I have a one year old who is very unruly. I know at this age there is only so much they understand, and they can’t tell us what want or need, and it’s frustrating for them as they can’t control their emotions yet.
But, my one year old is always a challenge…when I get on to him, he either laughs thinking it’s a game, or gets ridiculously mad. For example, if he hands me a book, I’ll read it to him, then he’ll hand it to me again. I’ll read it 10 or 20 times. And when I finally put it down, he’s having melt down, screaming, kicking, hitting, biting me. And won’t stop. He does that over snacks, toys, me telling him no, if he’s trying to get into stuff he’s not supposed to and I try to redirect him with a toy or something, he just gets mad, hits it out of my hand. If he can’t get a toy to do what he wants it to, he screaming shaking mad, biting the toy. And I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried a stern no, I’ve tried ignoring it, I try redirection, or just loving on him, but nothing will work… I can’t put him down, I can’t put him in his plan pen, or in his crib to sleep, or put him down for naps alone. The “cry it out” method will not work for him. He doesn’t stop screaming, especially if it’s me putting him down when he doesn’t want me to, or putting him in his crib. His tantrum doesn’t stop until I get him out. Yes I know that I am encoring the behavior by getting him out during a tantrum, but he will keep crying to the point where hes like hyperventilating, sweating, gagging, and it looks and feels unsafe to continue to allow him to cry at that point. I just don’t know what to do. He’s too young for behavior problems to be questionable. He meets all his milestones. He’s smart, he’s so funny and so so sweet and loving and full of life. But I have him on my hip constantly, and he rarely lets others hold him without screaming for me. I know they’re attached to parents and alot of babies will cry if you put them down, but he has full blown meltdowns over everything, fights his sleep, and we’ve been crib training for months and still can’t make it through the night without him waking up, realizing he’s in his crib, and screaming until we bring him to our bed. I’m just at a loss. I need sleep, my hip and arm stay sore, and I struggle to get errands and things around the house done at times, as he’s not content if I’m not within 5 feet of him, and I can’t even put him down in a safe spot for me to do things without him screaming like crazy. I can tolerate crying, but he loses his mind and screams like crazy, and it would go on for hours if I didn’t pick him back up at some point…. It has never stopped unless I did what he wanted, no matter how long I’ve waited it out, or tried to redirect, or reassure, or get onto him… What should I do? How can I get him to even sit in a play pen or start sleeping in his crib? And how do I help him to not have meltdowns about not getting what he wants right away? Crying and fits is one thing, but his full blown melt down tantrums all the time non stop are so much to handle.