16mo tantrums! Struggling :(

[Amy97h]

My DS is just turned 16mo

i think he’s cutting teeth as he’s showing signs (gums look ‘bruised’, tired, irritable and some cold symptoms)

he’s thrown the odd few before now but this past week or 2 I’ve felt like it’s constant and I’m struggling

are some kids temperament just more reactive than others?

Like in nursery he tries to run to the next room up the older room and when I try and take him back to his room he screams like you wouldn’t believe!

he also doesn’t go in as willingly as he used to

family have babysat him and said he’s not really like that for them so then I feel guilty and feel like it’s my fault or me? But I just feel lost at this stage I’m unsure what’s going on my lovely calm happy child has turned into a screaming machine who won’t let me go for a wee!!!

My son definitely had a defiant stage at that age. I'm still calling it the beginning of the terrible twos!

Now he is 21 mo and can communicate slightly better, so he's not so frustrated. He did have a phase of always tantruming, but he's moved past it and is now sometimes tantruming 😬

How well can your son talk? Does he tell you what he wants with gestures? A lot of it is possibly frustration at not being understood, and also a bit of "I want to do this but I can't do this"

He is acting up for you and not others because you're his safety net. He feels comfortable opening up to you because he loves you more than anyone. It all comes down to interpreting what he's trying to tell you - and maybe he doesn't know what he's trying to tell you!