Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Babies and Toddlers: What Are the Symptoms?

by jphilo | Sep 9, 2013 | Different Dream, In Children, PTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Babies and Toddlers: What Are the Symptoms?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a reality for many babies and toddlers with special needs. That’s the bad news. The good news is that effective treatments for PTSD exist, and they can be used with children as young as three. Before effective treatment can occur, the condition must first be correctly diagnosed. And for diagnosis to occur parents and health care professionals must be aware of the symptoms of PTSD.

Behavior Reveals Symptoms of PTSD in Babies and Toddlers

PTSD symptoms manifest much differently in babies and toddlers than in older children, adolescents, and adults. Because babies are preverbal and toddlers’ language development is limited, they can’t verbalize their fears. They can’t describe a nightmare or flashback. But the behaviors of infants and toddlers who have experienced significant trauma can offer clues that indicate the development of PTSD. By closely observing their behaviors, caring adults may notice symptoms related to PTSD.

Symptoms of PTSD in Babies and Toddlers

What are some of the behavioral symptoms to look for?

1. Hypervigilance

A baby who is tense, watchful, or on guard even when in a familiar, comfortable, and safe environment is hypervigilant. Adults often consider the behavior to be part of the child’s personality. “He’s an anxious child,” we say. Or, “She’s a worrier.” But the behavior could be a symptom of PTSD.

2. Separation Anxiety or Clinginess

Most babies go through a clingy period between the ages of 6 and 12 months. But when a baby is clingy from a much earlier age and whose separation anxiety persists into toddlerhood, the behavior may indicate the development of PTSD.

To read the rest of this post, visit www.FriendshipCircle.org.

To read the other posts in this series about PTSD in kids, check out these links:

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Jolene Philo is the author of several books for the caregiving community. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and Amazon. See Jane Sing!, the second book in the West River cozy mystery series, which features characters affected by disability, was released in November of 2022.

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He Won’t Remember: Children and PTSD

Some things parents never forget. Like the first time a mother holds her newborn child. Or the first time a baby belly laughs at a father’s antics.

But when I think of our son’s early days, one unpleasant memory comes to mind. Our baby’s wince of pain when the nurse took him—bristling with drainage tubes, feeding tubes, IVs, and monitor wires—and placed him in his daddy’s arms.

Newborns Don’t Feel Pain

“Should we really be moving him?” my husband asked. “Wouldn’t it be better for him to lie still in his bed?”

“No,” the nurse assured us. “He needs the security of your arms more than anything right now. Besides, newborns don’t feel pain like they do when they get older. That’s why your baby isn’t on pain meds.”

I looked at the two inch vertical incision on our baby’ stomach and at the horizontal one that began under his armpit and ended at his spine. I looked at my son’s drawn mouth, the frown lines on his forehead, and the strain in his eyes. “Are you sure?” I questioned the nurse…and later the surgeon, the pediatrician, and the GI doctor. “Are you sure he’s not in pain? Are you sure this won’t affect him emotionally?”

He Won’t Remember

One after another, well-meaning health care professionals gave the same answer.

“He won’t remember.”
“He won’t remember.”
“He won’t remember.”

Our baby was 26-years-old before a mental health care professional confirmed our suspicions.

Our newborn son did feel pain during and after surgery.
He did remember.
He remembered a lot.
But because the experiences were pre-verbal, he had no words to describe how he felt.
Those memories were the source of his emotional and behavioral issues during adolescence.

To read the rest of this post about children and PTSD , visit the Not Alone website.

Photo credit: www.freeditigalphoto.net

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Jolene Philo is the author of several books for the caregiving community. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and Amazon. See Jane Sing!, the second book in the West River cozy mystery series, which features characters affected by disability, was released in November of 2022.