Terrible Twos trauma group....

[CountessDracula]

Anyone else suffering at the moment? Honestly I have just been hanging out for bedtime all day....

Can i join? my 2 year old only went to sleep at 9.48pm tonight (i know the time exactly cause i was staring at the clock whilst he was lying next to me holding my hair)

I have to call work every sunday between 5-8pm and its always engaged for ages but as soon as i get through he starts screaming

he throws things, spills things and takes every toy that his baby brother manages to get off of him.

hes a very sweet child really though... he is!

Oh I feel so mean, she was so adorable this morning, snuggled up in bed pretending to be a baby bird in a nest and kissing us both

Lucky they are so gorgeous sometimes or it would be ebay for the lot of them!

I have lovely mornings every single morning where she comes into my bed, snuggles up and hugs me and wants big cuddles, and is absolutely lovely. But I sometimes get the impression that that time is the only time of day I get the pleasure of her rather than the pain!

a small ray of hope - dd2 was terrible at 2 (she started tantrums at 10 months actually) and didn't visibly improve at 3 either but now, at 3.5, she's definitely better. she can still be awful but often she's absolutely lovely now. and she actually tries not to tantrum now. life is much easier lately.

and donbeam, they aren't all like that. dd1 was never a toddler at all really (she's nearly 5 now). maybe about 5 tantrums in her life.

My 2.6 year old is actually quite reasonable. She has been through a couple of bad tantrummy phases (usually in public with an audience) but I stared a no tolerance policy of time out and other penalties and that seemed to knock it on the head. I know that this doesn't work for all children and isn't a panacea, but it worked for us. She goes through all the boring ritual stuff and the "My do it, My do it" wanting to do things without maternal help (like do up her buttons herself even though this can take 15 mins), but all in all she is pretty much okay and quite a good girl.

I am holding my breath now because I am fearful that she might suddenly become much worse when she turns 3 as per some of you other posters.

Keeping everything crossed that she is like Fennel's dd1!

Can I join in?

DD 2.4 is currently throwing a wobbler because I won't let her wear her outdoor shoes inside the house. Did someone mention eBay?

hi bagpuss

just wanted to say, thanks to your advice (and others) i have found it a lot easier over the weekend with dd1 hitting and shouting. she has been going to start hitting me and then 'remembered' about how she is bad when does, and i can see her trying not to. she stamps her feet instead!

can anyone tell me, do 2 yr olds lie? my dd1 (2 yrs 3 mths) when asked 'did you squash the cornflakes into the carpet?' etc says 'no mummy not me' with an angelic look

and i thought they were not to do that til later!

my 3.5 year old still doesn't lie but my 4 year old does. I haven't heard of any 2 year olds that do.

That's OK Nailpolish .

Re: lying though, I think at the age of 2 they are more likely to give you the answer that they think you want to hear rather than actually lying about something. dd's favorite phrase is "idon'tknow" (all one word!) whenever I ask her something atm.

dd2 age 3 will just not answer if she doesn't want to tell the truth, and dd1 used to do that too. she knows she hasn't got the right answer but can't make something up.

think you are right bagpuss. she is just saying it in a 'play' sense maybe

Oooh, I?m not too sure about that myself.
Yesterday, DS got into a strop because I wouldn?t let him pull the leaves off a plant. (he?s 2y6m btw), He immediately assumes the American arrest position (face down, flat out, arms outstretched), complete with loud w(hailer) protest. DP asks what the matter is and DS?s response was that ?MUMMY PUSHED ME OVER!!!?
That, I can assure you, was a total out and out lie.

we ar averaging three a day - feel I cnat relax till they have allpassed

We seem to be getting away with distraction techniques at the moment with him. Although he does occasionally turn them round on me!!
I have also found that as long as I offer alternatives to what he wants to do in the form of a choice, even if his choice isn?t one of them, he takes the bait and does what I wanted him to do in the first place.
e.g. He wanted his cripies in a certain bowl. Went berserk cos it was dirty and I wouldn?t wash it. Told him ?this bowl or nothing, you chose?. He chose the bowl and quite happily ate his crispies?don?t you just love em.

BAD MAMA ALERT:

I also threaten him with the ?police man? ( sorry to any police out there- but nothing wrong with a healthy respect of the law IMO).
When he won?t get in his car seat, I tell him that the police man will come and take ME away cos it?s not allowed to have children in the car unless they are in their special seat. Settles down a treat?so far anyway.

I press him down with my head int he car seat, or tickle

can I join - think I am going to need it .

Ds twins turned 2 on Saturday - up until the last couple of weeks we have not had tantrums (pleasant surprise as DS1 started at 18 months). But now twin1 has taken to laying on his back crying and yelling and kicking when things don't go the way he wants them to. Twin2 lies on his front ....

Me too please - DD is 3 next month and is being a total nightmare at the moment. She is just being so silly and willful it's driving us mad! She's also just started crying and whingeing if I ask her not to do something or say No to anything - however nicely I say it! We have all become like broken records, repeating the same thing over and over again until someone cracks! I am not the most patient of people so I have to make a huge effort not to shout and the temptation to give her a quick smack is almost overpowering! I keep telling myself 'it's just a phase' but it doesn't always work! Thank God for a day at work and some sanity!!! We are home tomorrow so ...let battle commence!!!!

i wanna join but my Ds is only 16 months old and hes a nightmare!!!!! he has a bad habit of screaming everytime you say "no" or take anything from him that he shouldnt have.So any offers ?? £5 will do for him!!!!! I guess hes up for ebay!!!!by the way my Dd is 4 and she was fantastic!!!

Ds turned 2 today. I think I'm in. I realised with dd1 that when you think they've gone into terrible twos early at about 18mths, and are momentarily proud that they are advanced for their age, actually that's just the warm up. I'm beginning to remember what it was like when she was 2.3, and I need some moral support. So far this evening ds has been carried back to bed 3 times. He's currently pottering about downstairs playing with birthday presents - correction, he's just been carried upstairs for the 4th time! Bedtime last night was a nightmare, so I decided rather than lose my rag I'd ignore him. At 8.50 he climbed off the sofa and said something about going to bed, then climbed up to his attic room and went to sleep. If only he could do it at 7...

Is there a switch on them somewhere? Who flicks it the day they turn two? He's STILL UP! We've tried everything we can think of (even a sip of red wine ). I guess if all else fails he'll go to bed when we do, but the thought of tomorrow doesn't thrill me. I think now might be the time to withdraw afternoon nap priveleges - any other suggestions anyone?

typical, mine has been angel complete with halo tonight!

My ds is 2.9yrs and we have just stopped his nap so that he falls into bed at 7pm....otherwise he would be up til 11pm.

With regard to lying, I asked him why he was crying the other day and he said, with a shrug of the shoulders, 'daddy punched me!!' This was such a lie!! He had tripped over and Daddy was nowhere to be seen!!

We have just got through the spitting phase which had made me so that I wanted to hit him. In the end, after trying EVERYTHING we talked about germs and that by spitting at everyone it spread germs and made people poorly, he stopped.

I now just have to get him to wear a seatbelt without moaning, get him to feed himself, dress him without a struggle........the list is endless. Why do we have kids???

OTOH he is so sweet and loves his family so much and is often found with baby ds singing his heart out!!

Lockets love the story.

Yes we've had lying from our 2.6 year old too - similar to the lies described here. Tantrumming dd telling daddy that I pushed her when I most certainly did not!!!! (cheeky monkey)

This morning ds has driven me mad! This is the first time i have felt truly annoyed since i had him.
I was tidying up toys into the toy box and started to put books on the shelf when he went and tippped the toy box up spilling the contents every where, then when i went back he pulled all the books off the shelves again......wanted to throw him across the room.
However, put him up for his nap, and thought logically...should really have waited till he was in his cot THEN tidied up...doh!
Its a great game this annoying mummy lark.