There are several reasons why children are irritable.
Sometimes there are medical problems like chronic ear infections, severe allergies, or urinary tract infections that may make your child uncomfortable and experience pain.
A common problem frequently overlooked is intolerance to milk. Children who rely on a diet heavy in gluten (wheat products) or sugar products can experience frequent mood swings and become picky eaters.
Some children are born fussy and have a difficult temperament. Children with a difficult temperament are usually more intense, have a hard time tolerating change, and distress easily.
It may be hard for them to keep a happy mood for very long. In addition, these children tend to be less flexible when changes of any sort are introduced.
As a result, they often get angry, whishing that things be done exactly how they want them to be.
Perhaps the most common reason children are irritable is because they become easily overstimulated in response to sensory stimulation.
Basic experiences like face washing, dressing, noise on the playground, or a busy household can load their nervous system and create an internal state that can be overwhelming to the child and which can ultimately lead to meltdowns.
An inflexible child is often an irritable child.
Children who have problems with organization and planning often fall apart when they are required to come up with a new way of doing things.
In addition to getting overstimulated easily, these irritable children often get angry when they have to organize themselves to perform a complex task.
This problem is commonly associated with attention deficit disorder, executive functioning problems, as well as motor planning issues.
Finally, it is important to determine whether your child has a mood regulation problem that makes it difficult for him to keep a content mood.
Many parents worry about what this could mean for their child as he grows older. The truth is, it’s very difficult to diagnose a mood disorder in very young children, but irritability is a factor in disorders such as anxiety or depression. As your child grows older, you may notice other things that point out to the
fact that there is an underlying mood problem that goes beyond a fussy, irritable temperament.
When the mood problems are unresponsive to typical solutions presented in this guide, a consultation with a developmental or behavioral pediatrician or a child psychologist is important.
However, an important aspect for parents to keep in mind is that what the child needs most is to learn how to self-calm on his or her own and to tolerate distress and frustration. This is a major focus of the strategy in this guide.