When my 17-month-old daughter refused to sit down one day after I begged her numerous times, I took a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for the terrible twos that lay ahead.
“Sit down!” I pleaded as I tried to seat her in the high chair. But instead of listening she yelped and wiggled out of my hands. I sighed.
“Supper time!” I explained and waved a plate of food in front of her. She was apparently not very interested as she just walked in the opposite direction of her high chair.
I begged, pleaded, cajoled and bribed, but to no avail. Of course she won the battle, and I served her supper while I chased her around the room. Bath time was no better. She refused to lay down and, too exhausted to fight her, I showered her instead.
That night I ordered numerous books on raising toddlers.
The next morning when she refused to sit again, I played along and let her stand, figuring she would tire of this game. But toddlers have way more energy than I anticipated because the entire day she didn’t even sit down one time. Bath time once again turned into shower time.
By day number three it began to dawn on me that maybe something was wrong. She wasn’t that obstinate otherwise. Why wouldn’t she want to sit in her high chair? I forced her into her high chair, and having no choice she had to sit, but only after she put one foot in the air. Something was wrong. This was not a case of terrible twos. I monitored her throughout the day. She was a 17-month-old active girl; she usually sat, walked and talked, and she was even almost ready to be trained. But all of a sudden she refused to sit. She was happy to stand, lay or do anything else, but she refused to sit. When I would try to make her sit she would sit in a position that made her comfortable where she was able to sit—with one foot up in the air.
“Something is wrong with Baila,” I said to my husband. “She refuses to sit down.”
“Sounds like she’s my daughter,” my husband grinned. “My rebbes always had the same issue with me.”
“Seriously,” I replied. “She screams when I make her sit, and then she only sits with one foot up.”
My husband was at first skeptical, but after watching her he admitted there might be a problem. “Let’s go check it out.”
We had recently moved to Lakewood, and I couldn’t find a doctor who was willing to accept new patients. We finally went to one practice where she was seen by a PA, who said that it’s probably just an abscess. “Just bathe her, have her sit in a bath, and she’ll be okay.”
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