17 month old cries and screams so much

[Bonial03]

Am really struggling with my 17 month old he cries, screams and whinges so much it's driving me insane Is this normal
Behaviour for his age?

[veejayteekay]

Hi there, I just wanted to offer reassurance (if this is reassuring at all!!) That you are not alone! My little boy is 21ms now and I know ppl talk about terrible 2s so perhaps I'm in for more when that comes along but honestly I feel like he's already been through it! The 6-8weeks around 17-18ms were honestly the most stressful ever! He was so screamy whiney and constant with his tantrums and I was so exhausted and upset as I was convinced he'd undergone a sudden personality transplant and this was just him now! I won't lie he is still having tantrums and getting frustrated but honestly nothing like it was around that time so I can offer some help that it gets better. I found with hindsight that a lot of it was connected to the fact he was going through a lot of change with a bit of a growth spurt, speech was accelerating, and he'd just dropped down to one nap and that took some adjustment plus what felt like constant teething and or colds! I don't know if any of these factors apply to you but I do notice with him a direct correlation between phases of development and tantrums and whining. I actually find the whining harder than tantrums as tantrums are finite but the whining is constant like noise torture isn't it. If this is any help at all I found getting outside helped me. It gave him stuff to focus on, meant i could just see and interact with other things, and for some fresh air. That and really really making the most of any down time. I used to end up doing so many chores in his nap time and would end up feeling robbed of it. At that stage I just took a decision to do whatever it was even if house was a state just to give myself a break when he slept. So reading, TV, napping myself, phone call with my mum etc...feeling recharged myself was so much more important than anything else and I found it helped me be more tolerant