I'm at my wits' end with my 2.5 year old....

[AutumnWind]

I'm 19 weeks pregnant, not feeling well, nauseous, tired, etc..... and my 2.5 year old is really driving me crazy. He's not listening, he's throwing things, hitting, etc.....

I'm a SAHM. I'm with him most of the time. We do art projects, play with blocks, playdough, read books, go on outings -- we do a lot together. But sometimes I need to lay down on the couch and rest while he plays. That's when he really gets defiant.

Today I broke down in tears. My house is a WRECK, and I was trying to pick up. He was just throwing toys at me. I asked him to help me pick up & tried to make a game out of it, but it didn't work.

We use time-out with him (2 minutes), which seemed to work. Lately, though, it doesn't seem to work. For the time-out, we go in the bedroom, and I stay with him for the 2 minutes, gently keeping him on the bed, and talking to him.

This gets exhausing when he needs a lot of time-outs during the day. I think I need some other ideas.

Have you been through this too? What worked?

[sunnmama]

No really great advice...just (((hugs)))). My dd is now 3, but we definitely went thru a phase of this at 2.5. She would just go nuts whenever I tried to rest--hitting, scratching, attacking. And I was NOT pregnant and it was still terribly difficult.

For her it was a phase. I think I just kept removing her from my bed when she was out of control, but then she would just attack. Had to kind of "wear her down" (and sometimes hold her down : ) until the real feelings came out: tired and sad. Then we could lay together and she would sob and then we could snuggle. She just kind of outgrew the violent part of this ritual in about 6 weeks.

Maybe a rest time that actively included him--something he could look forward to--would help. Like a storytelling time, where you take turns telling stories. Or reading, and take turns. I LOVE when my dd "reads" to me, because I can just let my mind wander as she babbles on and on and on and on It's not like she quizzes me at the end
I don't know how you feel about videos, but maybe that could be an idea. We take a video break every day after lunch--and that is her tv allotment for the day.