Tantrums!

[steben]

DD is 2 and I suppose what i want - as well obviously as any tips from mums in the know - is to know that i am not alone!

Her tantrums are just ridiculous and it is getting to the stage where I almost do not want to take her out and do nice things because i know when we come to leave it will result in a huge meltdown. Example- go to the park minute we go to leave or I try and shepherd her in a direction she doesnt want to go - she lies down on the floor crying and carrying on. I try explaining to her, giving her warnings but more often than not it results in my having to physically pick her up (which is very demanding) and carry her to the car/home.

I always seem to be surrounded by mothers with perfectly behaved toddler when this happens which makes me feel even worse. I am just tired of tantrums ruining our time together!!!

Its a stage they all go through and just keep the thought in your head, that it does eventually get better.

My two daughters used to do spectacular temper tantrums, I became an expert at tucking a screaming, thrashing toddler under my arm ( making sure the legs are not angled, so that they can reach your body and do damage, with their head facing slightly away from you, in case of teeth reprisals ) I wanted to put this skill on my CV, but felt employers might not be as impressed with it.

The trick is to stay calm, a temper tantruming toddler thrives on any type of attention. I used to count or try to remember song lyrics in my head, to avoid showing how stressed I was feeling.
You sound as though you are dealing with her very well, if we were in the park, I would give mine a 5 min warning that we were going to be leaving, then 1 min, then time to go, cue massive wobbler, explain its time to go, what's happening next ( plans for the day, not the hauling of the screaming child ) on a good day, I would be leading out a screaming, sobbing child by the hand, a really good day, I would be walking out holding a whinging child's hand. But more often than I care to remember, I was the one with the thrashing, snotty, screaming toddler hand bag under my arm.
You are not alone.

I have every sympathy! My good-natured, sociable 23 month old has turned into a whiner...
We get whiny tantrums about everything. Today's tantrums were:

• Not wanting to sit in a chair
• Objecting to the fact I took about four seconds to pour milk into a beaker
• Wanting 'a cuddle' (imagine this in a really whiny voice) all the bloody time: I feel like a heel that this drives me mad, but if I offer she doesn't want me to pick her up either!
• Objecting to the fact she couldn't watch TV
• Not wanting to get dressed
• Objecting to not being allowed to dismantle the stair gate/ the ironing board/ take 50 baby wipes out of the packet and scatter them on the floor
• Objecting to my presence. I get a 'no mummy, go now mummy, want Daddy/ Granny/ Grandad/ cousins/ random stranger off the street here!'

We're now on week 4 of a fairly constant whine (except, of course, at nursery and when I'm not about). They don't call it the Terrible Twos for nowt... I only hope this is a temporary thing!

You are so not alone. My DS will be 2 this weekend and I totally recognise the problem. I've got Parkinson's too which means the hauling off as a last resort is a -effing nightmare problem so I end up either taking ages to go anywhere, exhausting my faces and voices or bribing with raisins or stickers or anything basically. His speciality is rolling around on the floor so I can't get a hold to pick him up. You've got to admire his creativity but it's just horrible. It will pass though. DS1 is proof sometimes

Thanks for the replies- it is really hard isn't it?! I just wish you could reason with them!!! I had a semi successful trip to the park yesterday where we left with relatively minimal fuss instead of the sreaming, rollling on ground shennanigans of late!!

Oh my god I feel your pain! My DD is 2.7 and she's been like this for a year now and every other child we know is no where near this bad! And I feel like I'm the only mother in the world who has to deal with it.. Makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong when I'm doing all the warnings/explaining/bribing, but will 99% of the time end with me trying to carry a violent screaming red faced brat out of the park/shop/restaurant. She's a very tall/big and looks about 5 so it's harder and more embarrassing. Her tolerance is AWFUL, the second something doesn't go her way. That's it. Whinge. Scream. Throw self on floor. And then she'll run away. And i mean run, won't look back and at no time shows any sign of panic . Any tips from mum's who have survived such stages .... ? Please...

My perfect placid baby has turned into a terrible 2-er and I feel your pain.

alot of good advice on this thread.