Talk to me about normal toddler behaviour

[Hardknocks]

DD is 2 years and 1 month old. She is exhausting and has been since birth, but there were a whole host of problems such as milk allergy and reflux.

She is high energy 24/7 but she’s VERY emotional. She won’t let me help her with anything (until she’s tried to do it herself 10 times) and ‘no’ is her favourite word. I give her choice in just about everything to try and help her feel in control but I just feel worn down by the end of the day. We go out a lot and run off all her energy, but no matter what the day always involves some sort of tantrum.

She doesn’t really ‘play’ with other kids, and finds soft play etc really overstimulating so we try and stick to parks and open spaces.

We pulled her out of nursery because she was really unhappy there, but now the childminder is starting to say that she’s a bit of a handful and I just feel like I’m getting something really wrong.

She’s an incredibly intelligent little thing, she can speak quite well but not enough to voice all of her feelings yet. She can be really lovely, sunny and caring but honestly sometimes I want to put my head in the oven.

Is this normal? On the harder end of normal? Will it get easier?

This sounds like my life with a 2yr 8mo. When she turned two it was like she changed overnight. It is exhausting and there are some days I just wake up willing to get to the end of the day in one piece 🫠

my toddler is fairly advanced in communication and I think she is just really good at expressing her completely irrational wants and feelings, so is pretty cross when they’re not met. Her favourite phrase (other than “no”) is “but I want to!”

Just sending solidarity so you feel less alone - I can’t say if it will get easier (it hasn’t for us yet!) but I hope it does.

I think it's within the normal range but maybe a bit harder than average. DD is 2yrs 4 months. She likes to do things for herself but will concede and accept help after a couple of attempts. No allergies or reflux issues. She has tons of energy but will also sit and do quiet play like puzzles and play doh. We are out and about every day and she enjoys soft play and toddler classes. She doesn’t go to nursery yet but seems happy in toddler groups.