My son is 6 and my daughter is 10. DD was a dream baby and has been a very easy going child (with certain exceptions of course).
My DS is a totally different story. He has been difficult from the moment he was born. He didn’t sleep through the night until he was nearly 3, in spite of us trying every possible form of sleep training, including hiring a sleep consultant and he didn’t sleep in his crib at all until he was 9 months old. Consequently, I slept on the couch for 9 months while he dozed off and on in his bouncer or his swing.
He cannot handle change of any sort, making childcare and school an absolute nightmare. I have literally had to pry his fingers off of me so I can drop him off at school and the reason for his refusal to let me go was because there was a substitute teacher.
He has epic temper tantrums, screaming and yelling for up to an hour. DH or I sit in the doorway of his room preventing him from leaving but not interacting with him at all. We have found that trying to reason with him is pointless and only prolongs the tantrum.
More recently, the behavioural issues have taken an odd turn. Out of nowhere, he has convinced himself that the toilet will overflow if he flushes it. Initially, this meant that he would poop and not flush it but would then hide the toilet paper in the vanity or closets. Eventually he figured out that by leaving the poop in the toilet, we would know that there was toilet paper somewhere. His solution to this was to poop on a piece of paper and hide it in his closet.
When he is good, he is the sweetest most loving child. But he changes in an instant and the screaming starts. I am at my wits end and no longer know how to deal with him. The crying and screaming is unbearable. Any suggestions would be welcome.