My little girl is 30 months and until last week was the sweetest, loveliest, giggliest 95cm of gorgeousness.
Last week she got chicken pox.
She also discovered how to tantrum.
I've had a few tantrums from her before which were easily dealt with but she has cranked it up to a whole new level...to the point that I'm ready to duct-tape her to the pantry wall (it's under the stairs and therefore soundproof).
At first I put it down to her being poorly...high temperature, covered in spots, missing nursery...enough to make anybody cranky. But then the spots went, the temperature returned to normal and my little girl had been replaced with a she-devil.
Last Thursday from the minute she woke up (6am) to the minute she went back to bed (6:30pm) she screamed, cried, shouted, stamped, hit, bit, kicked, threw things (including herself and her dinner) from various spots around the house. I put her to bed and literally wept for an hour out of sheer exhaustion.
Friday she woke up and said "mummy I was naughty" which gives me some indication she knew full well what she was doing the entire time she was trying to drive me insane. We had a nice morning, had lunch, she fell asleep for her nap but it was the she-devil that woke up from it and we had another afternoon of screaming, crying, shouting, stamping, etc etc.
Things like asking her if she wants to wash her hands...she says yes but then when the tap is turned on she wont put her hands underneath so I turn the tap off and she screams she wants to wash her hands...turn the tap back on and she screams she doesn't want to...turn it off again and she screams and cries that she wants to wash her hands....but she does it with EVERYTHING....I dont/want to eat this....I dont/want to wear this....I dont/want to play with this....I always ask her what she wants so she has a choice about things but she's so contrary that she frustrates herself (then me) which is a recipe for disaster.
Saturday/Sunday/Monday she was angelic so tantrums were put down as I said to her being ill at the start of the week and maybe just being bored and frustrated from it all.
Yesterday she went back to nursery and had a lovely day by all accounts. She went to bed about 7:45pm and woke up crying about 9:30 so I tucked her back in, gave her a kiss telling her everything was alright and she went back to sleep.
She-devil woke up at 12:30am and literally screamed, cried, shouted, stamped, kicked, bit, hit all the way through til 4am when she finally wore herself out and fell soundly asleep. I left her to her own devices to scream it out so I wasn't giving her attention about 1am so it took her THREE HOURS to de-tantrum herself...bet my neighbours love me...
Had a mini-tantrum this morning when she wanted to draw but we had to leave the house for nursery but once we were there she was sweetness and light like butter wouldn't melt.
What am I doing wrong?! Has anybody else gone through this? I know that tantrums are common in toddlers but to this degree?! I am being powered on redbull and coffee today at work as I literally had 2hrs sleep last night and I need to know if there is anything I can do to nip this behaviour in the bud before I tie her to a stake in the garden to scare the birds away from the veggie patch...