2 year old tantrums & sleep - help!!!

[rachel876]

I'm well aware that toddlers are notoriously badly behaved but I've really come to my wits end.

Bit of background, my little girl turned 2 mid November and ever since has been honestly out of control in a lot of situations (and she's never been a quiet or chilled baby). Her tantrums are so bad that it's gone from throwing toys to now hitting me & her dad and has started pulling my hair as hard as she can. I do my best to pull her away and remove myself from the situation but she will also throw herself about to purposely hurt herself so I feel like I can't fully leave her in the worry she will knock herself out

Her sleep is so bad too. We've recently moved her into her toddler bed as she was climbing out of her cot bed (she was unsettled in the cot bed too but at-least she was contained). She's refusing to sleep in her bed so we've had to get her a floor mattress. It takes up to an hour and a half to settle her (even after her bedtime routine of bath/story/cup of milk). I have to be in the room and creep out when she eventually falls asleep and then she will wake up multiple times a night for more comforting. I can understand the adjustment period of being in a new bed but it's just not improving. I'm also 28 weeks pregnant so lying on the floor with her isn't fun. She has completely dropped her nap and refuses to go down at all (I've tried everything). I think in the last 6 weeks ish she's had 2 car naps because even getting her to nap in the car is a struggle. I know she's definitely overtired but fighting her for a nap has just become unbearable.

Personality wise she is really clever, her speech is great, she knows her abc (words for each letter), numbers up to 20, understands so much and can communicate really well compared to a lot of others her age. I'm a stay at home mum so she has my attention and we do activities most days. She can go from the sweetest and most caring little girl to having this real rage that is so hard to get her to calm down from.

I'm not sure what I'm really getting at here but maybe some advice or words that it's normal and will get better?! I know we shouldn't compare but she's honestly always been more prone to tantrums and breakdowns than others her age and idk what's normal as she's my first.

Thank you if you read through all that. I really just feel like I must be doing something wrong to make her act like this

I'm sorry I have no advice, just a massive virtual hug.

I have two. My little boy, now 2, is a real handful. So much harder than the other nct mums babies from our group. My girl, 7 months, is a dream by comparison so I feel like they're born how they are. We do our best, but my boy has been the same since day one. He's bright, loving, kind, happy and also gets frustrated so easily, he won't eat any veg and frankly anything that's not a biscuit or a banana is hard work.

I've heard from a friend it gets better. Hers turned three and she was a different girl. Maybe a developmental thing, frustration until she could x, y or z 🤷

Hey, I totally feel you as it sounds like my life with my son! He's now 5 and I can promise you there's light at the end of the tunnel. The first thing I did was to change up the bedtime routine slightly to help him sleep better. I had the same routine as you, but then added a massage at the end of it. This helped him fall asleep and stay asleep. The next thing I did was to incorporate more challenging activities into our playtime that would help stimulate and challenge him in a new way. We also incorporated more physical development activities that honestly, helped tired him out. Once the sleep situation was sorted, everything else fell in to place. Hope this was helpful in some small way. Fee Xx

Thank you both so much it's made me feel a lot better. I'll definitely look into the massage too