who diagnosed Tactile Defensiveness, my pediatrician insisted that this was a condition that didn't exist. Rhiannon slept through the night for the first time when she was 5.

Rhiannon as talking full sentences by the age of 12 months, but only gave up her bottle at age 4/5 and was very difficult to toilet train. She also walked on her toes till about the age of 3, and was always falling over or bumping into things.

We used to joke that if you looked carefully on the back of her head you would see the 666. The nurses as the baby clinic said I could rent her out to high schools as a preventative measure for teenage pregnancies.

Today she is a very intelligent young girl, but still with issues, she does not like meeting new people, she is almost physically ill when she is put into a situation where she will be out of her comfort zone, although this is improving as she gets older, has phobias about germs and has problems using bathrooms that she doesn't know. Everything in her life is very ordered and organised, her reading for the year has already been planned, and I cannot buy her anymore books till she has completed her list.

She has a wonderful sense of humour and is very mature in her thinking. I could go on for hours about this very special child of mine.