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Anyone else sometimes feel like they just need to accept that their kids is a difficult one to parent?

31 replies

tillythemoo · 03/12/2025 18:57

DS nearly 6, in year 1. He seems to have constant ups and downs, we have a really bad period, followed by a less bad one, and then it goes back round again, pretty much all the time.
When he’s really bad, DH and I basically lose the will to live. When he’s less bad we think we might have finally turned a corner, but then it goes bad again.

He is very high energy, and boisterous, he is head strong, opinionated, very sociable and popular with other kids, a natural leader, intelligent, easily frustrated, volatile, stubborn reactive and highly strung.
He can be extremely kind, thoughtful, charming and very funny, but less often than he is the other things.

He also whines a lot, demands, lacks politeness and comes across very abrupt.

I love him so much, but my god I never knew parenting a child like this was so tough. DH and I are very consistent with our house rules and what’s right and wrong. He knows he’s very loved, we’re affectionate and firm when we need to be.

I just feel like actually he is just a difficult character, that’s his temperament, his personality, and even though I keep telling myself he’ll get easier “next year” (I’ve been saying since he was 12 months), now we’re at 6 I kind of know now this is who he is. He simply is a difficult child to parent.

Anyone else in this boat?

OP posts:
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Dyra · 03/12/2025 19:09

I'm a couple years behind you, but everything you've said about your DS is equally applicable to my force of nature DS. A real shock to the system after my people pleasing DD. Easier to parent absolutely, but trying to get her to stand up for herself (especially against her brother) is a challenge too. I have no expectations he will calm by himself. Hopes, yes, but after the best part of 4 years of this, I recognise it's just how he is.

If it helps any, my youngest brother was exactly the same. He's in his early 30s now, and a wonderful adult. Apparently once he found an activity to funnel all his focus and energy into (for him, rugby) he became more manageable.

IfyouStealMySunshine · 03/12/2025 19:10

Not with mine but definitely one of my friends.
she has 3 and wow they are hard work.
Individually I’d say only one was really really difficult but all together they bring out the worst in each other.
it’s hard as she says they are hard work and is constantly exhausted and I’m torn between agreeing with her to validate her feelings but then that feels like I’m being negative about her kids!
I just keep saying it will get easier but honestly I think it’s just their personalities and will continue to be difficult.

BertieBotts · 03/12/2025 19:20

Yes, both of my DC who were like this were later diagnosed with ADHD.

The third one was a shock because he is so easy. He might moan and groan about being asked to do things but then he just does them Confused you can warn him he's in danger of time out and he actually stops doing the thing Confused in fact, I put him on time out on a random step while we were out the other day and he stayed on it. He eats pretty much anything. He uses public toilets. He can be silly and cheeky but not over the top to the point it's no longer cute or funny. He also has a reasonable amount of patience and empathy given his age whereas the other two were much slower to display this.

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SayDoWhatNow · 03/12/2025 21:03

I feel this a bit.

My DS is 3.5y and has been incredibly hard work since the day he was born (colic, terrible sleep, incredibly high needs, really severe separation anxiety, very anxious, full of energy, always on the go, constantly requiring attention/input/reassurance). He is also wonderful, loving and incredibly funny, but good heavens a handful to parent.

I had a suspicion he was trickier than average. Then I had DD a few months ago and the difference is astonishing. She sleeps in blocks. She doesn't cry all day long. You can put her down on a mat or in a bouncer and leave the room and she happily entertains herself for 10 minutes or so.

I now understand how people consider having 2 under 2 or talk about every moment of babyhood being a joy, because if this is the normal experience it's a piece of cake in comparison!

That all sounds rather glib and like I prefer my DD to my DS. It's really not the case but I'm still working through all the emotions about DS's babyhood (people not understanding how hard it was, the missed opportunities for bonding when you have a baby that screams all day) that are being brought to the surface in parenting DD.

Mum3354 · 03/12/2025 21:13

One of mine was very difficult (like a tornado) until about age 8, then got easier. I suspected ADHD but they seem to be coping as an adult so far. Teenage years weren't too bad on the whole.

Checknotmymate · 03/12/2025 21:16

SayDoWhatNow · 03/12/2025 21:03

I feel this a bit.

My DS is 3.5y and has been incredibly hard work since the day he was born (colic, terrible sleep, incredibly high needs, really severe separation anxiety, very anxious, full of energy, always on the go, constantly requiring attention/input/reassurance). He is also wonderful, loving and incredibly funny, but good heavens a handful to parent.

I had a suspicion he was trickier than average. Then I had DD a few months ago and the difference is astonishing. She sleeps in blocks. She doesn't cry all day long. You can put her down on a mat or in a bouncer and leave the room and she happily entertains herself for 10 minutes or so.

I now understand how people consider having 2 under 2 or talk about every moment of babyhood being a joy, because if this is the normal experience it's a piece of cake in comparison!

That all sounds rather glib and like I prefer my DD to my DS. It's really not the case but I'm still working through all the emotions about DS's babyhood (people not understanding how hard it was, the missed opportunities for bonding when you have a baby that screams all day) that are being brought to the surface in parenting DD.

Mine was like that. She had cmpa.

MillsMollsMands · 03/12/2025 21:18

Yes. My 2nd (of 3) was a challenging child. I bought books like ‘the highly explosive child’ and similar. I remember saying to a friend that after all sociopaths were babies once… I wondered about neurodiversity but never attempted an assessment. Followed instagrammers talking about ‘spicy’ children etc.

My child is now 14 and honestly pretty much a pleasure most of the time. my mum always used to say that she thought my child just didn’t like being a young child, and certainly since about the age of 11 things have got much easier with them.

Pantheon · 03/12/2025 21:35

Yes, I can relate for sure. In fact I could've written @Dyra post! Including the younger brother who was similar and needed an outlet. I hang onto the fact that he is more confident, less anxious etc than I am as an adult but I was 'easier' to raise.
I have come to the conclusion that you parent the child you have, not the child you want (ie one that doesn't fight you on everything 😅) inbuilt temperament is definitely a major factor in what parenting is like. I think my 2nd is high in intensity for example.
The hardest bit for me is probably caring about others' judgement sometimes.

Hotfeetcoldfeet · 03/12/2025 21:48

My DD has exactly those traits. I’ve suspected ADHD but she doesn’t want to go for a diagnosis. To be fair, aged about 11 she turned a corner and although she is still high maintenance, (and I often say that she will either end up as Prime Minister or the leader of an international crime gang - could go either way) she’s easier and more reasonable now. She’s 13 and she apologises to me when she knows she’s been out of order. Keep the faith. He’ll learn how to manage himself I’m sure.

SayDoWhatNow · 03/12/2025 22:05

Checknotmymate · 03/12/2025 21:16

Mine was like that. She had cmpa.

That's the thing though - DS does not have CMPA. Or any other allergy as far as I can see. He's 3yo and his personality/temperament now are the 3yo version of himself as a baby. There's nothing medically wrong, it's just how he is.

Sofasu · 03/12/2025 22:11

I think people with easy children always assume it's their parenting, especially only children. I'm probably guilty of that.
I have observed a friend with three DC, all had the same parenting, two ordinary kids and one really, really challenging one. Another who has 4 children. Three high achieving decent kids and one total rebel.

Feejoah · 03/12/2025 22:12

My 12yo is very, very hard work. She ticked a lot of boxes on an autism assessment, but fell just short of the diagnostic line. She misunderstands a lot of what she is told/asked, and is very quick to anger. She bullies her siblings and is incredibly jealous of them. She can be very unlikeable. We have tried various things to help her but she refuses to engage. At school she is as quiet as a mouse and teachers are incredulous to hear of what goes on at home.

I very much think its not me, it's her. I do my best. We all do (her included, I guess).

paristotokyo · 03/12/2025 22:19

You’ve described my dc down to the letter. It is very hard and my DH actually copes better with that type of personality as he says he was similar at that age. DH is wonderful now, so I have hope! But in all honestly, yes I do think it is a personality thing. Interested to know if your dc was premature?

NewCushions · 03/12/2025 22:22

I absolutely believe some children are harder to parent - either due to personality, or because of physical/neurological factors. Your DS does sound like he might be ND, but it's still early and something like ADHD might take longer to diagnose and you'd need a clearer idea of how it si negatively impating him (not you) before you'd get there.

What's he like at school?

BertieBotts · 03/12/2025 22:28

MillsMollsMands · 03/12/2025 21:18

Yes. My 2nd (of 3) was a challenging child. I bought books like ‘the highly explosive child’ and similar. I remember saying to a friend that after all sociopaths were babies once… I wondered about neurodiversity but never attempted an assessment. Followed instagrammers talking about ‘spicy’ children etc.

My child is now 14 and honestly pretty much a pleasure most of the time. my mum always used to say that she thought my child just didn’t like being a young child, and certainly since about the age of 11 things have got much easier with them.

DS1 was like that. Once he went to secondary school it was almost like a switch flipped. I think when he could direct some of his extreme extroversion at his friends rather than being reliant on me for 100% of it all day it was less draining and let us breathe a bit rather than rubbing each other up the wrong way.

Wbeezer · 03/12/2025 22:32

I discovered Mumsnet almost 20 years ago searching for help with DS1 who was an extremely high maintenance child, particularly awful at weekends which was very wearing for the whole family.
i suspected something was wrong for years but was always treated like a fussy mother. Trying different solutions and trying to keep him happy took over my life ( DH found it hard sticking to different parenting techniques which didn’t help) its been hard and is still ongoing to an extent ( he’s 27 and still at home as he’s a mature student at a local uni). He is on medication for ADHD which helped him a lot but he still isn’t an easy person!
one thing I’m proud of is that despite all the difficulties there is still love.
i do sometimes daydream about what my life could have looked like if I hadn’t had kids ( DS2 has autism!). I’m rather worn out..

Superscientist · 03/12/2025 22:59

My younger sister was like this.

To casual observers she looks like an outgoing extrovert but she's actually also introverted and being around others is exhausting so she would have masses of energy, didn't stop talking always on the go but then would reach her limit and then have explosive tantrums before crashing.
3 to 7/8 was hard and then again 13-16. She struggled with relationships with other girls which made school hard. This added more emotional exhaustion as she was spending the school day holding in difficult emotions and exploding at home.

Managing energy was key, my dad used to take her out to run around frequently, she joined a running group in primary school which helped until she developed an injury and related health condition
She became passionate about literature and history which gave her something to focus on when she needed to retreat from people
Brain and emotional fatigue tended to make her more explosive. This was particularly a problem in her teen years where she was experiencing bullying and with school work probably wasn't getting the same level of activity so her body is wanting to mood but her brain was getting frazzled.

She's now a passionate adult and can still be hard work. I can absolutely tell when she has had too much or too little time with other people or too little activity as she's hard work. She has more awareness now and can see when she needs to adjust what is going on with her life. There's other times when her life is more in balance and she's easy to be around

I have a 5yo too and I am squirrels leader (scouts aged 4-6) and see quite a few kids that have challenges for parenting.

IndigoIsMyFavouriteColour · 03/12/2025 23:08

We have one very difficult child, he’s 13 now and ND though I hate to label him. He ran away from home a week ago without any shoes or socks on! Was terrifying and the police ended up bringing him home. He won’t engage with any sort of support and closes down if we try and speak to him about his violent outbursts and anger problems. It’s really difficult and scary, especially as we are a gentle home and don’t have much lived experience of someone being violent like he is.

SabrinaThwaite · 03/12/2025 23:33

My eldest son (now late twenties) was like this - it’s hard and if yours is like mine it will get better but there will be bumps on the road. Mine found a sport that he loved and it made a huge difference - he needed discipline and routine and to expend a lot of mental and physical energy.

From your OP, your son has lots of positive characteristics - he’s bright, sociable, independent, kind, thoughtful and funny - everything you’d want in your child really. He's going through a big period of change and finding his feet, and he’s still little. Keep doing what you’re doing - be consistent, be a team, keep firm but fair boundaries.

tillythemoo · 06/12/2025 17:24

Thanks so much all for your replies. I will keep the faith that he’ll be able to manage himself better as he gets older, because that’s all I have!

He too has a little sister who has shown me what parenting a sweet little child is like, as PP have said I don’t prefer her, but I do prefer her company, she allows me to relax a bit more and be myself, which is such a nice feeling in comparison. I’m not on edge with her ready to tell her off or correct the lack of pleases or thank yous at every moment.

The problem I have is I REALLY want a close loving relationship with DS, but he doesn’t let us in. He’s too hectic and looking for thrills and adrenaline. It’s like he’s branded us as boring and we’ve branded him as difficult and so the relationship just isn’t there.
I know there is a lovely boy who cares deeply inside, I just wish he could come out more.

I have often wondered if he has ADHD, or PDA. Who knows, I don’t think a diagnosis would really help, I’d rather just make him happier. He doesn’t respond to discipline either, he just fights back or calls us names, I have given up on how to discipline him.

I feel a shell of my former self. The weekends are hard, so telling myself that it’s just who he is actually takes the pressure off me a little bit. It feels okay that I don’t like his behaviour because that’s just the way he is.
But I really do hold onto hope things will improve…I guess I know I will always resent him a little for making our first go at parenting so very difficult.

OP posts:
SabrinaThwaite · 06/12/2025 18:46

I found a book called ‘The Manipulative Child’ (don’t be put off by the awful title) useful. It advocates a Stop, Pause, Redirect strategy when things are started to get heated.

I too had a much easier second child - I was so glad I had them this way round!

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/12/2025 18:56

BertieBotts · 03/12/2025 19:20

Yes, both of my DC who were like this were later diagnosed with ADHD.

The third one was a shock because he is so easy. He might moan and groan about being asked to do things but then he just does them Confused you can warn him he's in danger of time out and he actually stops doing the thing Confused in fact, I put him on time out on a random step while we were out the other day and he stayed on it. He eats pretty much anything. He uses public toilets. He can be silly and cheeky but not over the top to the point it's no longer cute or funny. He also has a reasonable amount of patience and empathy given his age whereas the other two were much slower to display this.

Same here.

We kept saying ‘she’ll turn the corner’

Its been the longest road ever. She’s 19 now and with a lot of medication the corner is in sight.

The horrors of the naughty step still haunt me.

BertieBotts · 06/12/2025 21:00

The diagnosis does help, even if you don't want to look into medication - although I would say that the media has done a scupper with this over the last ~30 years most of which time most people (including me) were just absorbing it unquestioningly, so assume 90% of what you "know" about ADHD medication to be false - diagnosis helps because if you're only half of the mindset of "can they help this? Is it a choice?" then you react differently even if it's only half the time, compared to when you know, actually they genuinely have reduced capacity for that specific thing, or they do NEED that extra exercise or proximity to a safe/trusted adult, or space from their sibling, or whatever. I don't know how much is my own diagnosis vs his, but my relationship with DS2 has suffered so much less from his ADHD behaviour even though it is IMO worse than DS1's.

It's a bit like knowing that someone is deaf and you need to look at them when you speak because they lipread, rather than having constant misunderstandings because you think they are ignoring you or they get irritated with you because you have answered their question and they didn't hear you and the irritation, whichever side it is on, colours your next interaction which overall degrades the relationship between you.

Understanding him is one way to smooth out some of the interactions, which will make him happier. And there are ways to discipline but they are different to what most people will be able to get away with. For example, most parenting advice places the utmost importance on reacting to behaviour in the moment. For ADHD, sometimes that is true too, but a lot of the time you are reacting to and trying to deal with behaviour 1 and before you have managed to do anything at all child is engaging in behaviours 2-6 which you also do not like and it's impossible to keep up. Or even worse if behaviour 1 happens to be something you're trying to praise and then you have to abruptly perform a U-Turn. (There is a good tip for this that I read in an ADHD parenting book (Step by step help for children with ADHD) which says say something like "Good sitting!" - as short as possible and including what you are praising for within the praise, because frequently they have already moved on to something naughty.)

But the other issue with disciplining ADHD behaviour in the moment is that commonly ADHD disruptive or provocative behaviour is a sign of dysregulation, and trying to combat this will simply escalate the child further. They are not even in a state where they can actually take the information in at that point. I've been ill and a bit short on patience the last couple of days and if I have slightly raised my voice or given an irritable reprimand, DS2 literally covers his ears and starts screaming (we actually think he might be autistic as well as ADHD). Anyway if you are getting a lot of this kind of thing, then it can help to completely flip behaviour management, de-escalate in the moment (Mona Delahooke or NVR are good resources for this) and use a more proactive and specific approach. With this, you sit down away from the child when you have a quiet moment (lol sorry) and note down a small number of predictable behaviours or scenarios which can be tricky. Commonly these will be worded in terms of the negative behaviour e.g. refusing to wear seatbelt in car / hitting brother / complaining about turning off the TV (etc) so the first step is to flip each behaviour and consider what you actually want them to do instead.

Having considered this is instantly helpful because we tend to immediately notice what they do wrong but it is hard to notice when behaviour is neutral or helpful, often we just feel a sense of relief and don't want to interrupt but it is important to notice this, whether you notice it straight away or later on. Knowing what you want also makes it easier to communicate clearly.

Secondly knowing what you are looking for helps you set up a proactive plan for success so you can look at things which might be getting in the way, e.g. if you are having issues with morning routines a visual schedule and a space free of clutter and distractions to get ready can help. If the transition off the screen feels too sudden it might help to communicate more e.g. remind them at the end of this episode it's time to turn off etc. If they are often turning to physical violence they may need more support with communication and emotional regulation, and you could plan to work on these generally. (Ross Greene's books are really helpful for this idea).

Thirdly you can take the principle of shaping. This actually comes from dog training but it is really simple and clever - the principle of this is that rather than punishing unwanted behaviour, with the punishment increasing the more the unwanted behaviour continues, you look at what the child's behaviour is now, and what the behaviour expectation you want to get to, and you think OK what would be one small step from where they are now to where I want them to be. Then you change your behaviour expectation to that, for now. No punishment, mainly ignoring the behaviour (engaging with the behaviour is essentially giving attention to it, which children can experience as rewarding) but some kind of reward (praise or attention is fine or you can use tokens if you want) for getting to that one step closer. If the wanted behaviour is still not occurring, rather than add a punishment, reduce the size of the step. Once the step is occurring frequently, move to the next step towards where your aim is. This is really helpful because it starts where the child is and can build practice and therefore skills in a manageable way even without necessarily knowing why they are behaving as they are. There is a good video course on youtube for this, called Everyday Parenting Course by YaleCourses.

Russell Barkley is good for understanding ADHD. Mona Delahooke or Robyn Gobbel are good for understanding dysregulation. I believe a lot of what people refer to as PDA online is usually referring to any kind of dysregulation, not necessarily the specific kind of dysregulation which is a nervous system being triggered by demands. Stuart Shanker's Self-Reg has a helpful model which is about how everyone has five domains of stress and we are all more or less sensitive to different parts of these domains, but strain on any one area reduces capacity in the other four and dysregulation occurs when all the parts are overwhelmed at once.

canuckup · 07/12/2025 02:41

Yeah personality can be a huge shocker in kids

There's parenting... With various personalities.

LonelyPotato · 07/12/2025 03:20

DD began having extreme meltdowns at the age of 7. It became clear that she has autism with a PDA profile though it took years to get to that realisation. She’s still on the pathway at almost 14 with no end in sight. I have CPTSD (unrelated to her) and have been a lone parent since she was 1. To describe it as hard doesn’t quite cut it. It’s hell.
There might be more at play with your DS. If so act on it as soon as you can. The waiting lists are insane. My Dsis in the same situation with my niece, almost exactly, especially with being very intelligent. She’s been able to read since the age of 3. The other descriptors you used describe her perfectly. She’s been on the pathway for a couple of years now and she’s about to turn 6.

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