2 year old is so hard and no longer have a life

[Dad2017]

Me and my wife have a very spirited 2 year old. He was a miserable baby and didn't smile much and always went through the worst phases where he would just moan for 2 weeks solid I.e as he was close to crawling or some other sort of development.

He went through a really good phase for about 2 months where he was really happy and then he got ill with something and then he got miserable again. Now it can change from day to day where 1 minute he's fine and then he can turn and he's sad which feels like for no reason.

As he goes to nursery 2 days a week he constantly picks up bugs and when that ends he ends up teething.

We don't take him out shopping or to restaraunts anymore as he can't sit still and will cause a scene and then just start crying.

My wife is an amazing mum but she is absolutely exhausted aswell. We don't really have a life anymore as we are both constantly exhausted as he also gets up at about 5-5:30 every morning.

Basically we are broken, miserable and we used to talk about having another one but we don't think that will happen anymore.

How do you get past this misery, exhaustion and still feel happy. We are both feeling depressed and don't really live a life anymore. We do love him so much which makes this so hard. Will this ever end

Hi there, I know this is a long time ago but I wonder whether you have an update on how your son is now and any advice for people in a similar boat to you.
I have a 17 month son and since his birth it has been so hard. Today we went to a family gathering and he was screaming so much I had to leave after 10 minutes..often he screams for no apparent reason and it's so intense. He is rarely happy and when he is it seems something (illness, teething, anything!)happens and it starts all over again. Would love to hear how your son is now. I'm terrified this is just how he is. Xx

Mine was like this from birth up until around 18 months, but I think it’s more common around the age of 2. After 18 months things slowly got easier and easier and by 2.5 he was an absolute delight to be around. But for the first year and a half of his life I felt like I had make a terrible mistake and was severely depressed because my child was such hard work and cried so much. He’s a teenager now and has continued to be a delight since he was 2. It can get so much better.

@Jadey89

this came up on my emails and i forgot i had a mumsnet account 😄

Well hes nearly 7 now and is a very different child. As this was my first your mindset is in a very tough place as everything is so new so the second has been a breeze.

he still is very spirited as to say but he is now an absolutely incredible boy, very intelligent, very social and so much fun. At the time when i wrote this i was struggling (from what i can remember) but as time goes on it gets alot easier. Its that infant/toddler stage and im so glad who he is. He is my world and i couldnt be happier.

Trust me it gets easier (physically but not mentally) but the love just continues to grow for who they turn in to. From what i have found as he was a difficult child it comes out 2 fold as they grow with more passion for things. I love him, hes awesome and im very lucky.

Im a very anxiety driven person so the things when he was younger where really hard for me but as he got older and i could communicate properly with him i can get all those feelings out.

Just keep with it and you will love the mini human they are turning out to be 😃

Thank you very much for responding, I really appreciate it and am so glad you have a lovely relationship with your son.

Thanks for sharing your experience and your kind words. I'm very glad things got a lot better for you.