Log?

[olivegoose]

Is it worthwhile to try a log to see if you can find triggers? Sometimes DD just completely melts down and I can't find out what causes it. She seems to get enough sleep and eat enough, but she will have days where she just does nothing but meltdown over everything. And it often seems like there's nothing I can do to snap her out of it. We are on day 3 right now! I don't know if this is normal or concerning behavior either.

[mrsbuttinski]

It's worthwhile to keep a log.

Sometimes you can identify factors like thirst that can be addressed and improve things. Sometimes a parent is too close to be objective.

You can ask the school to do a Functional Behavioral Assessment if she's melting down in school. In this case a trained professional behaviorist who is independent of the school would observe and collect data.

[hopecounts]

I think it's worth it, sometimes it's hard as the parent to put the pieces together in the moment and looking back at a written record can help you see things in context.
For us tracking behavior helped us figure out what DD's issue with Sunday School was, she would be OK (not thrilled but OK) with being dropped off some days and other days she'd loose her shit, once we tracked it we found that she got upset on days we crossed the thresh hold, so we stopped going in the room and then used ABA to work on it.

For whatever reason she had it as a 'rule' that once we came in with her we had to stay.
By figuring out what she was trying to say with her behavior we were able to work on the issue more effectively and now it's a non-issue for her.

[olivegoose]

mrsbuttinski I'm hoping I will be able to sit down with her teachers this week. I want to go without DS so I can focus on the conversation.

[KC thepouchh8r]

For sure. Meltdowns aren't an issue for dd but I've used them when trailing new supplements or seeing what foods cause negative reactions. I've definitely acquired helpful information.

[cam]

I log several things for several different reasons. I absolutely think it is worth it. I also don't stress when life is crazy and I miss some days here and there (or I get to it a day or two late and can't recall quite as much detail as I usually include). It can't hurt a thing other than take a few minutes of your time each day (and once it becomes a habit, it feels 100 times easier because you almost do it without thinking).