Is it terrible 2's?

by sue
(leeds)

Well my 17 month old son has bad behavior - he started at just 10 months old. He kicks, bites, smacks, scratches and pinches; he hurts his sister, me, his dad and any body else. He climbs on high things all day long and never listens - he ignores us most of the time. He doesn't play with his toys and when he does he throws them.

He has no less then 15 tantrums a day and it takes 3 of us to look after him. We've tried all different disiplines; we followed through but none worked. We try to leave him get on with his tantrums and we do except when he hurts himself. He also wakes during the night for 2 to 3 hours during the night hyper and i can say it's not cos of the food he eats - he only eats veg and meat

Dr Maud Answers
It sounds as if you have your hands full. All the behaviours you describe could be part of the "terrible 2's" which is just a term outlining the time of development when toddlers are exploring their limits - this can start before toddlers are 2.

Occasionally, the behaviours you describe are seen in children who have medical conditions, including communication disorders and learning difficulties. It would be important that your son has no signs of these conditions.

As there are so many challenging behaviours that your son has, I would suggest you ask your GP for a referral to the local paediatric department for an assessment and some help.

In the meantime, try and follow the guidelines on the Behaviour page.