Today I was making lunch and it was Emmas lunch time so I gave her a peice of my cheese I was cutting up as she was getting excited cos she saw it. I then took the plate with the cheese and toast through to the living room and I was quickly eating it as I had to go out and OH was on luch duties today and OMG, All hell broke loose with Emma.

She was in her walker, but she started screaming at me and staring and screaming and trying to get at me. And she got stuck in the door so I went to free her and she followed me and when I sat down she kept screaming and ramming my legs with the walker and trying to grab me and the plate of the coffee table. She had just had a bottle 4 mins before so shouldnt have been that hungry to envoke that type of responce to food.

She was seriously screaming and ramming the table and then like, standing up and shreiking really high pitched. Nothing would cal,m her..............except my godamn cheese on toast - which she then had for lunch.

OH was all for letting her get it out then sitting her down to give her her lunch, but I wasn't so sure. Now I wonder, have I set a precedent by giving in to her? She has lunch at the same time every day and it wasn't her time when I had my lunch.

MIL has been staying the past 4 days and so Emma has had CONSTANT 100% undevided attention. And now if we leave the room, the screaming starts . She wants cuddles ALL the time. She wants whatever she wants when she wants it now and is having these screaming fits - just the last 2 days.

So, are they temper tantrums??

I don't think they can have true temper tantrums so young, because they don't have the complex emotions that are usually associated with "tantrums".

Sounds like she was just incredibly frustrated. Your MIL giving her constant attention might not be helping, maybe she just wanted cuddles with mummy and got increasingly frustrated the longer she didn't have it. I think the whole 'babies cry for a reason' is still relevant - I think she was still trying to tell you something and just got frustrated because she couldn't get what she wanted.

Here's a link regarding tantrums if you're interested.. It's quite long but quite interesting. x

I agree with Faille.

Babies certainly sometimes feel very frustrated though! (Ruby does a lot at the mo because she wants to crawl but can't quite work out how) It's not a tantrum though.

I don't think it was a proper tantrum either but Amelie DEFO has temper tantrums now They're horrid.

I dunno, seems like a tantrum to me, but the other ladies are probably more experienced with the matter.

I think I agree with the others, tantrums at that age are nothing compared to tantrums at this age I think at 7 months its more likely to be frustration that they can't do something they want to do. At a year plus, they get angry, sad, happy, etc etc instead of just the simple emotions of a baby

I'm not sure it was a tantrum, but Leo has big hissy fits when he doesn't get his own way!
For example, if he's sat playing with a toy and the dog gets in the way he will scream and kick! Same as if he is rolling on the floor and see's something but can quite reach it...he screams and kicks off until I get it for him

He was actually sat on daddys knee this morning and was trying to grab the toast from his hand, Ant moved it numerous times and in the end he howled loudly and threw himself back in protest!

so mostly out of frustration.

Temper tantrums can come out of frustration and I guess that frustration can happen even at 7 months. It is a different kind of tantrum from the toddler's meltdown on the supermarket floor type tantrum and dealing with it is different. Taking a hardline "I said no" stance aint going to work.

Help her to work out what the frustration is for and how to deal with it. Also, the ferocity of that kind of emotion can scare them shitless so a big cuddle is in order. She's a bit too young to draw the conclusion that tantrum = getting your own way so I wouldn't worry about "giving in"

It also sounds like you've hit the separation anxiety phase. Abby hasn't done that yet so I've no advice on that, but I'm sure someone will have some words of wisdom. Is it also possible her routine has been knocked about by the holidays? That might have unsettled her too.