DS (16 months) has always been a pretty laid-back baby. All of a sudden though he seems to have morphed into a difficult toddler and I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated.
Gone are the good night's sleeps. Last night he woke at 2am, groaning and screeching, still partially asleep. The only thing that would settle him was a bottle of milk, something which he's not needed at night for months and months. This happened again on and off until 5am. He ended up in my bed and eventually slept.
He's becoming picky with his foods too. He's basically uninterested unless he's eating raspberries, toast, pasta, or curries. Everything else gets thrown across the room.
He's also making me increasingly anxious when out and about. Yesterday we went out to lunch with mum. He was fine throughout the meal, but he caused the most unholy scene when it was time to go back into the pushchair. I gave him the option to walk, but that caused a similar response. There was screaming and he threw himself to the floor. I tried to comfort him. I tried my best, but my heart was breaking at his tearful face. People were also staring. It was awful. These kind of tatrums happen a lot.
I know this is normal. I knew to expect tatrums. I knew he'd start testing the boundaries soon.. But I feel like I don't know how to handle these situations and it's making me feel like a bad mum.
I have support from my own mum who watches him two days a week so that I can work. I'm a single parent though, so I don't really have anyone else to lean on. I need to get a grip and find ways to cope..
I don't really know what I'm asking in this post. General advice perhaps? Someone to tell me that it won't always be this difficult? Please be kind...