What a terrible day I had yesterday!!!

[mommy2julia]

Ugh. I am totally into GD'ing with my 17 month old.. Gentle Discipline that is. She is very very animated and has been since she was born. NOW, she just pushes my buttons. I know she doesnt do it on purpose, and I know that she doesnt really mean to make me sooo upset--sometimes--- it just gets out of control.. It is one thing after another with her. She will tear everything out, throw food everywhere, kick and scream and kick me when its time to change her diaper--then the next minute ask me whats wrong. Yesterday, I almost lost it. She was crying for 2 straight hours, and NOTHING was making her happy. Finally, DH came home and said "Whats the matter with her" and I said you ask her.. I have NO IDEA-- I fianlly had to have dinner with a friend for an hour or two, she was fine and by the time I got home she was in the bath happier than a lark.. THEN it started again, she wouldnt goto sleep and I was exhausted. She only nurses to sleep and wont lay with me to nurse to sleep she has to be held in a cradle postion --SO i had to wait till she was ready to goto sleep with toothpicks holding my eyes up.. She finally went to sleep but woke up again at 5:30am and left the bed and came back with some O's and dumped them ALL over the bed ( I guess my DH left the O's out last night and she got them) ... It was a very frustrating day.. I have no idea how to handle her tantrums, her outbursts, her misbehavior.. It is SO frustrauting..I have no idea what she wants alot of the time because instead of calming down to tell me what she wants==SHE freaks out!

[**guest**]

ds is 18 months, and he has been teething something crazy -- crying for hours, sometimes. is there a chance she is teething?

it is hard to figure out what they want at this age. ds knows quite a few of signs, and i find it helps a lot. sometimes his words sound the same, but when he signs in addition to talking, i understand what he means right away.

it sounds from what you said that your dd is much more verbal, and is able to communicate well when calmd, but not when upset. ds can say only about 10 words, and many sound the same! showing her a bit of signs might help, they pick them up almost right away. check this site: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

also many times they just don't know what they want! so it is frustrating for them as well.

for me, at this age, the only 'discipline' is pretty much distraction and redirection.

[mommy2julia]

SHe isnt that verbal, she points to things --but most of the talking is jumble that we try to figure out. She knows signs, but maybe we should try more with her or encourage her to use them more. We use redirection too, but she just gets so mad an stubborn.. I know I'll be so proud of her one day, for being so resilant but it really does a number on my nerves.. OH how I love toddler hood!!!

[maya44]

Originally Posted by annabanana

for me, at this age, the only 'discipline' is pretty much distraction and redirection.

This is 100 percent true. She is a baby, honey. There is really nothing much that you can do that will cause her to "behave."


I think you are misinterpreting normal behavior of a child this age as "misbehavior" or even improprerly considering it "spirited" behavior, which only a parent of a "spirited" child would have to deal with.

Like the thing with the O's. Frankly that had nothing to do with her. They got left out. Oh well, that was a mistake. But her messing with them is what can be expected of ANY baby this age. It's not because she is especially "spirited" its just how babies are.

When you see this kind of behavior as outside the "typical" you may be thinking of yourself as being especially burdened which may not be healthy.

[mommy2julia]

I know that this behavior is typical.. I dont expect anything less. I was just venting my frustations in my OP. I didnt/dont need any advice.. I know that this is what she does and wil do..We redirect her. We redirection her. I couldnt care less about the o's--It wasnt a big deal... That wasnt what I was talking about 'misbehavior'.. Ok, so maybe I shouldnt have used the word misbehavior.. I was just venting from a tough day..looking for support--not to be told something I didnt alreay know.. I am not burdened with my child and I centainly know that I'm healthy.. sorry that I was venting!