Noa Land Stand Offs

Going on a walk in the stroller is one of Noa's favorite events and one she insists on daily (and mourns the loss of when it rains) but the unwillingness to get her out of the stroller at the end of a walk has become a significant and limiting issue for us.  

These stroller stand-offs can last over an hour, often feature tears, hand-biting, attempts to hit or kick at us, some very animalistic growling. Often Noa will do attempt so do some stretches in the midst of this, though there isn't room to do these stretches in the stroller. She will also do what looks like an ASL sign, though we have no idea what it is. It looks like someone putting on a hat with the letter "c."  She seems to be quite convinced it means something, we asked a few folks during Literacy Camp but no one recognized it. 

As with most Noa meltdowns, her behaviors seem to be more about communicating frustration than communicating a specific need. 

These stand offs often end with Noa needing hugs with Mommy for quite a while, some time sitting with Mommy, or on Mommy's lap (example of Noa trying to fit on Mommy's lap below.)

We had one day this past week in which we got up, had breakfast, went on a walk, had a meltdown and by the time she'd recovered and it was ready for lunch is was after 5pm.

We have tried waiting out these spells. Giving her 5 minutes, then coming back again to see if she'll stand up. On the weekends this works fine, but when Mommy and Daddy also have to work and show up for other people it's a problem, especially if (as in the video above) we've gone walking on a rail trail so we're in a parking lot.

We'd be glad for any support on figuring out how to deal with this kind of issue.