My terrible two year old! Help me before i give him to the circus....!

[Koshka]

Hello,

Over the last few weeks, my DS, who is 2 years and 3ish months has changed from a complete nightmare to an even worse one!

I know, its expected, but i need some coping stragegies if that is ok?

He hits and headbutts if he doesnt get his own way. He isnt very easy to understand (i dont anyway and im his mum). he does not have a lot of vocabulary.

When i dropped him off at nursery today (which he usually loves) he wouldn't go into the room, and when he did he walked up to a little girl and PUSHED her over!!!
I have never seen him do anything like that before! He usually runs over and kisses her.
What can i do?

and yes i know i am lucky he doesnt have any ASD or anything, but i am still finding it hard to cope.
TIA

iirc that age they are ripe for incentives - star charts/sticker charts and the like. with a promise of some small treat when they complete a row. keep it simple - pick just one, two, or at most 3 things you want to encourage and award stickers accordingly. In general think in terms of what you want him to do - rather than what you don;t want him to do. ie explain what "playing nicely" is, rather than just saying "don't hit". even if he's not talking all that much i bet he understands every word you say. all in all don;t panic, he's testing the boundaries. it will pass.

thanks hatwoman.

he just doesnt seem to understand anything, not even do you want cereal/banana etc.
very difficult. find that i am getting frustrated easily with him too which doesnt help.

Its a hard time, Hatwoman has the right idea IMO. Also don't be afraid to deal out a light punishment - "if you do that again the TV will go off" or "No do not throw that on the floor or the plasticine goes away". At that age i find they need a bit of incentive and some rules too.

As for vocab that will come and as it does and you can understand him more his behaviour is very likely to improve - he will find it hard at this time as he is trying to communicate but failing. Try asking him to look directly at you and ask the question and look for even a slight nod of the head and then help him answer properly "say "yes please mummy"", I've found it worked on my DD during her 2nd year.

good luck

thank you

yes I agree with sagecat on light consequences - but you have to follow through! so keep them light or you'll regret it