I have posted this elsewhere too as looking for help.
I’m worried about my toddler.
He’s 2.5 and has been utterly miserable most of the time since the day he was born. It sounds crazy but he was born eyes wide open, completely alert all wired up. At two months old he was refusing to lie down and wanted to be propped up all the time to see the world.
Where do I start? I have two older children and although I know babies and toddlers can be hard work I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’m afraid to speak to anyone in case they just have me down as a parent not coping.
He’s having almost daily tantrums that can last up to and even over an hour, triggered by the tiniest thing such as giving him the wrong banana from the bunch, or attempting to take off his coat on coming in the house.
As a baby he was never happy and never slept day or night, he only eventually slept when we started cosleeping. He would never sleep out and about I could walk for miles with him in pram sling or pushchair but he’d never sleep. We eventually got him sleeping in his cot through sheer persistence and routine but it’s all gone out of the window now and he refuses to go to bed without one of us lying with him.
I get home from work and he screams the house down from the minute we walk in until bedtime, I give him food immediately on coming in so not hunger.
The moment he opens his eyes in the morning he screams and cries for my husband to fetch his milk, and it has to be my husband, if he doesn’t get his milk immediately he becomes inconsolable. We’ve never known him to wake up happy.
He refuses to go in the pushchair, refuses to walk, refuses to go in a highchair, and will just climb out, it’s got to the point that unless he’s in a good mood I cannot even nip to the shops.
His speech is delayed, the health visitor says he’s within normal for his age although I know he’s behind his peers. Nursery contradict this and I’m sure have me down as someone who just sits him in front of the tv and ignores him.
He doesn’t show signs of anything and plays beautifully when he’s in a good mood, he’s loving, clever, will play nicely alongside other children, he’s fantastic, but I feel like his tantrums are more than just normal toddler tantrums. It’s taking over our whole life. I don’t get 5 minutes to even speak to my other children or my husband because the youngest is screaming.
Just at a loss what to do, will he ever grow out of it?