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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Infant & Insistent Habitual Grunting/Whining/Fussing
MarinaVanessa 12:59 PM 02-04-2013
Okay so I know that he's just a baby but I have never seen anything like what this baby does and I'm at a loss for words or for what to think. Maybe someone can shed some light???

I have a 4mo infant that started in mid January so he's fairly new, he's been here only for 3 weeks. Since the beginning I noticed that he was a little on the high needs side of things but I didn't think anything of it considering that he is new, he's an only child, has been home with mom until now and probably held all the time.

It's all pretty standard stuff that you would expect from a new infant like this getting acclimated to a new environment and routine except for one quirk. He has this way of "complaining" in small bursts of grunts and whines that I've never seen another child do. And there excessive, as in he does it the majority of the time for long periods of time.

For example today: gets dropped off at 7:30am and dcm brings him in his car seat asleep. He's fine, dcm leaves. I take him out and put him in pack n play and he starts to grunt (sounds like little pushes) he continues to do it in his sleep for another 45 minutes until he wakes up. Looks around and starts to whine (sounds like a puppy) for a few minutes (I'm changing diapers) then starts to grunt loudly in long bursts and then cries loudly when I don't go to him immediately. I pick him up finally and he stops crying but then starts to grunt unhappily for 15 minutes (while I'm holding him). Doesn't want bottle, doesn't want pacifier. I set him down on changing table to check his diaper and he starts to puppy whine again while I change his wet diaper. Pick him up again and he goes back to grunting. I set him down on infant play gym so I can serve snack and he immediately starts to grunt very loudly for the next 10 minutes until he finally starts to scream cry loudly for another 5 minutes or so. I set snack out and pick him up and he goes back to puppy whining. I offer him a bottle again which he drinks all while still grunting. I burp him and he falls asleep but still grunting in his sleep with a frown on his face and his bottom lip protruding in a pout. ????

Not sure what to make of it or what to do??? I've never seen this before and it's not improving. It's not getting worse either but it's not improving either.

He's PT comes twice a week from 7:30am-12pm. I talked to DCM about having him come more often (she agrees that he's a high needs baby) but I'm not sure that I can handle having him for longer hours or an extra day (I have another infant of 6 months on the other 3 days of the week).

Any ideas or suggestions? Anyone have a kid like this?
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daycarediva 02:15 PM 02-04-2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QEdTGfvEhY


Is it like this??? Take off his shirt. Watch his chest. My son grunted when he was having difficulty breathing and he was having chest retractions while grunting the majority of the time.

I hope it's not that!!!
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daycarediva 02:16 PM 02-04-2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXR2hjy2Z68

more severe version.
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Willow 02:29 PM 02-04-2013
http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/fo...s.asp?TID=5855

GERD, allergies and DGE can all cause those symptoms.

I would recommend to the parents that they consult the baby's pediatrician and possibly request a swallow study be done.
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MarinaVanessa 02:41 PM 02-04-2013
Okay the second one sort of sounded like it at first until I could hear the wheezing. This baby doesn't wheeze and his chest doesn't heave like that. I don't think it's breathing problems and I've noticed that he does it mainly when he is unhappy such as when he wants to be picked up and I can't immediately get to him.

I've been experimenting with him today and I found that If I don't pick him up and hold him right away he will grunt louder and louder, if I pick him up he will stop immediately (but I have to be standing and moving around). If I just pick him up and I'm on the floor (kneeling) he will whine like a puppy as if he is unhappy ??? he has a sad pouty face on. If I put him back down he goes back to grunting (it's almost like a growl) and if I take too long to pick him up he starts to scream/cry. At that point if I still can't get to him quickly and let him cry for more than a few minutes he completely goes wild and starts to scream and at that point even if I were to pick him up it can take me up to 1 hr and 15 minutes to get him to calm down. It's literally like a screaching cry that's repetitive over and over again ...
RRaaghh! RRaaghh! RRaaghh! RRaaghh! RRaaghh! RRaaghh! RRaaghh! nonstop.

At that point after I finally got him to calm down he went back to puppy whining until he fell asleep (I had to swaddle him and give him a bottle) and then went back to grunting for about 10 minutes then stopped once he was in deep sleep.

He does this with DCM too but she of course has the ability to pick him up and carry him immediately, I don't have that luxury. This baby wants to be picked up within a minute or two of starting to cry.

He just went to the Dr's and DCM said that nothing seemed out of ordinary. She will ask about it again next month when he goes in to get vaccinated. At this point I think it's just his way of asking for attention but he sometimes does it when he's just hanging out comfortably playing in the baby gym or on his tummy. He's content but still grunts. He rarely babbles like a baby ... just makes grunting noises. Weird.

And after the majority of the morning of repetedly hearing the same thing over and over it's a little tedious lol ... think ....
Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr Grrr

Same tone, same length for long periods of time.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 03:24 PM 02-04-2013
Holy cow that would make for a long day.
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Unregistered 03:51 PM 02-04-2013
I have a 7 month old who started on 11/26. She has been just as you described since she's been here. She grunts during her bottle feeding (breast milk) and refuses food. It takes an hour to feed her a bottle. She whines constantly and the dad today acknowledged this. We go for a walk in the stroller and she screams. Now that she is able to sit up, she can go for a little while without complaining. I have seriously considered terminating her several times. The other babies are happy and go with the flow most of the time. I hope it gets better, but I think the parents are so attentive that it's just going to be this way until she has to go to preschool. I ask parents to move their children to another setting when the babies are about 15-18 months old then I get a whole new round of infants.
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MarinaVanessa 03:55 PM 02-04-2013
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
Holy cow that would make for a long day.
You're telling me . Thank goodness he's only here twice a week for four and a half hours a day. I've been working with him like I do with all of my new infants and trying to get him used to not having his demands met immediately but so far I have seen no improvements when usually it would be at least a little bit better. I will talk to him to sooth him and make eye contact with him and such so that he knows that I see him and aware of him but make him wait a few minutes each time that he starts to fuss to try to get him used to being in group care but after an hour of non-stop repetitive grunts it's like nails on a chalkboard.

I'll give it another few weeks and see how it goes. He's here only for this semester (while DCM goes to school) and if I don't see improvements in his needing to be held or a reduction in his grunting and screaming I don't think I'll be extending their contract if she goes back for summer or fall session .
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Heidi 04:10 PM 02-04-2013
The 7 mo I have pt does something like that. She growls alot...like if I don't feed her fast enough, or if she wants mom to "wiggle" the carseat.

She's the one that can roll over and sit up, but pretty much wont. Alas...she's bound to be an unhappy child and a tragic teenager...lol She's done here at the end of May, so I just try to not do this... when she can see it.
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MarinaVanessa 04:13 PM 02-04-2013
Originally Posted by Heidi:
The 7 mo I have pt does something like that. She growls alot...like if I don't feed her fast enough, so if she wants mom to "wiggle" the carseat.

She's the one that can roll over and sit up, but pretty much wont. Alas...she's bound to be an unhappy child and a tragic teenager...lol She's done here at the end of May, so I just try to not do this... when she can see it.
Oh yeah, mine too. Apparently the 4mo rolls over all of the time at home but has NEVER done it in DC and he makes quite a stink when he's laid on his back .
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cheerfuldom 06:19 PM 02-04-2013
yeah that sounds familiar. i just termed a 10 month old. even if she was not crying, she was always making attention seeking noise. she wanted someone to be making eye contact and entertaining her at all times, which is what they do at home. very, very spoiled. the repeating noises is just to much for me, mentally. i got noise fatigue really bad with her. it was grunting, whining, crying, ehhh-ehhhh-ehhh-ehhhh over and over an over. today was the first day that she was not here and it was wonderful!
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Unregistered 04:38 PM 07-13-2015
Maybe they could have a neurological condition...many aren't diagnosed under 1 year old. The posts here make me not want to leave my child with anyone. Talking about a child this way. wow hope you're all proud. my daughter does all this too and she may very well have asd just as i do. it's not easy being away from mommy and your safe space.
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Michael 05:58 PM 07-13-2015
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Maybe they could have a neurological condition...many aren't diagnosed under 1 year old. The posts here make me not want to leave my child with anyone. Talking about a child this way. wow hope you're all proud. my daughter does all this too and she may very well have asd just as i do. it's not easy being away from mommy and your safe space.
Its easy to come here and dump on the providers. I allow for unregistered to converse here but if you continue to act in this nonconstructive manner, I will block further comments from you at my discretion. If you want to register and provide accurate information, I may consider your conversation if its a reasonable argument with the member's topic.
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mommyneedsadayoff 07:20 PM 07-13-2015
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
yeah that sounds familiar. i just termed a 10 month old. even if she was not crying, she was always making attention seeking noise. she wanted someone to be making eye contact and entertaining her at all times, which is what they do at home. very, very spoiled. the repeating noises is just to much for me, mentally. i got noise fatigue really bad with her. it was grunting, whining, crying, ehhh-ehhhh-ehhh-ehhhh over and over an over. today was the first day that she was not here and it was wonderful!
OMG this is exactly how I feel with my 22 month dcg! I never knew there was a name for how I feel, but noise fatigue is exactly it! I know she is older than the kids mentioned here and she does not grunt, but is constantly making whine noises and follows me around constantly, repeating the same phrase over and over and over, until I either give in or tell her no firmly, in which case she starts crying. I have tried everything, yet it is non stop all day. She is a sweet kid when she has my direct attention, but once another kid needs my attention, she goes right back into whine mode.

I have never had the grunting baby, so I wish I could give advice on it, but if all is well health wise and you notice is directly happening when he is not getting one to one attention, then it may just be is way of trying to get attention. It may take awhile for him to outgrow it or get used to your care unless he comes more often, but I feel your pain!
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MarinaVanessa 09:30 AM 07-14-2015
This was my post (2 years ago). I stuck with it for a couple of weeks but it never did get better. The other kids started to cover their ears when that baby was here and they were so unhappy and cranky that I finally had to throw in the towel. It was definitely wearing the group down.

I termed and we parted ways respectfully and on good terms. I bumped into DCM about a year later and I asked how he was doing and she said that they went through a couple of nannies before she finally had to quit and stay at home.
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Unregistered 11:24 AM 03-16-2016
What a sigh of relief! I watch a 6 month old that does all of what you are describing. He has since he came here at 6 weeks. He's actually doing it now as my LO tries to sleep and I type this because I just need a break from the noise. He just seems unhappy unless he's sleeping or eating. He won't roll over, won't sit up, won't hold his bottle, hates tummy time and is just not very interactive with anyone. He will acknowledge you with a smile and will give a little grunting laugh but that's about it. I've tried swapping toys, rooms, activity equipment and nothing seems to work. He is here 5 days a week from 730 am until about 545-6pm. From what I understand there is a lot of TV time when he is not here. It seems to keep his attention and he is less grumpy (but still noisy). However, I just HATE the idea of plopping him in front of the TV. It makes me feel helpless (as I know he probably feels the same way too). I have recently decided I will have to part ways and feel horrible about it. I agreed to keep him for a few more months until they can find another DC but it seems like an eternity away. My LO is 23 months and feels the affects of his behavior and is getting very jealous of the attention I have to give him. I have two kids myself and my biggest accomplishment thus far has been being a mother. I take huge pride in my children and my abilities as a mother. I hate to see anyone degrade another person for honestly doing their best to help an unhappy child. One truly doesn't know what it's like until you've gone through it. It can cause soooooo many problems within your household and within yourself. This was a great thread and really helped me from feeling alone in this matter.
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Unregistered 01:41 PM 05-27-2016
So no one knows what's causing this or what it is? A family member of mine has a child doing this. He is 7 months. He doesn't coo or babble only grunts. His grunts become screams when she puts him down or walks away. But he also grunts to communicate.
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Unregistered 05:59 PM 07-13-2016
My infant does this when he has gas and tummy aches and he does it off and on all day. The moment I start doing bicycle legs with him or start walking around dancing, he stops the screaming and just continues to grunt because he has a hard time going to the bathroom. It happens for some babies. After I do bicycle legs with him until he stops grunting or has movement, he is better and doesn't scream or grunt anymore. It happens everyday anywhere from 30 minutes after feeding or a few hours. It is unpredictable. Don't know if that was the case in this situation but sounds just like what my son does.
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Unregistered 05:35 AM 12-20-2016
Agree with the "Wow" comment. I find this thread full of disgusting comments. You guys are exactly why I stay at home. The thought of leaving my kid with someone like you makes my heart hurt. You should be ashamed. It's a ****ing infant for goodness sake.
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MarinaVanessa 08:12 AM 12-20-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Agree with the "Wow" comment. I find this thread full of disgusting comments. You guys are exactly why I stay at home. The thought of leaving my kid with someone like you makes my heart hurt. You should be ashamed. It's a ****ing infant for goodness sake.
I'm genuinely interested in what exactly about my comments (or someone else's) is "disgusting. This is my post from years ago about an issue I was worried about because I didn't know if it could have been a medical issue (it wasn't in this case, according the child's pediatrician) and I reached out for ideas because the baby was not comfortable. I wanted to try to fix the issue if I could so that he could be happier and thrive while in my care.

From reading some of the comments this was an issue that had happened before and those providers were also concerned. If it's the "humor" that I used to make jokes well that's just my personality. I always make light of things. If it was the complaint that it was wearing on me, that's because it was. This baby made these noises the entire time that he was with me or any other caregiver unless he was being held and you paced with him, sometimes even then and there was no obvious reason for this and he did not do it around his parents. They went through several nannies after me that also had the same issue and it didn't work out with them either. Mom had to quit her job because the issue was so severe yet the baby did not do it around her.

So again, I just want to know what it was about the comments that affected you so much that you felt the need to criticize on a post that's almost 4 years old.
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daycarediva 09:40 AM 12-20-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Agree with the "Wow" comment. I find this thread full of disgusting comments. You guys are exactly why I stay at home. The thought of leaving my kid with someone like you makes my heart hurt. You should be ashamed. It's a ****ing infant for goodness sake.
What was disgusting? Who comes on a 3 (?)year old thread to berate providers. Op was obviously concerned that this was something she had never seen before, as an experienced provider, and was seeking input/help.



Parents like YOU should be staying at home.
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Woodard 01:12 PM 03-12-2021
I know this is a 8 year old thread, but I was searching for reasons my normally happy baby started becoming fussy, had to be held, and was constantly grunting, and I run across this thread. Turns out she had two ear infections. She also was having trouble sleeping and wasn't interested in eating. She wasn't crying at all, just fussy, unhappy, and grunting.

I wonder if the original baby in question had some sort of underlying infection - yeast, UTI, ear, etc. and was generally "mellow" and therefore their experssion of pain was just fussiness/grunting.
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