My dd is just 2 and is very sweet but I am utterly exhausted by her. She chatters away but is constantly asking me for things or to do things. She repeats her requests over and over and just expects me to stop anything I'm doing immediately to attend to her demands. I have tried asking her to wait please and mummy is busy but her demands continue and get louder!
I find it hard to even go to the toilet without her telling me to 'come here mummy'.
She says she wants toast so I make it and she has one bite and them says get down now.
She wants to play with one thing and then once that's out she drops it and wants something else. She resists having her nappy changed, won't go in the car seat and screams blue murder if I want her to go in the pushchair by a busy road.
My house is a mess, cleaning needs doing, food needs cooking but I'm finding it almost impossible to get anything done. She needs attention constantly.
I know a lot of this is normal for a 2 year old but I don't remember ds being like this.
On top of this I work part time every day and have a chronic illness which can cause me pain when I have to struggle getting her in carseat or pushchair (she is strong!). I also causes me to feel more tired than normal.
Any advice appreciated please? I am worn out, feeling a bit stressed and quite honestly not really enjoying this very much.
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How do you get anything done with a very lively, demanding 2 year old?
Jemster · 30/04/2014 09:25
I feel your pain, DD is 2.3 and things are getting quite interesting!
The only thing that works for us is to try and make the housework that needs doing into a game - so changing the sheets, loading the washing machine, cooking, even the washing up, though that one is very messy... She does all of these with us if she wants to and thinks that they are 'playing'.
Sometimes I get stuff like the washing up when she is eating a meal, and then eat later - this works better with lunch I find, as I'm not always ready to eat lunch at the same time as her.
Othertimes the telly goes on 
Not that often, but you'd be amazed how much you can get done in the 22 minutes it takes to watch The Snowman!
How are her language skills? We're just hitting a stage where we can begin to explain and negotiate a little bit more. For example, it's hold Mummy's hand properly or get in the pushchair, and a few times of following that through has got the message across. Ditto with food - you ask for it and don't eat it, well, you're not going to get it next time. Though that possibly makes us rather strict, I don't know...
Another thing that has worked well for us and that I picked up on here is that 10-20 minutes of concentrated play with them wins you back the same time of them playing on their own. When I started doing this I realised how much of my time I was in the room but only half-interacting with her, trying to get something else done, rather than actually getting on the floor and playing with a doll's house. It's not my natural forte to do that, but it makes her very happy and she then seems happier to keep playing on her own when I go off for fifteen minutes to do something.
I'm no expert, this is my first DC, but if I were you I think I would be tempted to put my foot down. The difficulty is, as you say, sometimes it feels so public. But they're not really staring at you. I bet you they've done it themselves.
With things like the pushchair, can you take a deep breath and be calm, but just put her in? When DD fights it I find that if I get the pushchair backed against a wall, for example, then when I put her in even if she arches her back and fights I can get my knee between her legs, so it's not hurting her at all but is blocking the way, the get one strap down up and then the other. But I feel like calmness is the key, though it's bloody hard to show that calm face. You said "hand or pushchair" and she had a choice. At 2 she's old enough to begin understanding that.
Ditto with the swing and the toast. Of course children have likes and dislikes, and 2 year olds are not remotely rational (we had an epic half hour meltdown because Nanny brought her ice cream in the wrong bowl 
) but you almost have to try and decipher the reason. Is there genuinely something she is unhappy with about the swing, or not?
What happens if you don't "come here" when she asks for you? Tantrums and whining are awful to ignore. That's why all kids do them, they are so effective 
But if you have been playing with her for ages and you need five minutes to pee and put a brew on, and she is in a safe room with plenty of toys, then I might be tempted to start riding it out. Go, make the tea, ignore the whining, then when you have finished what you need to do come back and be happy and cheerful and interact with her.
But like I said, that's just what has been working for us (and as it's my first I have no idea whether it is working, or whether it just suits her personality). My gut says at 2, though, children can start to amuse themselves for short periods of time, especially if they understand that you are just nipping away and will be back in a bit.
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