Toddler behavior drives me crazy

Frum

Tue, Sep 13 2011, 10:36 am

Ok, I am sure you can all relate. B"H we are blessed with a wonderful baby girl and toddler. Lately our toddler is a REAL toddler. Half the time she is very sweet, caring for her little sister, saying funny things, curious in a nice way, etc. The other half it's like Dr. jekyll and Mr. hide. She shouts, throws herself on the floor, is clumsy and bumps into things, possessive, angry, impatient, repetitive in saying the same sentence all the time, asking about a zillion times 'what are you doing' even if she sees what I am doing, etc.

How do you stay sane? Sometimes I just want to run away. Are there self motivating sentences you repeat in your head to make sure you remain sane?

Chippies

Tue, Sep 13 2011, 11:13 am

My toddler is usually very well behaved, but he certainly has his moments as well. What I say to myself over and over again to help maintain my sanity is: Baruch Hashem!!! I really just try to look at the bright side that I have a beautiful and healthy toddler and baby in front of me. I get even more into it when the baby is screaming uncontrollably too.

Oh, and the "sometimes I just want to run away" feeling sometimes just leads me to leave my toddler wherever he is in the house, and go to a different room to change scenes a little. I find that after continuing his behaviour for a couple of minutes after I leave, he'll then come find me and act all normal again, as if nothing ever happened.

shlomitsmum

Tue, Sep 13 2011, 11:31 am

Frum wrote:

LOL are you me??? my toddler DD does 180 degree mood changes just like the ones you describe!
I take deep breath ,light a scented candle repeat " this too shall pass" or On really ,really bad days embarrassed

(shame) I go find elmo's song on you tube ..but only when I'm ready to run away!
her singing it cheers me up and makes me smile "she sings it saying that's yaee (yael's) soooong completely off key" its hysterical! LOL

we also make bread ,something about the dough soothes her but it only happens if baby cooperates Wink

otherwise playdough saves the day.

I turn on the vacuum when tantrum begins and let her suck cookie crumbs off the floor ,the noisemakes her forget ,then I redirect her.

If she completely goes crazy and won't stop I calmly hug her and walk away . make her a smoothie and serve it on "her little table" with a tiny umbrella ,I clip the poky part. I don't say anything and she quietly sits and drinks it .

tots are a huge challenge ,I just keep in mind that the frustrations occur when the mind and verbal skills don't mesh well yet...so I use empathy to cope, and stay away from judgemental people .

PS ..IME my crazy toddlers become good teenagers B'H Wink

Last edited by shlomitsmum on Tue, Sep 13 2011, 11:46 am; edited 1 time in total

mizle10

Tue, Sep 13 2011, 11:46 am

shlomitsmum wrote:

Frum wrote:

LOL are you me??? my toddler DD does 180 degree mood changes just like the ones you describe!
I take deep breath ,light a scented candle repeat " this too shall pass" or embarrassed

(shame) find elmo's song on you tube when I'm ready to run away...

Ha ha, I just stuck my DD in front of that elmo song today and pressed repeat at least 5 times

shlomitsmum

Tue, Sep 13 2011, 11:49 am

mizle10 wrote:

shlomitsmum wrote:

Frum wrote:

LOL are you me??? my toddler DD does 180 degree mood changes just like the ones you describe!
I take deep breath ,light a scented candle repeat " this too shall pass" or embarrassed

(shame) find elmo's song on you tube when I'm ready to run away...

Ha ha, I just stuck my DD in front of that elmo song today and pressed repeat at least 5 times

try elmo had ducks for some variety LOL

I sing this stuff in my dreams !!!
Rolling Eyes

Frum

Wed, Sep 14 2011, 2:17 pm

Thank you everyone! Hug

I really needed that!

Chocolate moose~ I am not sure if it has to do with a lack of attention. For example, tonight I have been playing with her on the floor building lego's and it was really ok, and then it was time for bed and she refused to brush her teeth. Only when I put her in bed by force and told her she'd loose out on her story did she agree. So I guess it's just tantrums that go with the age. Although I am curious what ideas you to help me become more of a camp leader :-)

Shlomit's mum~ Lol! Malkali is my life saver, the only down side is that I have to sing her songs all day long because when my toddler isn't watching Malkali, she wants to do the dances that go with her songs! I always said that I would never EVER buy dvd's and put my DD in front of the laptop, but those principles flew out of the window in the week after my second was born :-)

shlomitsmum

Wed, Sep 14 2011, 4:44 pm

Frum wrote:

Thank you everyone! Hug

Same here

my 2 oldest kids 15 & 12 y/o did not even know what or who elmo was since the portable DVD had not been invented yet LOL ....now they sing the silly songs too Rolling Eyes

I bought baby Einstain DVD with classical music as Elmo was starting to grate my nerves! Downside is that it makes me relaxd and sleepy .

Another CD I love is Morah leah sings ! DD is learning brachot and davening since is just like circle time Very Happy

I'm a ECE I love kids YET we all have our burnout days ....for me what annoys me is seeing the house messy (I clean and sweep at least 6 times a day) DD is messy and crumbs /spills/mess just appear and I keep getting spitted on ,wich means LAUNDRY cause I gotta look good Wink

. Plus the little one is a velcro child but hates getting hot in the sling...I type with one hand and do speed cleaning when she catnaps ! B'h she fell asleep now so I gotta run and get stuff done!!!!

I like my home to look gust ready with scented candles at all times ....I do my best yet know is futile to expect this.