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Sensory Processing Disorder

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Newborn stage? Early warning signs?

Last edited 10/23/2012

Did any of your kids refuse to be swaddled as a nb?  My son HATED it right from the beginning.  I think I swaddled him the first night home from the hospital, but that was it, after that he wouldn't tolerate it.  He would scream and scream.  He spent a lot of time sleeping in his swing because he had almost constant ear infections and he would have a blanket over him, but he wouldn't let us swaddle him.  I wasn't able to babywear with him either because he was all squished up in there and he hated it.  Even now he freaks if he's wrapped too tightly or if his arms get pinned.


Other than that I can't think of anything he did as a baby that sent off warning bells...it wasn't until later I started realizing he was different.  I know some of you said you knew right off, how did you know?

Comments (11)

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Group Owner
Posted 10/18/2012
Severe sleep disturbances (she slept 4hours in total out of 24 in 45min stretches.the first.3months).She wouldn't go to anyone but myself or my husband.She was so sensitive to light that even a small sliver of it coming from a mostly closed door when you carried her to bed would wake her up.The same with sound.The click of switching the baby monitor on would wake her.She refused to be put down and would be inconsolable if not held.Also ,the only way to get her to sleep was to breastfeed her.She had a fascination with ceiling fans,they were the most hilarious thing ever. This was all before 4months. And yes,she hated being swaddled.
Posted 10/18/2012

I started to suspect when DS was few weeks old, I contacted first Ot when he was 2 months old (but we were brushed away). 

- very, I mean VERY fussy baby. Of course I've been told he is colicky, I am not calm enough etc. He was crying or squeaking most of the time;

- nursed very frequently;

- sleep issues; difficulty falling asleep, problems staying asleep. To put him to sleep we've had to literally jump up and down with him in our arms. Often it was taking me longer to just put him to sleep than he was actually sleeping afterwards;

-very alert right from the start. I have pictures of him with eyes wide open while still in the delivery room;

- hated diaper changes, his baby rocker, car seat and stroller - prone position was way too hard (now we know his occiput has been jammed during the labor, but then we couldn't figure out why he hated all the things other children love);

- very tight/strong neck muscles - he was holding his head at one week old (again, result of the traumatic birth);

- he appeared high tone, but then didn't have fists all the time etc;

- he rolled over at 7 weeks, lifted his head also very early;

- he hated wearing, baby carriers etc;


later on it was more;

- crawled before he was able to sit down;

- shortly after lifted himself to standing and was able to stand for hours (I am not kidding, when he was 7 months old he could stand holding to his playpen for very long stretches);

- loved messy play, was smearing foods etc.;

- mouthing everything, how happy he was to get his first food!;

- obsessed with fans (he still is), but it is love-and-hate relationship - he is sometimes visibly stressed;

- not able to occupy himself as a tiny baby. He was demanding carrying up, changing positions frequently;

- his first reactions to new textures like grass, the playground flooring etc. were hilarious;


Last edited 10/18/2012

One of my kids without any sensory issues hated to be swaddled, so I don't consider that a symptom in my kids - though none of my kids, including the two with the sensory issues liked beign swaddled.  YDS was a fairly typical young baby.  ODS was an entirely different story.  It was trial by fire!  He was never happy unless he was nursing.  He slept far less than all the books said.  He didn't have different cries - there was one all out the-world-is-ending cry and that was it.  Many of ODS's behaviors would have looked like ADHD from the outside.  (But since I have sensory quirks, I could recognize them as such).

As for physical milestones, ODS did everything early except for rolling.  He HATED being on his belly.  He rolled for the first time at 6.5 months, the same week he pulled to standing and starting walking holding onto things.  YDS, on the other hand, rolled at the average time but was late on all the other physical milestones.   While ODS was the intense kid, YDS was laidback for quite a while. 

Food was a disaster.  Neither YDS nor ODS would eat until well into thier toddlers years - to the point that one was on just breastmilk at 18 months and the other on it until 2 years.  (And at 3.5 years old, YDS still prefers to drink than eat.  Though at least now he's capable). 


Mum to three, ages 5, 8, and 11

Posted 10/19/2012

Mine hated being swaddled too. He was a very light sleeper, and still is. He was willing to sleep only in my arms, and I had to rock him all the time in a very intense pace, that I could not feel my arms since he was a big baby. As soon as I tried to put him down, he would wake up and cry. He also had colic. Our first three months together I could not even go to the bathroom by myself. He was constantly crying, especially at night time. I remember how we used to turn on the hairdryer for the noise that seemed to help him to calm down and fall asleep, and eventually we broke it from using it too much :) Not a happy baby for sure! How can anyone blame for not willing to have another child?

Posted 10/19/2012

My son with SPD hated to be swaddled, from the day he was born would scream everytime anyone sneezed, hated all loud noises, and had night terrors.

Posted 10/19/2012

My son, a sensory seeker, loved being swaddled.  For months he couldn't sleep unless he was swaddled.  He moved too much in his sleep, he would wake himself up.  What should have a warning bell, but wasn't because I had no idea about SPD, was his low tone.  He was a poor nurser.  He drooled very early, about 2 months even though he didn't get teeth until he was 7 months.  He was late with all his milestones.  Wouldn't roll, wouldn't sit up, wouldn't crawl, wouldn't walk until months later than most babies.  But he was a very contened baby.  Not at all fussy.  He is a very very fussy 3 year old, though.  He slept a lot.  He ate a lot - as if he couldn't tell when he was full... but I'm sure he couldn't tell when he was hungry either (probably why he never cried).  He still has a hard time feeling hungry.  He says he's thirsty instead of hungry, and will only eat if the first bite is fed to him and that seems to wake everything up, then he usually eats a lot.



DS1 3.09 DS2 9.10 DS3 9.13

Read their birth stories or follow my crafty pursuits on my blog

Posted 10/20/2012

My SPD son wouldn't sleep. There were nights we didn't sleep at all. He was very fussy, and even made noises when he looked like he was sleeping, or trying to. He had feeding issues. The biggest one, looking back, was that he would pick up his legs and slam them down on the mattress when he was falling asleep. He loved the ocean wonders aquarium, and had that thing on his headboard long past babyhood.

Interesting, Preachers wife - my son had constant ear infections too. He got tubes at about 7 months, then was tested and dxed with an immune deficiency.



Group Owner
Posted 10/20/2012

mom2klb, EDD did the leg slammng thing too!!! And as I said above , she also didn't sleep. It drove us nuts. EDD got ear infection every time she cut a set of teeth. We eventually figured out that she had environmental allergies and that with the inflammation the teething caused, it was just enough upheavel to swell the tubes shut. She got tubes at 18months. The other thing I should add is that EDD put EVERYTHING in her mouth. She even managed to find a loose nail in a skirting board and swallow it, (bent and 2inches long) when she was 9 months old. Yet she couldn't eat anything with lumps in it.

Posted 10/21/2012
There are so many sides to sensory. Many of us have sensory quirks but it doesn't limit us. My son hated being swaddled and screamed all the time. We didn't circ so we knew it had nothing to do with that. He was totally inconsolable all the time. He never crawled. When he was 2 ish he started playing traffic with hot wheels and would move them 1” at a time. Extreme tastes and very picky. Everything had to be hot. He was fearless, refused eye contact and woyldn't answer when he was called but could hear candy being opened acoss the house. He was evaled but it didn't seem to affect him socially, until he started K. OMG 3 days in the teacher said he was adhd. He ia almost 12 and still battle with the School. We have an awesome OT. If the School doesn't enforce the 504, I will hire an attorney that will. If the principal tells me one more time that i am in denial......omg i will lose it. The ot specifically told the School that.my son's problems were not behavioral but their lack of accommodations and refusal to follow the 504. Ugh. Sorry...tangent. Been fighting for my son's education since 2006.




Posted 10/21/2012
My son still puts things in his mouth at 12. Mostly shirts..he chews and destroys them. I cried when i filled out his most recent sensory checklist. He has 7 pages of quirks :-( You don't realize how bad it is until you look at all the fine details that make up the big picture.




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