To dread every waking moment with my DS

[Yankeecan]

My first child was an absolute dream. Never had any issues with her at all. My son is the absolute devil, I feel literally sapped to nothing every single day. He has the loudest scream ever and just won’t bloody give up! I’ve come to the toilet to hide whilst they eat tea. Development wise he is fine, counting past 10, saying lots of things etc and doing well on the potty….please somebody help!!!

Forgot to add, he is 2.

i don’t think it helps that my daughter is at an age where she asks 6000 questions a second and dealing with DS on top of that kills me.

Well generally speaking (yes there will be anomalies ) girls are much, much easier than boys. Welcome to having a son 😂

Are girls really much easier than boys?

Op if it's any consolation one of my sons was an absolute devil child as a toddler but now he's an angel.

Toddlers are generally miniature tyrants so given you say he's otherwise doing fine developmentally then there appears the only thing to do is ride out this wave. Easier said than done, I know but trying to manage emotions - certain trigger points. At that age my niece would get quite restless if she hadn't been very active during the day, she wanted a lot of attention and so forth. I can only empathise but you aren't alone. Hopefully the storm will soon pass and you'll be in a different phase of uncharted waters

Ridiculous gender stereotyping not supported by science. Different people are just different, toddlers have personalities too.

OP that sounds really hard and full on, I don’t blame you for feeling overwhelmed. Can you get any breaks? Does he spend any time at childcare?

I work 2 days a week, he goes to nursery on those days and I literally skip away from him!

he has put me off anymore put it that way. He is so so demanding, nursery don’t seem worried about his development either so don’t think it anything other than him being an arse! 😂

My Ds was a demanding baby but dd who followed was bliss. The positions switched at puberty.

Does he get lots of active outdoor time. My son's were like puppy's sun them and feed them.

Agreed. My boy is waaayyyyy easier than my girl.

@Yankeecan could an extra nursery day be an option? When is he 3 for funding?

Nothing to do with sex, some kids are easy some are not, it's personality.

I would look at the basics food/water, sleep and exercise and see if altering one of those makes a difference. Difficult behaviour in babies/toddlers is often routed in one of those.

The other thing I'd do is make sure he is mentally stimulated. A child who isn't challenged is challenging!

Yanbu. My dd has just turned two and she's a complete tyrant. AND she's the worst sleeper in the world, based on literally every parent I've ever spoken to. I'm exhausted!

Mine is also beginning to talk quite well, which I thought would help her feel less frustrated, but actually it just makes her more SPECIFIC in her demands aaargh

Nothing to do with sex, I've had 3 girls- one angel, one absolute terror and one in between. Its just personality. The best behaved as a toddler is worst as a teen as well

OP you don't really state what the problem is? If you give us examples of what is actually happening we might be able to offer ideas or solutions?

My 2nd DC was extremely difficult. He is still very trying and impatient but I can deal with it better as he goes to school etc.

Hang in there, it gets easier.

Interesting I have 3 sons and my friend had 3 girls. We have experienced exactly this across all the kids.

My first (girl) was a ball of pure emotions and my 2nd (boy) and absolute dream child. I think if you have an easy first and tricky second there’s the pain of going through all of the different parenting strategies that work. If you have a tricky first and easy second child you’re already prepared for everything and anything they can throw at you. If you’re hating every minute, I’d resort to parenting books to get loads of different coping tools so you feel a little more in control.

It's interesting the number of times people say girls are harder (normally with friendship issues) than boys, and everyone nods along.
As soon as someone says girls are easier people object.

It sounds like you had a very easygoing baby and now you have a needy one. It’s the contrast that makes it feel so much worse.

Of course the gender stereotyping police Are here. But yes primary age and under boys are physically exhausting compared to girls. More physical, more fighty. Testosterone def has something to do with it, whatever people say.

Stupid gender stereotyping answer from @Sunnyqueen. That kind of response is completely pointless.

I have 3 DC - one was a tricky baby but an easy toddler and teen, one was a dream baby and toddler but SUCH HARD WORK as a teen. The youngest was really hard work as a baby but despite having SN is great as a 10 year old.

OP I think a lot of two year olds are hard work! Do you get a break from them at all? I know it’s hard, but try not to compare your DC too much. My mum did this with me (female) as the “nightmare” child and my brother as the “Angel”. It wasn’t nice to have this at any point of my life.

Good luck though. And truly, you’re not alone

It's interesting the number of times people say girls are harder (normally with friendship issues) than boys, and everyone nods along.
Funnily enough when I ask mothers who have girls and boys they usually say girls are easier.
My DD is definitely easier IMO.
All the little girls I know from the area are easier than the little boys, they play nicely.
My friends with teenagers face similar issues with both genders.

Well I have seven kids so I think I'm qualified to say there ARE gender differences! I've always thought that little girls SAY & little boys DO.
The girls never shut up, lol, and boys build, take things to bits etc.. :-)

However, believe me or not, the terrible twos DO seem to exist!
No advice as such, OP, (well, only to get more nursery days!) hang in there, it does get better!

Really?

I was the only one to have a boy out of my friendship group which all had kids within 2 years of each other.

They all wished they'd had boys because ds was the easiest baby and toddler ever.

He's 18 now and up until now I've never had an issue with him!

Op have you tried ear plugs?