Getting seriously frustrated with 'spirited' 10mo....tips for keeping him (and me!) calm??

[BotBotticelli]

DS1 is 10mo and seems to have started his terrible twos a year early....He is seriously grumpy at the moment. He screams, backbends, thrashes about, flails his arms around and cries at the following moments every day:

• when I change his nappy
• when I get him dressed
• when I try to brush his teeth
• when I put him in the buggy
• when i put him in the car seat
• when I try to feed him with a spoon (whole other thread!)
• at random moments when he seems to get suddenly pissed off with his toys, and lobs them about in a little rage!!

Is this normal behaviour for a 10mo?? Is there anything I can do to make our days less like lurching from one screaming fit to another? I am starting to find myself getting really grumpy with him in return, which I i know is unfair and probably makes me a terribly mum, but it feels pretty relentless. WTF is he gonna be like as a toddler if he is like this at 10mo??? Gah.

ps - meant to add, I am now focussing on finger foods only at meal times and am letting him feed himself with a loaded spoon which seems to sometimes work. other times he just screeches and throws the finger food on the floor :-S

Sounds pretty normal. Imagine how frustrating you would find the world if you had such little control.
Give him plenty of thewarning before things and leave plenty of time to do things. Don't see it as a battle.

Is he getting enough nap time? Probably just normal lo behaviour but if he is tired that will make it worse. Dd2 is a fairly happy baby (10.5mo) but morphs into Babyzilla from 4.30pm onwards as she is tired and won't nap for longer in the day. I try to be gentle with her and chat normally but also try not to let it get to me too much although sometimes I fail entirely and shout or get close to pulling my hair out Ds1 is home from school from 3.30pm so I don't want to spend the time of the day that I do have with him completely stressed out by dd2 crying and whingy. 'Baby dumping' on dh when he gets a foot through the door after work is also an excellent suggestion from QTPie - "HERE YOU GO!" with baby held in front of you in outstretched arms. Just try not to take it personally - babies cry and get grumpy for no apparent reason, or because the world is just wrong - it will get better with time! I can say this safely with the luxury of hindsight as ds1 is now 4.9yo and a lovely little boy. He wasn't always easy!

Omg I could've written this about my 10 month old dd! We had a major I don't want to go in my pram tantrum this afternoon. I won after 5 minutes of a big cuddle and then just getting calmly firm. Dd sulked for a bit but sjuts up when she knows she's lost.
Dd also blows her lid at food on a spoon, having sleeves put on, nappy changes and not being allowed the tv remote.

I had no idea sub 2 year olds could throw strops!

My 12 month old has been doing this kind of thing on and off for a couple of months now too. Never for too long (fortunately) as I try to distract with something else which generally works. I agree with what others have said - my ds seems to be frustrated when it happens - sometimes he bashes his head on the floor if I say "no we don't eat the crayon/mummy's phone/dog's ear..." or similar and remove the object.

I'm assuming it's all normal! Good luck.

Yes distraction is best at this age.