Tantrums all day, every day

rnsawant999

New member
Our daughter (2.5yo) has suddenly started throwing tantrums about EVERYTHING.

‘No’ is her favorite word

hitting and biting (all of us, including her 9 month old baby brother who she ADORES)

Fighting nap and bed time

Meals are a nightmare

Now this weekend started refusing to pee on the potty (she was potty trained three months ago).

I don’t know if I’m looking for suggestions, books, thoughts and prayers or what. Just exhausted and trying to hang on for dear life.
 
@rnsawant999 Mine dropped naps at this age. It's worth a shot.

The only other advice I have... is make tantrums futile. They don't run a show.

Tantrums over bedtime? Been there. We will sit together in darkness until done. Only a request for a hug will be obliged.

Meals? Eh... I'm huge on letting them follow their own hunger rhythms. Don't want dinner... yet... OK. It will wait. But there's no way in hell she's getting snacks before she eats a proper dinner. At this age I started very basic nutrition with her 'some foods your body needs. Some foods are food for growing. We NEED meat(protein) and veggies" we do not need to eat crackers".... sometimes I let her bargain. Today I let her have a victory of whole fat unsweetened greek yogurt with strawberries on the side in lieu of chicken and green beans. If her requests aren't trash or a lot of labot... I'll allow her to develop her own preferences.

We even had a round of intentional wetting this age too. In the car on the way home from preschool. Sticker chart proved she could do it. I involved the teacher. Teacher was the one to actually give the reward to her. She adored the teacher. Behavior instantly stopped as soon as the chart appeared and her teacher was on board. I know this might not apply bc she's doing it at home. But maybe it's a germ of an idea.

Good luck to you. I know what works for one kid might fail terribly with the another (I have a 3 and 2 yo night and day).

Eta... When she was 2.5 she also had a just shy of 1 baby brother. Any hitting of the baby instantly meant she gets removed. Anything she asks for there after is a firm no until an apology. I will then let her play with something super preferred (like bubble wand) and if she does something mean again... it's taken away.

Having 2 so close together is tough. You got this.

Eta 2. also... evaluate how much of this you think is for attention. Even negative attention is attention. We had to really ramp up the praise for good behavior at this same juncture
 
@rnsawant999 Not easy. We get an education in patience and endurance. What I have experienced is: never discuss anything. What I say is a short sentence, and it is said only once. I pick them up and hug them. I breathe deeply while holding them (it transmits a calmer energy to them). Definitely never give in to tantrums, as in doing what they are demanding. It will pass FOR SURE.
 
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