all 4 comments

[–]BrokeBackMama 0 points1 point  (0 children)


YES. Looking back my first was an absolute angel but my second two both went through this. I am going through the grumpies right now. He has good days and bad days. I posted about this before but when he's really grumpy I let him wear a costume. :) So odd but it really does make it easier to take when they are dressed up.

Now practical advice. I find it really clears up a lot faster if I don't give into it. I have learned after three that I can have a miserable day or two of grumpiness by standing my ground OR I can go for months if I am scared to "Set him off". The behavior only gets worse if you let them have their way. This is a hard one to do but it makes the biggest difference.

[–]lynnDaughter, 3; boy, 4 months 0 points1 point  (0 children)


Mine was fairly chill but she also had zero patience at all and would go from "up" to "UUUUUUUUUP" in about two seconds. Every time, I'd stop her and say something to indicate she should ask nicely. At 15 months it was just saying "up" in a normal voice, and then she would and I'd pick her up.

When she was 18 months old or so, I'd give her a raisin or two when I made her oatmeal in the mornings. Soon she was pulling on me and saying "ah" like we'd taught her to do months ago whenever I made oatmeal, and if I didn't respond fast enough she'd raise the volume until she was shrieking. Finally I'd had enough. I took a raisin in my fingers and I bent down toward her and said, "say 'please'." She got that look on her face that said she was processing this, so I said again "please" in a way that indicated she was to repeat it. She looked like she was trying to figure out how to get her mouth to make the sound. I think I said it a couple more times before she made a sound that was nothing like "please". I smiled, gave her the raisin and a kiss, and said something approving. The next day the same thing happened, but before I gave her the raisin I repeated "please" and she made a sound that was closer to it. Within the next couple of days she was saying "peas", and so I started telling her to say "thank you" after I gave it to her.

It took months, but now she says please whenever she wants something and thank you whenever she gets anything, usually several times. Downside: she'll say "thank you" louder (though the volume increases a lot more slowly than it used to) and louder until you say "you're welcome."

[–]Meagsm 0 points1 point  (0 children)


Mine is pretty high strung too, always has been. I'm reading "Raising Your Spirited Child", maybe it would help you too?

[–]KittyNouveau 2 points3 points  (0 children)


When my daughter started losing patience at that age I reacted by reflecting her actions back at her. If she would yell "MOMMY MOMMY!!" I'd walk in and yell "AUDREY AUDREY" just loud enough to startle her and then would quietly explain that if she needs help, she just needs to ask politely and I will help her. If she screams I will just scream then refuse to help/give her whatever she's asking for until she calms down. I have no idea if this is the 'right' response or not but it worked great for us. We hardly yell or get loud in our home so me raising my voice gets her to stop whatever she's doing really quickly then I can redirect her to whatever I want her to do instead. I think just trying to shush them or comfort them when they are upset in that way only makes them more frustrated.

EDIT: This method shouldn't be used on a sick, hungry, or overly tired child. We only needed to do it a few times when she was about that age and the super-impatient, highly frustrated screeching behavior began. It basically just taught her that she wouldn't get what she wanted by acting that way.