Hello everyone,
I have one DS who is now 11 nearly 12 months old. I've never really had any other experience of babies, he's my first and before him I'd never been around kids so for all I know this could be perfectly normal and I am just a clueless first time mum!
But he's what I'd call a difficult baby, he's been hard work since the get go. He has reflux, being treated by gaviscon and omeprazole and I've been told often that it's his reflux that makes him so impossible at times but I'm starting to get really worried there's something not right with him or that I'm going to be in for a very tough time when he's older...
So when he was an infant he cried and screamed all the time and I held on to the he hope that it would improve when he got older, sat, stood, crawled etc but here we are at 11 months and he's still just as difficult as ever.
He has what I can only describe as temper tantrums if he's told no or if I walk away into abother room, they're like these insane fits of rageful screaming and slaming his head repeatedly onto the floor. He's also exactly the same whenever I have to change his nappy. He goes insane! He also doesn't eat a lot of solids... I try and try bto maybe one day out of a week he will eat a few mouthfuls of something pureed.. so going out is a nightmare as I really need to be at home to attempt feeding him.
I've heard that separation anxiety can start at this age so maybe that's why he screams and screams when I put him down (this is a recent thing). But all his life he's hated being held or having to sit on your lap. He'll fight it and get enraged if he can't get down. So this makes giving him a bottle difficult as well.
I feel like he's progressively gotten worse to the point that I'm worn down and a bit of a wreck by the end of the day and can't wait for him to go to bed so I can have some peace for 5 minutes. He sleeps well through the night and naps during the day so I'm not worried he's overtired or anything.
He just seems so willful and angry and stroppy all the time and I'm starting to get terrified he'll be awful when he's older and I won't be able to control him or cope with him. I should add I'm a single mum with absolutely no family or support so this plays a bit factor in why I'm so worried about the future as I feel at the end of my tether now, if it gets any worse I don't know what I'll do!
Does anyone have any experience of this? Or any tips on how to deal with it? Is it normal for an 11 month old to have rageful fits like this?
I think what I'm hoping for is for someone to come along and tell me it's all a phase and just because he's like this now doesn't mean he'll be like it when he's older.. or something like that!
Thanks in advance for any replies.