To wonder how old your child was when they made it through a whole day without crying?

[CryMeARiverOrTwo]

Honestly need to know there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

I fel like I like I live with a ticking time bomb of a toddler who erupts into spontaneous tears approximately every 3 seconds periodically throughout the day and I need to know it will get better. For clarity I appreciate tantrums are normal but mostly the tears are not tantrums and this is by no means a new issue the child in question has always cried a lot ever since they were newborn.

We've been up since 5am and I'm not exaggerating when I say at least 45 minutes of that hour have been spent sobbing.

I know in this instance they are probably still tired but they won't go back to bed and even when they do sleep well the tears are still just as relentless. Please tell me it gets better.

Big improvements at 2.5 and 3.5 with both kids. Also, the more they can talk the less they cry.

It's it tears of frustration, for attention, anger, annoyance. Is there anything that sets DC off? What happens when the crying starts?

It does seem a bit unusual. Could there be a medical issue? Do think they might be in pain?

In answer to your question, yes they grow out of it. A Nursery group can help enormously to give extra stimulation and to develop how to interact with others - bursting into tears won't always get you attention, etc.

18 months, give or take. And definitely not every day, if she tired she's cranky and miserable 😂 x

Depends a lot on the child I imagine. DS has never been much of a crier anyway, but we regularly go multiple days now without him crying. He turned 3 in January.

I think as above poster said, once they can talk there is less frustration so perhaps less need to cry. We rarely get tears now at 21 months, but she's good at using phrases and short sentences, so we've noticed a big difference xx

The child in question is almost 2.5 and literally nothing at all seems to set him off. 😥

He does go to nursery and can be the same there. His speech is getting better but the tears are not sadly.

Depends on the child. But in my experience they generally stop crying every day when they have the communication skills to whinge every day instead.

You don't say how old your toddler is, and there is a huge change throughout this period.

I agree the more they can talk the less they cry, but crying is a healthy and normal thing for all ages so it never stops completely.

What worked for me was being very attentive verbally to crying, then moving on.

So 'oh no are you very frustrated because I put your pasta in the wrong bowl? That sounds very annoying. I'm sorry. Tomorrow we will do it the right way. Anyway, what shall we do next?' I found if I tried to ignore the tantrum/upset they tried harder to get my attention.

I also tried to see it as amusing (the irrationality is insane!) and to remember they were completely bewildered by life, it is so overwhelming for them.

[Brew] for you. I promise it gets better.

Hang on in there OP. I remember being exhausted by DS’s constant tears. And then one day I realised that he hadn’t cried for a while. And now he only cried very occasionally. I think age 3 was the turning point.

My eldest is 8 and still has a crying tantrum every day 😩

Oh he's already bloody good at whinging so I can totally see that happening.

He doesn't seem to be in pain and there isn't a trigger it's almost like he realises he isn't crying and therefore he starts crying. I'd wageron average he spends more of each day in tears than not.

Depends on the child - my super chilled toddler is now an emotional whirlwind of a teenager. The one who cried and tantrumed daily from 1 to 2.5 is now able to tell me calmly tell me shes feeling frustrated and needs a cuddle.

It does seem a lot of crying and I'm sure seems relentless but pretty much everything is a phase and will pass.

Oh and what I found helped when it was draining the life out of me was making amusing lists of "Why S has cried today" and sending to my friends - made me see the funny side and made me feel less alone when they sent their own back

Oh yikes I have absolutely nothing but sympathy and a large helping of .

Thanks for the tip. Something like this would probably help although quite often I don't even think he knows why he's crying. I'm sure he just likes the sound of it sometimes.

I know it's hard dealing with crying constantly, but it's important to remember that it is a form of communication. It's hard to work out what is being communicated but always acknowledge it. I'm mainly saying this from personal experiences, I was told to stop crying as an infant, mainly after tantrum or over trivial things, I found it hard to express emotions so would just cry instead. After years off being told not to I would cry alone in my room, no one would come to console me, so my cry's for help were never met. Fast forward 30 years I'm the most unemotional person ever, even when upset/happy I find it physically impossible to cry infront of others and even when I do it's a tiny dribble. People laugh at me as they say they never know if I'm happy or sad, although the feelings inside it doesn't show on outside. I now have my own son, nearly 5 years old, he like a wee cry mainly when tired and struggles to regulate emotions, the simplest thing sets him off. Sometimes he wants his own space others he needs me, everytime I offer my cuddles and allow him to choose. Even if his tears are because of a telling off I will still cuddle him tight until he stops, that way he knows I'm there no matter what. I do wait until he stops to discuss his actions and consequences etc. My parents disagree with this as in their eyes I turned out fine, little do they how much trauma I went through because of it. So basically all I can advise is battle through, look for triggers etc and be there for them no matter what.. it's hard, I've reacted badly at times, made things worst, but I've always reflected on it with him, made sure he knew it was okay, the negative situation was over, and we were moving on etc. Good luck and hope you get to bottom of it x

My middle one is still an emotional wreck when she's tired and she's 13!!

My highly strung DD got gradually better now at 6 we’re prob down to tears a couple of times a week. At 2 she would have a big tantrum most days and a few smaller teary events. But she never cried most of a day every day snd there was always a trigger so I worry something more than terrible twos is at play there. Have you got a book about feelings you can read together? Do they seem anxious? Constant low level ear infection? Wishing you well OP

Ah that's both equally encouraging and terrifying. I'm definitely thinking some of it is just his personality though.

He doesn't seem anxious or worried or hurt or in pain, no ear infection or anything like that so I'd be surprised if it was something medical.

@CryMeARiverOrTwo does he nap? 5am is super early. Could literally just be that he's shattered. All of mine were sobbing wrecks if they had a late night or missed a nap. Dc1 and 3 can cope a little better than dc2 when they are tired.
It will pass though. And failing that when they hit 12/13 you can leave them home alone

He does sometimes nap but he's never been great with napping although I have to admit I don't really see noticeably any less tears on days he naps.

Ds1 is 7 and no longer cries every day, but still a few times per week. My 4 year old cries every day. They were both very early talkers and have excellent vocabularies... 😬

It really varies my first was about 3, the second was more 31/2-4 and the last was 5! It does get so much easier. The crying is communication so as communication improves the crying reduces. Pick your battles, try to have a fairly set routine and if you see it coming try to distract before tears can start.

Can't remember to be honest. DS didn't really have toddler tantrums, he was quite chilled. He's nearly 9 now and twisted his ankle last week, there were some tears then.

Mine are 2, 5 and 6 and I'd say the 6 year old never cries and the other two occasionally do. Not every day though.

Even as quite young children they probably didn't cry as much as you're describing. The two year old has tantrums but they don't involve tears, she's more aggressive than that!