Toddlers -The ‘Terrible Twos’
Discussion
Thanks for all the replies (apart from those who said it gets worse when they are 3 
).
His diet is ok but like most kids his age he can be fussy but he generally eats lots. Other than the odd few chocolate buttons he doesn't have much processed sugar. No squash or any fizzy drinks. Hi loves fresh fruit and vegetables so has plenty of those.
As for sleep he has 1 hour in the mornings when he's in nursery and maybe 1.5 - 2 hours at home on the weekend.
He's usually up early so its quite hard to keep him entertained at 5 in the morning when everyone else is asleep. Being on lockdown at the moment with really sh*t weather doesn't help with tiring him out. We do go out for regular walks and scooter runs though.
He does get far too much screen time though so we'll look to reduce that a lot and try and get him interested in something else. He does seem to have a short attention span for things like painting and colouring etc.
).His diet is ok but like most kids his age he can be fussy but he generally eats lots. Other than the odd few chocolate buttons he doesn't have much processed sugar. No squash or any fizzy drinks. Hi loves fresh fruit and vegetables so has plenty of those.
As for sleep he has 1 hour in the mornings when he's in nursery and maybe 1.5 - 2 hours at home on the weekend.
He's usually up early so its quite hard to keep him entertained at 5 in the morning when everyone else is asleep. Being on lockdown at the moment with really sh*t weather doesn't help with tiring him out. We do go out for regular walks and scooter runs though.
He does get far too much screen time though so we'll look to reduce that a lot and try and get him interested in something else. He does seem to have a short attention span for things like painting and colouring etc.
Davey S2 said:
Thanks for all the replies (apart from those who said it gets worse when they are 3 ).
His diet is ok but like most kids his age he can be fussy but he generally eats lots. Other than the odd few chocolate buttons he doesn't have much processed sugar. No squash or any fizzy drinks. Hi loves fresh fruit and vegetables so has plenty of those.
As for sleep he has 1 hour in the mornings when he's in nursery and maybe 1.5 - 2 hours at home on the weekend.
He's usually up early so its quite hard to keep him entertained at 5 in the morning when everyone else is asleep. Being on lockdown at the moment with really sh*t weather doesn't help with tiring him out. We do go out for regular walks and scooter runs though.
He does get far too much screen time though so we'll look to reduce that a lot and try and get him interested in something else. He does seem to have a short attention span for things like painting and colouring etc.
Is he nervous about something?? has there been much talk/stress about lockdowns etc?? Ive a similar issue with my middle who is the same age. Theyve been told, no school/nursury for a week and they were being especially bold but then the questions from the older child started to roll in about the lockdown etc. How we deal with it is the usual carrot/stick, no tv unless you behave etc. the other point regarding letting them out to run around is very apt. Fresh air does a world of good to allow them to burn off steam. ).His diet is ok but like most kids his age he can be fussy but he generally eats lots. Other than the odd few chocolate buttons he doesn't have much processed sugar. No squash or any fizzy drinks. Hi loves fresh fruit and vegetables so has plenty of those.
As for sleep he has 1 hour in the mornings when he's in nursery and maybe 1.5 - 2 hours at home on the weekend.
He's usually up early so its quite hard to keep him entertained at 5 in the morning when everyone else is asleep. Being on lockdown at the moment with really sh*t weather doesn't help with tiring him out. We do go out for regular walks and scooter runs though.
He does get far too much screen time though so we'll look to reduce that a lot and try and get him interested in something else. He does seem to have a short attention span for things like painting and colouring etc.
‘Screen time’ - this is probably the main issue.
Our son is 5 & a half years old and has never had access to a screen other than set times when we allow him to watch television. I’m not some daft anti screen hippy - but in my view, young children really do not need access to iPads/phones etc - they first need time to master the basics in life. I really see no merit whatsoever in screens for under 5’s.
Mobile devices are addictive, I spend too much time on mine and yet I know full well the negative impact that has on my interaction with those around me - young children obviously do not....
Screens are fantastic and certainly have their place once the child is old enough to better understand and be reasoned with but frankly we are all turning into ill mannered zombies thanks to mobile devices!
Our son is 5 & a half years old and has never had access to a screen other than set times when we allow him to watch television. I’m not some daft anti screen hippy - but in my view, young children really do not need access to iPads/phones etc - they first need time to master the basics in life. I really see no merit whatsoever in screens for under 5’s.
Mobile devices are addictive, I spend too much time on mine and yet I know full well the negative impact that has on my interaction with those around me - young children obviously do not....
Screens are fantastic and certainly have their place once the child is old enough to better understand and be reasoned with but frankly we are all turning into ill mannered zombies thanks to mobile devices!
Never underestimate the power of bit of large cardboard, old boxes, plastic bottles, and having two boxes of “lounge toys” that are rotated once in a while. Ours starts being a dick, and we swap the big box of toys that they’ve not seen for a week and it calms down again.
Are they going to nursery or anything?
Are they going to nursery or anything?
You say his speech is limited, this may be a complete red herring but at a similar age I was a right nightmare as I couldn't communicate what I wanted and had multiple tantrums. After some time with a speech therapist it turned out I had a tongue tie. Once that was fixed my speech improved rapidly.
Might be worth investigating?
Might be worth investigating?
His speech has been slow. You could hold a good conversation with my daughter at the same age.
He is improving though and his nursery have been great in helping and he's come on quite a bit in the last few weeks. After this lockdown rubbish is over we will be taking him to a speech therapist to see if there are any obvious things to fix and work on.
He can be really gentle and caring at times then the next minute just turns into a hooligan.
He is improving though and his nursery have been great in helping and he's come on quite a bit in the last few weeks. After this lockdown rubbish is over we will be taking him to a speech therapist to see if there are any obvious things to fix and work on.
He can be really gentle and caring at times then the next minute just turns into a hooligan.
Our son will be 3 in March and he can be an absolute monster! He has terrific speech, which is great when he's in a good mood and not great when he's not... In the past 7 days he's had massive tantrums because:
- he wanted to go upstairs and wasn't allowed (we were driving in the car at the time)
- he wanted pizza for dinner and we gave him pizza
- he didn't want to go to sleep (was fast asleep 2 mins later)
- he wanted his green lorry but couldn't find it. Presumably because he was holding it.
- he wanted to watch Fireman Sam on the iPad but wouldn't accept it being broken
- we gave him a drink in the wrong coloured bottle and didn't have the correct red bottle immediately to hand
There is both rhyme and reason to his outbursts, but the rhyme is one entirely made up by him and the reason changes without notice, and frequently! As a teenager I used to mock my father for his frequent use of 'Hmmm' or 'Mmmm' during conversation. Now I completely get it.
- he wanted to go upstairs and wasn't allowed (we were driving in the car at the time)
- he wanted pizza for dinner and we gave him pizza
- he didn't want to go to sleep (was fast asleep 2 mins later)
- he wanted his green lorry but couldn't find it. Presumably because he was holding it.
- he wanted to watch Fireman Sam on the iPad but wouldn't accept it being broken
- we gave him a drink in the wrong coloured bottle and didn't have the correct red bottle immediately to hand
There is both rhyme and reason to his outbursts, but the rhyme is one entirely made up by him and the reason changes without notice, and frequently! As a teenager I used to mock my father for his frequent use of 'Hmmm' or 'Mmmm' during conversation. Now I completely get it.
Animal said:
Our son will be 3 in March and he can be an absolute monster! He has terrific speech, which is great when he's in a good mood and not great when he's not... In the past 7 days he's had massive tantrums because:
- he wanted to go upstairs and wasn't allowed (we were driving in the car at the time)
- he wanted pizza for dinner and we gave him pizza
- he didn't want to go to sleep (was fast asleep 2 mins later)
- he wanted his green lorry but couldn't find it. Presumably because he was holding it.
- he wanted to watch Fireman Sam on the iPad but wouldn't accept it being broken
- we gave him a drink in the wrong coloured bottle and didn't have the correct red bottle immediately to hand
There is both rhyme and reason to his outbursts, but the rhyme is one entirely made up by him and the reason changes without notice, and frequently! As a teenager I used to mock my father for his frequent use of 'Hmmm' or 'Mmmm' during conversation. Now I completely get it.
I can relate to all of these. Our youngest (4.5) had a huge tantrum yesterday because he wanted to go upstairs. We were on the top floor of the house.- he wanted to go upstairs and wasn't allowed (we were driving in the car at the time)
- he wanted pizza for dinner and we gave him pizza
- he didn't want to go to sleep (was fast asleep 2 mins later)
- he wanted his green lorry but couldn't find it. Presumably because he was holding it.
- he wanted to watch Fireman Sam on the iPad but wouldn't accept it being broken
- we gave him a drink in the wrong coloured bottle and didn't have the correct red bottle immediately to hand
There is both rhyme and reason to his outbursts, but the rhyme is one entirely made up by him and the reason changes without notice, and frequently! As a teenager I used to mock my father for his frequent use of 'Hmmm' or 'Mmmm' during conversation. Now I completely get it.
He threw a tantrum at my wife yesterday because he was cold and wet from jumping into the local river. She'd told him he'd get cold and wet if he did.
At the age of 4.5 years, he still won't use a toilet and insists on squeezing himself onto a potty. He was potty trained by three, just won't use the toilet. Any attempt to get him to use a toilet results in a full scale screaming tantrum that lasts at least half an hour.
At pre-school he's described as a perfectly behaved little angel, and home he throws at least 4 tantrums every day.
Edited by Magnum 475 on Monday 26th October 15:19
Davey S2 said:
His speech has been slow. You could hold a good conversation with my daughter at the same age.
He is improving though and his nursery have been great in helping and he's come on quite a bit in the last few weeks. After this lockdown rubbish is over we will be taking him to a speech therapist to see if there are any obvious things to fix and work on.
He can be really gentle and caring at times then the next minute just turns into a hooligan.
My experience is that boys are much slower to pick up speech, my son who is now 8, said little more than yes and no for the first few years. He then developed a very strong stammer. We saw a couple of professionals but were told, he'll grow out of it. And then one day he never stammered again. The point I'm making is don't get too hung up on ability at this age.He is improving though and his nursery have been great in helping and he's come on quite a bit in the last few weeks. After this lockdown rubbish is over we will be taking him to a speech therapist to see if there are any obvious things to fix and work on.
He can be really gentle and caring at times then the next minute just turns into a hooligan.
Haven't read the remainder of the thread so this may have been covered. Again my experience (19y/o girl, 12y/o girl, 8y/o boy) is that tantrums are almost always related to frustration over the inability to get their point across, be understood, be heard, or effectively communicate. Of course there are many and varied reasons over the years, but what helped us when times were tougher was to step back and consider if we were really listening or if the kids were capable of getting their point across.
Good luck.
My two year old behaves weirdly when she gets too much screen time, or has teeth coming through/a cold.
An hour's nap in the morning... Sounds like way too long between nap and bedtime to me. Ours has a couple of hours nap after lunch (1-3:30pm on a good day), then asleep 7pm-6am ish. The guide we followed said stick to 3.5 hours between end of nap and bed time. Works for us, maybe shift his nap (tricky I appreciate!)
An hour's nap in the morning... Sounds like way too long between nap and bedtime to me. Ours has a couple of hours nap after lunch (1-3:30pm on a good day), then asleep 7pm-6am ish. The guide we followed said stick to 3.5 hours between end of nap and bed time. Works for us, maybe shift his nap (tricky I appreciate!)
RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:
When they're babies, they're usually cranky because they're tired or hungry or need some attention. The needs don't really change as they get older, just the specifics of the behaviour to let you know. Our boy is horrible when he's hungry or tired and he's 7 now.
This really is great advise, simple but great. I have 4 children, 3 boys aged 7, 6 and 4 and a girl aged 18 months. 7 year old boy - very well behaved except when hungry, then it's like a switch goes off and he's a monster. Once fed, back to being an angel
6 year old boy - a lot more difficult in general, but turns into more of a monster when tired and hungry (middle child syndrome)
4 year old boy - generally good, monster when tired, being hungry doesn't affect him oddly (6 year old winds him up)
18 month old girl - so happy and placid, always good, still waiting for her to change
So try food and ensuring they have a good bedtime routine and get a quality nights sleep.
BTW, you never realise how easy having 1 child is, even through the terrible twos, until you have 2 or 3 or 4.
I have two girls one is 7 and one is 2. My eldest is from a previous relationship and despite her mother being somewhat highly strung, she is super chilled out. Has an excellent sense of humour and is very easy going.
My youngest though, is in that typical 'terrible two's' phase. She's very very cute and can be very loving but can also totally lose her sh!t. She's also not great at sharing at the moment either. Will be interesting to see how she changes as she's grows up though as she's 3 in December and we have another on the way in March.
My youngest though, is in that typical 'terrible two's' phase. She's very very cute and can be very loving but can also totally lose her sh!t. She's also not great at sharing at the moment either. Will be interesting to see how she changes as she's grows up though as she's 3 in December and we have another on the way in March.
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