Feeling hopeless, crying my eyes out every night and can’t take this anymore…

My 2.5 year old was an incredibly difficult baby, awake 6,7…8 times a night for about a year. Things plateaued for a while and she was a lovely lovely child, ate well, slept through, so kind and gentle.

Fast forward to now, terrible 2’s doesn’t even cover it. She screams, hits, bites and throws things at me. All. Day. She doesn’t eat ANYTHING, not even her safe comfort foods anymore, she will not go to sleep. It’s taking 3 hours average to put her to bed. I’m eating dinner at 12-1am sobbing through my meal. This is all day, every night. I have gentle parented her, I have kindly disciplined her, firmly disciplined, ignored her, walked away and even gone against my biggest morals and given her a slap on the wrist when she punched me in the eye. I’m at my f*cking whits end and I’m just so depressed and overwhelmed. I genuinely am so patient with anyone and everything but dealing with this day in and day out is making me want to literally run away or in front of a bus.

Video below is after 2 hours of trying to put her to bed and stepping out for 5 mins to gather myself together.

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Does she still nap?

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oh honey. i can't imagine the pit you are in. that sounds horrible and lonely beyond words and you don't deserve it. what you do deserve is real help and support. this sounds like it needs expert help, more than we can offer on this app, to make sure you get what you need too - you sound so lonely in this post and i'm worried about you. i would look into getting your child into some sort of early years assessment/therapy so experts can tell you what to do, but also getting some support for yourself. ❤️

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Would bringing her into your bed help? Just so you csn get some sleep. Also whats her diet like? Have you tried cutting all suger/snacks. My 2 year old is tough at times but if he has any bad sugers hes a living nightmare, we only give once in awhile. We also dont give snacks unless its fruit only. We also contact nap & cosleep and it really helps him self regulate.

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Try Bratbusters parenting. She has a free behavior board on her website with a crash course on toddlers. She also has so many YouTube videos/podcasts you can search for her and whatever youre concerned about. The name is off-putting but she never calls kids brats, teenagers she worked with named her that. She has helped me immensely. My son was like that and still is extremely strong willed at 4yo. She has helped give me tools to handle all the situations and things have gotten so much easier.

Also, just for safety I would bring her to her doctor and make sure she doesn't have an ear infection or UTI that she cant verbalize is bothering her or some other health issue. The not eating is what is a little concerning.
Last but not least, do you have a partner that can give you a break? Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my kids, I forget that I need to care for myself and I deserve a break too. Ive been working on leaving the house and the kids with my husband and just being by myself. Its HARD. But you need it.

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Here's a link to the podcast. Its an episode on hitting. She has a bunch more on hitting as well:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2FdwHVhlmgYZpSbPN1P5ib?si=xR9aYmHOTQatBKGZSFCavw&utm_source=copy-link

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4PJLYpb0Bm4aB4hD48Slp0?si=ud4kQsqtTUa1XcS6mf9pKA&utm_source=copy-link

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EN9b289EZuMmSPn1UJ5D2?si=mSQ2A9cuQNeMet874IT-5w&utm_source=copy-link

These are all on hitting and biting. Im sorry youre going through this. I totally understand because my son was the same way. This lady says that a lot of hitters and strong willed kids tend to go on to be athletes and powerful people because they use their bodies and minds in different ways lol
Also with my son we had to just put him in bed and let him cry it out. I tried the ferber method and he would just get more and more mad. So we did a bed and nap time routine and put him to bed awake. It lasted 2-3 days and he just started accepting falling asleep on his own. I keep a tight sleep schedule.

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This was so difficult to read I can feel your pain through this post 🥲 my daughter is only 9 months but a terrible sleeper so I relate to you on that the best night she has done so far was 3 wakes . I think you should reach out for professional help . I’m not sure where your based but could your doctor recommend or refer you to a specialist to assess the situation . Maybe it’s not just the terrible 2s and it could be good to rule out everything first .it won’t last forever that’s the only advice I take and pass on as it’s the only reliable advice . But please reach out for help this sounds so overwhelming . Sending so much love 💗

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Has anyone quit breastfeeding cold turkey?

Please none of these silly comments that it's detrimental, abusive or harmful for the child. Mums have their reason why they need to quit.

I'm ready to quit breastfeeding cold turkey, our son is almost 2 and I am currently almost 31 weeks pregnant, he has been ebf from the day he was born (yes he eats 3 meals a day). I just can't handle breastfeeding anymore, it's becoming overwhelming, overstimulating and difficult for many reasons. I know my milk has changed or gone and when he feeds now it is draining. He has a habit of nursing for 1 second, stretching the nipple then letting go and he repeats this continuously, he then will chew on the nipple (but without teeth if that makes sense) and it makes me itchy all over. Due to the change he now is waking in the night, when before he would nurse for his nap, then bedtime and sleep through. I tried the bandaid method and it doesn't seem to be working as he just cries and cries and I REFUSE to let him cry. My husband has tried to do sleep time but he won't sleep for my husband as he wants to nurse. He does have cows milk, water and squash, but doesn't want any of it when he wants to nurse. Any help would be appreciated... Again I said help, not unhelpful comments. Not everyone loves breastfeeding and I would love to have some sort of break before our 2nd is born. Photo to not get lost

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27

Is there any problems with my child not socialising?

I know I'm the world's worst parent and I don't need reminders of that or being told how terrible and horrible I am. I'm fully aware.

Due to mental health and a lack of help, I've never taken my daughter to baby groups, toddler groups, nursery or anything. Ive taken her to the garden centre twice and the shop maybe 3 times.
Her dad takes her to see her cousins on Sunday but it's not every Sunday because they're sometimes away.
Sometimes her nan will take her to the shops.
She has a friend of the same age that she sees for a few hours every couple of months.

My mum keeps telling me how behind she's going to be and how she's never going to learn how to behave around kids or learn to play etc.

Has anyone got any actual experience of how this will affect my kid at all?

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25

Inconsolable crying

All babies cry but does their crying get more consolable as they get older? My baby is 6 weeks and his crying is pretty inconsolable at the moment. They say the peak is 6-8 weeks. Have you noticed that your baby is easier to console after that? I’m scared to go out in public tbh bc sometimes there’s nothing I can do to calm him down and people stare.

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17

Feeling hopeless, crying my eyes out every night and can’t take this anymore…

My 2.5 year old was an incredibly difficult baby, awake 6,7…8 times a night for about a year. Things plateaued for a while and she was a lovely lovely child, ate well, slept through, so kind and gentle.

Fast forward to now, terrible 2’s doesn’t even cover it. She screams, hits, bites and throws things at me. All. Day. She doesn’t eat ANYTHING, not even her safe comfort foods anymore, she will not go to sleep. It’s taking 3 hours average to put her to bed. I’m eating dinner at 12-1am sobbing through my meal. This is all day, every night. I have gentle parented her, I have kindly disciplined her, firmly disciplined, ignored her, walked away and even gone against my biggest morals and given her a slap on the wrist when she punched me in the eye. I’m at my f*cking whits end and I’m just so depressed and overwhelmed. I genuinely am so patient with anyone and everything but dealing with this day in and day out is making me want to literally run away or in front of a bus.

Video below is after 2 hours of trying to put her to bed and stepping out for 5 mins to gather myself together.

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6

What kind of hair products are yall using on ur sons hair?

I bought the lucci’s pomade and it not giving what this gave lol. My son got a hair cut and the woman said a baby gel would work great but it looks too slick back and oily looking with no hold. Maybe I’m not doing it right. His hair from this pic lasted through a nap😭😭

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6

6 month old never happy

I'm just venting really. My 6 month old just seems never happy these days. He's cranky and whines all day long. He screams when I lay him down, when I try to play with him, when I look at him wrong etc. He has never cuddled me, but now he actively tries to push away from me with his arms and legs. He just seems permanently frustrated and it makes me so sad that I can't make him happy as his mummy.
Someone tell me this is a short phase and that it will get better 😥

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