Very strong willed 11 month old - help!

[Teabiscuits]

I'm really struggling with DS at the moment, it feels like I just can't please him at all. I have 2 older DDs and they are suffering for it too.
He is very, very willful, and if he can't get exactly what he wants when he wants it, he dissloves into screaming like a banshee and uncontrollable sobbing. Nothing seems to console him except being given/being allowed to do what wanted in the first place, which has only been taken away/stopped because it is innapropriate/dangerous.
I am well aware that this is completely normal behaviour, that he is incapable of understanding why he can't have/do certain things, and that his understanding of the world will improve as he gets older. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas, as my tried and tested distraction technique that worked on older DDs when they were little just doesn't cut it, and his endless shrieking is driving everyone up the wall.

I do my best to avoid the situations in the first place, but some things I can't controll. For example, DD1 was playing with him in the front room, he decided that poking her in the eyes was much more fun. I move his hands away from her face and say 'no'. He continues to do it. I find a different toy for him to play with, he shoves it away and dives for her face again. I move him away, he screams at me and heads back over to her for another go. I pick him up and take him out the room and he has a complete melt down.

Does anyone have any ideas on better ways to deal with this, as my methods are just resulting in him getting stressed, me getting stressed, and DDs getting very little attention from me as I always seem to be dealing with him. I am 24 weeks pregnant with number 4 and just don't know how i'll cope with a newborn as well.

I think you dealt with the eye poking situation really well.

He will get the message eventually if you continue to respond in that way every time.

There isn't a lot more communicating to be done with an 11 month old than saying no, distraction and removal.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you that he's over this by the time no.4 comes along.

Thanks! He had been an absolute nightmare yesterday when I posted - and apparently he was pretty shocking for my sister this morning as well.
However, I think I have spotted another tooth coming, which always turns him into a horror!

I'm hoping he's just going through a frustrated phase, he's not too far off walking, so maybe when that comes he will calm down a bit.
Thanks for the reassurance

Hi i to have a very willful 14 month old who has been like this since birth.He was starting to calm when he started crawling and flared up again with four teeth through!! He is trying to stand now and i think another tooth is coming so again we have a horror...he behaves the same as your little one and we do the same as you but it is exhausting. I think they are frustrated alot of the time...you are doing a great job..keep telling yourself that. Hope it gets better soon for us bothx

Is he distracted by you being really silly? Dd is younger than your ds, but it works for us to distract her by grabbing her and blowing raspberries or play biting her. She forgets what she was after and it can stop a strop in its tracks. I don't know if that works with slightly older babies though?

koothra occasionally that works, if he's in a more agreeable mood than usual. Unfortunately he is also very single minded so won't forget that easily. To be fair I've probably not tried it enough recently, as I've kind of been all sillied out for now! I'll use that one tomorrow if he's being a monster again and see if it works. Thank you.