16 month old temper tantrums!

[november90]

Well this has hit me like a tonne of bricks! My LB has suddenly started having the worst temper tantrums and they have literally come from no where. If he doesn't get his own way, over the surge smellesybdetails he will purposely come up to me and start hitting or kicking or head butting me. The other day he picked up a spoon and started whacking me on the head with it. I literally can't believe it. Before now he's been the sweetest, cuddliest little thing and we have been so gentle with each other. I am so upset, how could his personal change over night?! We aren't even in a leap atm! I don't know the best way to deal with this :( it is really upsetting me. I normally give him a firm no. I just feel like he's all of a sudden so aggressive :(

Totally normal but a PITA when it happens, and hugely frustrating.

First things first, try not to take it personally - it’s hard but honestly this is something major I’ve had to learn. It’s not personal.

Second of all, say a firm “it is not okay to hit/pinch/slap/etc. We use gentle hands”. Show him gentle hands. Hold his hand, stroke your head/arm/wherever he hit you and say “ahh, nice and gentle!” It won’t help overnight but it will help eventually.

When he does hit, say a firm “no” and put him down. Say “I won’t let you hit me” and walk away. If he tries to hit you again, repeat “I won’t let you hit me” and continue walking away.

It’s bloody tough, and you will (probably) end up shouting at some point and then feeling guilty for shouting, but remember that we’re only human.

Don’t react with violence (not that I’m assuming you would!) and if you feel overwhelmed, it’s okay to move into another room to calm down.

Thanks so much for the reply and tips I really appreciate it!
Last week he was on penicillin for a few days and he had to go into A&E as he had a massive allergic reaction to it, ever since he's come off he's been a lot more settled so I wonder if that contributed to his frustrations last week? Either way deep down I know it's all normal, it's just so hard to not take personally 🙈
Thank you once again! I will keep talking gentle hands and cuddles to him 🥰

More than likely if he had an infection and then was not getting on with his antibiotics this won't have helped. My DS is a similar age and he's very similar if he's teething or poorly, but generally pretty chilled the rest of the time. Unfortunately he had been teething and/or poorly an awful lot recently so we've been dealing with it a lot!

It's really hard not to take it personally, especially as it's usually reserved for me! I try and remember he isn't feeling great and try and not make too much of a big deal out of it, as I think he does it more if I react more.

Oh bless you, it's so difficult when they're unwell isn't it! My eldest turns into a wild animal when he's coming down with soemthing. I always know when soemthing is on the way because his behaviour is rotten but then at the same time I just go into panic mode wondering what has happened 🙈
I by no means think I'm out of the woods with these tantrums, at all, but I've seen my happy little baby back today and it's made me so happy ♥️