Ooooh, so this is how a toddler acts

Delaney's always been an easy baby. She took to nursing almost right away. She started sleeping through the night around 6 weeks of age (and probably would have done it sooner if I hadn't stood over her crib and poked her every hour to make sure she was breathing). She only cried when she was hungry. She's a great napper. And she always follows predictable a schedule. So I wondered when she hit toddlerhood if we'd get lucky, like we did with everything else, and have an easy go of it. Apparently, that's not in the cards.

It's as if once she turned 20 months old, she headed for toddler spring break and now she's letting loose like a pent-up Catholic girl. Anything goes. Beer bongs and bikinis aren't part of her M.O., though. She's more into mood swings, scratching (yes, after a blissful, scratch-free several weeks...it's baaaaack) and blatantly disobeying us. Three days of this wild behavior is all we've seen so far, but it was enough to send me scrambling to consult my arsenal of manuals and magazines. I'm currently reading, "Toddler 411," because "Baby Bargains" and "Baby 411" were great resources so I hope it will be too. I've only gotten through the part that talks about time outs and how you can start using them at 9 months of age (oops) but, lucky me, I got the chance to use them four times today. They aren't extremely effective yet and as you can tell by my enthusiastic tone, I'm so looking foward to the chance to try them again tomorrow.

Comments

[MamaSutra]

Oh, the time out. I think there's a spot worn out on the stairs now. And the scratching: Big Girl hasn't ever been too much of a scratcher, and virtually not at all recently. I reprimanded her today and got nailed in the face. Two days before our family photos will be taken. Fortunately, this will give me good guilt trip material for the next...oh, 15+ years: "and that's the scar you gave mama!"

[Emily]

Time outs you say, yeah we know them well here. Red got her first naked time out the other day, don't ask. They suck, but they do sink in after a while. Red goes in phases, lots of time outs for a few days, and then the storms calms for a while. Sometimes just the threat of a time out does the trick. Good luck to you, but I do advise, no naked time outs, trust me.

[Texasbelle]

i would like to tell you it gets better but bwhahahaaaaa...it thrills me to hear I am not alone in the two year old terrors.

[Sonia]

In my house, the terrible 2's really started at 18 months. Then 2 was horrible and 3 really sucked ass. By 4, they all mellowed out for the most part. Hang in there, but you'll definitely have those days when you're trying to sell her body parts on Ebay or at least find some nice gypsy family to take her.

[Imperfect Christian]

Ha ha!! Welcome to my life!! Our 2.5 year old has turned into a little hellion!! And I have another one right on her heels! Ain't motherhood grand?!?

[karen]

Hang in there! With diligence and a little yelling (sometimes you just HAVE to), you'll get a turning-eight who puts herself into time out after doing something that just shouldn't be done...

[Vikki]

My daughter just turned 21 months old last week. She is scratching and pinching (when she is happy!). She has broken countless Christmas ornaments because her response to "no touching" is to touch faster. She has now taken to stripping and running through the house naked. You gotta love toddlers...

[steven davies]

MY son is 22 months now and I wonder if you can give me some toddler tips,because I don't know what to do with him.