Lisa asks: Do your kids throw tantrums?

The other night I tweeted the following:

HELP: Peyton is having a major temper tantrum; I've never seen anything like it. (Besides last night when this started.) What do we do?

When I say “major temper tantrum,” I mean MAJOR TEMPER TANTRUM. And I needed help. (I also might’ve made reference to her name rhyming with a certain dark lord’s.) The kid lost it.

Since she figured out how to get out of her crib on her own, she hasn’t been too impressed with the concept of bedtime. So the other night when we did exactly what we’ve been doing for the past 13 months — when it’s time for bed, Peter wraps her in her blanket, gives her Ariel (the Little Mermaid) to sleep with and takes her to her crib — she freaked. Her screaming was unlike anything we’ve ever heard. (Truthfully, it scared Addy so much that she started crying. Then Mommy started crying. What can I say.)

When we brought her back into our room to try and calm her, she flipped out even more — wailing, flailing, punching, kicking, stomping, shaking, crying and yelling so hard she almost threw up. I think I saw her head spin around. She wouldn’t let either of us touch her. We didn’t know what she wanted — Food? A drink? A diaper change? We did it all. She didn’t stop.

After more than an hour of losing her mind (and losing my mind), and just before I Googled “how to tell if your kid is possessed,” she finally — while standing — closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She’s been disastrous for the past few nights. I’ve decided she’s teething, going through a growth spurt, entering the terrible twos a bit early, or all of the above.

Twitter pals have told us to ride it out — not to give into her screaming. But that kind of almost-hyperventilating, almost-vomiting cry breaks my heart.

Has your child ever thrown a tantrum like this? How long did it last, and what was the cause?

Read more: When your child has a very bad temper 6 ways to help a sore loser The terrible twos vs. the terrible threes