Does anyone else have a very grumpy child?

[ceebeegeebies]

And I mean very grumpy?

DS2 (2.1) is generally not very happy and it breaks my heart that he seems to spend his life in a grump Occasionally he is happy and will play and giggle but it is not very often - plus he seems to swing from grumpiness to grinning mischievousness with nothing in the middle

We obviously try and cheer him up, play with him etc but unless he is in the mood, he just pushes you away saying 'no no' all the time. He whinges a lot aswell. I feel sorry for DS1 who loves him and wants to play with him but gets pushed away a lot of the time - eventually DS1 is going to get fed up of trying to interact with him and I wanted them to be close as brothers.

Will he grow out of it? He has always been grumpy, even as a baby, so I fear it is just his personality and I worry about how he will be when he is older.

Any suggestions on how to deal with him to try and make him a happier toddler?

My almost 4 yr old is very grumpy. But he also has chronic constipation. I never know what is down to that and what is his actual personality. He was very happy as a baby.

I would take him to a craniel osteopath to rule out him having had a headache for the last 2.1 years first of all.

Hmm after that ignore the grumpiness so he's not getting attention for it? Play games without him that he would like so he gets drawn to join in?

It sounds like his mood is dictating the family?

Reup there doesn't seem to be any health issues with DS2 although when he has a cold, he goes downhill very quickly and stays there for days...he literally mopes around and will not move from the sofa.

cargirl will certainly consider the osteopath (does it make a difference that he was delivered by elective c-section though - I assumed any head damage was due to issues whilst going through the birth canal)?

We really try to ensure he is not impacting on family life but it is very difficult when he sits there whinging/moaning whilst me, DH and DS1 are playing games, reading books etc.

DS1 is the exact opposite and is permanently happy so it probably makes DS2's moodiness seem more exaggerated but it is still very wearing and I do worry about him.

The other point which I meant to put in the OP is that he seems perfectly happy at nursery and they always comment on what a happy lovely boy he is...so it would appear it is his homelife that makes him as he is which makes me even sadder

C-section babies nearly always benefit from CO because babies are meant to go through the birth canal and it does "something" important that those who are born via CS miss out on.

I bet at nursery if he didn't get on with it he would just get ignored, plus they only ever save their worst behaviour for home where they feel 100% secure don't they

he's getting to an age where you could tackle it by putting him in time out for bad attitude. He's allowed to have a little complain but more than that is not acceptable? Your a good few months of that though and def rule out discomfort first!

buy the book playful parenting (on Amazon).It's by psychologist called cohen? I'm sure you can turn things around wih a different approach. We did and things are fab now. The only time we struggle now is when he doesn't get enough sleep or is ill.