So what's the end result once (if) you get through the terrible twos?

[magnummum]

As with many posts my happy, well mannered, easy going dd 2 1/2 has been replaced by an increasing difficult little person who's not that much fun to be around at the moment. Trying everything - distraction/choices/no treats etc etc etc - none of this helped on either side by twins on the way. Anyway, what I really want to know from those who've been through it is do they go back to more or less the personality they had before they started pushing boundaries etc or are you left with a stroppy/aggressive/unhappy child?

Threes are nice. Fours are... um. Yes. Lovely weather for the time of year, don't you think?

I've got the 3's at the moment. Lovely and calm compared to the 2's. Long may it continue!

three was good
four is a bit challenging

Have you read Zagazoo? They turn into something different and completely random.

(OT - Kathy, are you pregnant again? If so I hadn't realised, and congratulations!)

I buy Zagazoo as one of my standard gifts for new parents...

We're just coming out of terrible twos and DD is a joy to be around now.

It was pretty hellish a few months back.

Thanks Portandlemon - yes I am! It's going to be the last one though - terrible morning sickness as ever

I think 2s are fine....3s on the other hand but then by 4 they are ok again.

they all go through good and bad phases... (or perhaps better to say calmer/easier versus difficult/stroppy!)

it will pass....

all depends on individual child - so too hard to generalise ages IMO. I think on the whole they get easier, more rational & calm with age.

I find 3 easier than 2. 5 is lovely

We had lovely two's but are having awful three's so am awaiting fours with baited breath

I have an elderly relatives who says that the even years are hard and the odds easier! Ds1 has just turned 4 and I think she may have a point!

I found the 2's and 3's painful. 4 is much better. DS is defiant, don't get me wrong (phew! boy is he?!) but much easier to talk to/explain things to.

Ds was pretty terrible from 20 months to 2.6, running off, laughing when I said no, tantrums if he didn't get his own way at 3.6 its easier in that I can reason with him, use rewards and stickers and confiscate his thomas trains etc and he seems to get it more. He's harder to distract but easier to reason with, hope to god 4's ok

DD was a wonderful two, an ok-ish three, and, at almost four, has become an absolute horror.

DS, on the other hand, is a terrible two, but seems to be getting slightly better as he approaches 3.

DS (nearly 3) is lovely and fun to be around. Not had really terrible 2s though - can they come late?

DD1 was the archetypal two year old from hell: screaming tantrums every day for a year lasting up to an hour. By 3 she had reverted back to her happy self, at 5 she is the lowest maintenance of my DCs and really the sweetest child if I say so myself. Do not despair, this phase will pass

DS1: Twos were fine, threes were pretty awful, fours lovely.
DS2: Twos a nightmare so far...