Are the terrible two beckoning? Help

[joanneg]

Ds is two next month and is driving me nuts. He is a very sweet and articulate little boy and I think that he is quite bright. On the flip side of this he is very willful and stroppy. Suddenly out of the blue, from a child who used to be tucked up in bed at 7, he is banging around in his cot until 9 shouting and bouncing.

His favourite word is "no". One minute is all sweet and lovely and then the next minute he will turn on me and scream "I want Thomas the tank". If there is something he doesnt want to do he will shout "no, No, NO" and on the last very loud now he will actually stamp his feet or jump.
He will play quite nicely and then suddenly it will turn into a toy Massacre. He will chuch thing up in the air, upend his little table and chair.
He has also found his voice. He will just start screaming and seems to enjoy this. It is so embarrasing when I am out shopping. It has become very hard work.

I am quite firm on him, and I am happy disciplining him. All I want to know is this the terrible twos people talk about and if so when does it pass??!! Is this behaviour normal or shall I call in supernanny now? Any tips?
Thanks

Sounds like you've got yourself a two year old! My ds who is now 3y3m was just like this. It does get better, but brace yourself for a long haul... The behaviour gets less senseless after a while but don't expect reason to work for ages.

Be as firm as you can, but be consistent too, decide what behaviour you really won't put up with and concentrate on that, don't stress yourself by having too many things you get cross about. Save your energy for the ones that really matter! With us that was bedtime, not running into the road and not hitting people. I'm not saying you'll acheive those goals, but you'll save yourself a lot of stress. It's far too easy to get hung up on the little things. It took me a few months to realise that, and now it makes me sad that I wasted time getting upset and stressed about what is really quite normal behaviour, and didn't enjoy ds as I should have. It's particularly hard if you have a child who is more boisterous or stroppy or wilful than your friends' children - try not to compare although that is easier said than done.

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Thanks for that advice Mrs Flowerpot. ive got a 15 month old who as already started the terrible twos stage and as yet is still too young to reason with much. Everything you said made snse and has hlped me see much more clearly how i can deal with him
Bron

My dd is 21 months and the first of the 'two' behaviour is kicking in now I think. She's saying 'no' to everything (including a very dramatic version where she puts her hands in her hair and says it in true Shakespeare style ). We haven't had the leaping round the cot at bedtime yet. I so hope we don't ... when did that little treat start happening?

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My nearly 14 month old is starting early, screaming if he doesn't want to do something and trying to change a nappy is a full on bundle - he is so strong. Getting ready for the battle, he cant' even say NO yet !

His big brother didn't really do the terrible twos - he tries sometimes but his heart wasn't in it.

Thanks for all of your responses - it is so nice when you realise your child is like everybody elses and you are not alone in the toddler wars!! Strangerthanfiction - he started throwing himself around the cot about a month ago (22 months). Now he has discovered that he can do forward rolls as well. We got so worried about him falling out of his cot we invested in some gym style crash mats to put around the bottom of his cot!! (Cost about 40 quid but worth every penny). Dh reckons that he is going to be an acrobat!
His latest trick is chucking stuff out of his cot and then screaming blue murder. When we go in he points at the object he threw and says "I chucked". At least he is honest!