2yo getting very upset a lot

[Bertieboo1]

My 2yo son has always been a sensitive little soul - he hated going to baby groups or anything involving other people when he was little and has always been happiest at home. He goes to nursery 1 day a week (I am on mat leave) and is pretty settled there, though that has taken a long time.

He has the usual toddler upsets over wanting things his own way but he really struggles to calm himself down or be calmed down after. Today for example he woke up after a nap, and got upset about being awake. It took over half an hour for him to stop crying. He just wanted to curl up on my lap.

I just wonder if it is normal to get so upset for so long quite frequently, and if anyone has any tips to calm him down? His little friends seem to be more even tempered, though I'm sure they have their moments.

[Hithere1982]

Not sure I'm much help but my 20 month old has started getting more upset about things recently - thinking it's the start of the terrible twos? All of a sudden it's often a job to get him into his chair to eat anything, when he's in his high chair then there are tantrums over what he's eating, he asks for me of things he already has a bowl full of on his tray, nappy changes are literally the end of the world. I also find once he's in full-blown tantrum mode, he finds it difficult to calm down although we have been using a dummy which usually soothes him quickly, I've been trying to limit this to nap and bedtime only. The other thing which seems to work is distraction, acting silly, making him laugh. Funny how sometimes he can go from full-blown meltdown to happy and smiling in an instant, quickly forgetting whatever it was which upset him. Oh and it's ten-times worse at the end of the day when he's tired. I think it's all normal 2-year old stuff but this is my first child so I've nothing to compare him to. I also feel that his friends are more even-tempered but I don't know if yours is the same, he seems to save his best tantrums for me and his Dad so friends parents definitely haven't seen him at his worst. Nursery also say he's generally a happy little boy, and he barely even asks for his dummy there! I think they're more clever than we think sometimes!

[minipie]

Hi, I think a few DCs are like this - my DD is. She is quite tired a lot of the time (bad sleeper) which doesn't help. She has got a lot better though - at 2.5 it happened a LOT but at 3.5 it is rare.

If you find he is often in a state on waking after a nap, try putting him in front of a tv programme immediately on waking - I have found this has helped DD a lot.