Is there really such a thing as" Terrible Twos" or is it merely a myth that mums with terrible toddlers find great comfort in, knowing that they are not the only ones but in fact is normal to have screaming/kicking/tantruming toddlers ?!
I tended to think it was the latter. Surely not all soon to be 2s will become little terrors. Must have something to do with parenting skills. NO ?
This is what I read:
Reasons of this bad behaviour often stems from one of these reasons:
- failed attempt in being independent.
- lack of communications skills/tools.
or could be:
-boredom, as their inquisitive minds need constant stimulation
-attention seeking
How to survive and avoid the temper tantrums involved:
-stay calm. Calm parents generally have calmer children. If they see you loose your temper, they are more likely to develop the same behaviour.
-ignore. If it is attention they want through throwing a tantrum. Don't encourage this behaviour by rewarding them with it.
-have strict routines and rules/boundaries. They find comfort in what's familiar and also helps minimizing confusion as they are trying to figure out the world around them.
-teach them baby signs. Enables them to communicate clearly with you way before they are able to speak. (This one I added from experience, as it has really helped me and my LOs understand each other clearly from when they were about 9 months old. They can now tell me what they see/want/like through signs, hence no confusion/guessing/frustration.)
-and finally, think positive. It will pass...hopefully. In the meanwhile, enjoy plenty of good and fun times with your LOs, in order to even out the bad times.
Right, so this is the theory behind this dreaded period, which I am still hoping won't hit our family.
PS. I have to go and put the LOs back in their beds for their lunchtime nap for the 20th time (really, they have climbed out 20 times and still not giving up !!!) now. This only just started last week. Probably part of the terrible twos madness ?!
Did your child/you suffer from the terrible twos ? What did you do to make it go away ?
Is there a way to make it go away ? Maybe you have a way to make it not appear at all ?
2 comments:
ah, terrible twos. I have also been warned that worse is yet to follow in the troublesome threes (wasnt aware of that until recently!)
We suffered the terrible twos, usually in the one place/house that you usually pray for good behaviour.
Seems to have been a passing phase, we rewarded the good behavious, ignored the mild bad behaviour and used the naughty step for the behaviour that could not be ignores (not sharing, hitting etc. Consistency was also essential.
Good luck!
What ?!!! Terrible 3s ! And I thought, once I make it through this year I will be fine....
Well, so far so good but who knows, they may "turn" on Saturday, the day of their b-day !
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