Terrible twos already?

Oh my...I am afraid that I am beginning to see one of my girls assert herself. And not in a good way. She has been having a rough week...first the stomach bug, then a cold, and now a cough. PLUS she is getting her first molar. SO, it could really be a mixture of all kinds of things. BUT...that being said- today whenever we would try to disrupt something she wasn't supposed to be doing (ex.-taking my cell phone off the table), she would throw a FIT. And I mean, FIT!!!! I have NEVER seen her act this way. Twice today things like this sent her into an hour long tantrum. Full out- crying, screaming, dropping to the floor, banging her head, scooting on her back all around the dining room...WOW!!! i had no idea my nice, quiet, shy little angel could be like this! Yes, yes...I know she isn't feeling well, but part of me thinks that she is now adding to our misery (we are exhausted as she hasn't been sleeping well) by deciding that now is the time to test everything we say. We finally realized at lunch today that she has us wrapped around her little finger. "Daddy, UP!" "Down!" She wants the radio "on", then "off". "up", "down". Finally I said, SIT in your chair at the table and we are eating lunch...she cried and flailed (and almost tipped her chair over a few times), but finally quieted after 20 minutes and drank some milk at least. phew...one head ache later for mommy, I think we won that battle at least!

ugh...anyone else having these kinds of problems as young as 17 months? This little girl of mine is smarter than a whip, and I'm afraid she knows exactly what she is doing! It's about time for dinner...hopefully we wont' have another battle on our hands!

 

I can tell you from age 15-18/19 months were difficult ones in this house for the reasons you described. The tantrums were unbelievable :faint: Teething did not help, I felt like both of mine were constantly teething during that time but what I really think their problem was that they were frustrated because they could not communicate as well as they would like to. I found that once they started talking more, the tantrums got less and less.
I did find that the more I ignored the tantrum behavior, the shorter the tantrum would be. I would just make sure that they were in safe place and let them have at it. :wacko: enough to have to hear but in the long run, it did help. :hug: Hang in there!

 

With my oldest I found that the "terrible" 2's started around 18-19 months. Now that he is three, all I have to say is that whoever coined the phrase "terrible twos" never had a 3 yr old. I'll take them back ANY DAY over what I have now.

 

EXACTLY!!! My oldest was horrible starting at 18 months...he actually started tantrums at 12 months and by 18 months it was almost unbearable. I was pregnant with the girls at this point and was wondering what I had gotten myself into. Now 3 is horrendous (glad to hear I'm not alone Slipper ).

I think with my oldest it has a lot to do with his personality...he is stubborn, incredibly spirited and very bright (like you said with your DD). Neither of my girls are showing the same behaviour he did at this age so this makes me even more certain it's just his personality. He knew exactly what he was doing at that age so I'm sure your DD does too...I know with him I need to be as consistent as possible. If I give him an inch he will take a mile and RUN with it. Be firm, the battles have just begun :hug: .

 

My feisty strongwilled DS started exactly what you describe about 15 months. Now at 19 months it is actually getting better. He is able to do a little more for himself, which is where most of the mealtime tantrums came from. There were definitely times when we just turned his chair away from the table and waited the tantrum out. It does get better, but it was a tough couple months.