How long do the TERRIBLE TWOS last???

How much longer can I expect my son to be this demanding, SELFISH, impatient, antagonistic, refractory, exacerbating, unbearable Ahole?! Any time I try correcting the behavior, I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall! Am I doing something wrong, or is this a phase he will eventually grow out of 🤞🤞 please please please! This anger is tearing me apart and making me HATE his 3yo face! What punishment is appropriate for a 3 yo cuz my husband and I cannot agree. And the "natural" consequences (i.e. throw toy, lose toy) do not apply to 99% of the situations. I have to spend all day with this ....person. but not knowing what to do when he behaves so badly has me stewing in this anger long after the behavior occurs. I don't want to hate my son but his actions are so alien to me I don't know how to deal with it. PlzHLP
Like
Share Mobile
Share
  • Share

Show your support

We do timeouts. The terrible 2s have started early over here: it’s 1 minute per their age. I don’t like locking him in his room. So he goes and finds a seat. And has to sit for 1 minute. Apologies hugs and kisses and moves on. If he doesn’t apologize he goes back to timeout. Best advice children cannot reason in the middle of a tantrum. If they are in a safe place. Leave them. Let them throw the fit. When they have calmed down then you can talk. And teach. Also a “calm down corner” quiet space away from the action, for him to go to when he’s in these moods. (Could be a pillow, a tent, a blanket) a safe place. When he needs a moment let him. Talk about calm down methods: blow out finger candles, count to 10, Dino stomp his feet, spin in circles whatever he needs

I recommend Dr. Becky Kennedy. Her book Good Inside. Her talks (like Ted Talks), or podcasts.

But I do empathize with you. I really struggled with the terrible twos. I started learning about their development to help understand... Though it's still hard

The main problem i have is twice a day, I have to put his (lets call him W) baby brother down for a nap (no sitter, no helper, I'm on my own).

Once the baby's asleep, no worries. They can be as loud as they want. HOWEVER, the 5-10 minutes it takes for me to put him down needs to be UNINTERRUPTED. He's breastfeeding, so it's hard to control how long it takes. If I rush him, he wakes up. I do everything in my power to make sure my kids have everything and anything they could possibly need before I start the baby's sleep routine.

I grill it into W before that he needs to get what he needs NOW or wait till I come out of the room. Unfortunately, he either has the memory of a goldfish or he doesn't understand what I've tried explaining ad nauseum or he gets a kick out of how furious it makes me when he starts banging on the door demanding me. This, as you can imagine, wakes the baby up, and i either have to start the whole thing over, or the baby doesn't get his nap. This occurrence ruins my whole routine and puts me in a FOUL mood for the rest of the day! It's unacceptable but I don't know wtf to do! I put on their favorite tv show, but that doesn't work anymore.

I feel this. My son is 2 years and 7 months and is an absolute terror. Cant take him anywhere. Can’t do anything. He just freaks out about everythinggggg im so ready for it to be over 😭 my other kids were not nearly this bad so I don’t even remember when they “stopped”

Feels like forever now lmao I heard the behavior can last to four so who knows at this point lol

I wish I knew... my son is 2 yrs 3 months old now. He started just before turning 2. I'm the only one here with him 75-80% of the time. We tell him no and warn him if he does something again he's going to his room. If he's crying because he's in trouble we don't let anyone else pick him up that he goes to. If he hits I tell him no firmly as I look him in the eyes and holding his hand. It's difficult I totally get it. I feel like an exhausted single mom.

Lol 3 year olds are worse

Buckle up cuz 3-4 is ROUGH I taught preschool and hated it. The attitudes were worse than hormonal teenagers

@Christina🤱🏼🍂☕️♈️ right?? Anytime I worked with kids I ASKED to lead the 2 year olds. That's the GOLDEN age before they get all obstinate and sassy

@Tiffany I preferred the newborns and infants lol

Can you put up a baby gate somewhere so he can’t get to the bedroom door to knock on it? I hear the terrible twos turn into threenagers and I’m so scared cuz my 22 month old is already CRAZY. Praying for you.

Terrible twos??? Nothing compared to three 🙈

Try today for free
Scan the QR code and join the app
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Download Peanut to connect with women at a similar stage in life.

StarStarStarStarStar-Half

Trusted by 5M+ women

Logo
Try today for free
Scan the QR code and join the app
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Download Peanut to connect with women at a similar stage in life.

StarStarStarStarStar-Half

Trusted by 5M+ women

Logo

Forever I’m afraid

Read more on Peanut
Trending in our community