Terrible 10 months?

pereza6

Is this a thing? We are having such a tough time with LO lately. Not only is he taking steps on his own but he is just into everything!! Seems like everytime I turn my head he is hurting himself somehow. The more we say no or divert his attention the more he goes back to whatever was keeping his interests. He is even gotten to the point of throwing mini tantrums!  On top of it LO is throwing everything. I understand this is a development thing right now and I'm okay with picking things up 100 times....but when we bring him to play groups he is either throwing toys at other kids (and making them cry) or pulling their hair!! Not to mention the amount of times he has either bitten or pinched me! I've tried to pull him away and say "gently" in a soft voice so he understands but he just smiles and keeps going about his business. I know there is no way to discipline him as he does not understand what is he doing but how can we enforce this is not okay!?... Especially when playing with other kids. LO was always so loving and gentle but since he's discovered what his hands can do I feel like I've never said no so many times or felt more impatient with him. 

Any strategies or suggestions for how to get the hair pulling/biting/pinching to stop? 

missliz53

What helps us is to say be gentle before they actually bite, pinch/ pull hair and then praise lo when she's gentle. I also have to keep reminding her to be gentle. If she actually does bite or pull my hair or the cat's hair, I say be gentle much more firmly and if that doesn't get the piint across then I remove her from the situation which in our case is usually promptly setting her on the floor and then ignoring her. I noticed that since I've dome that consistently, she now listens much better because she hates to be set down. She's not very mobile though so I'm not sure if this will work as well when she is. I will probably end up putting her in her pack n play or just walking away from her. Super Nanny says time outs don't work until they are 2.

ForeverEverAfter

I agree with preemptive teaching moments, and repetition. Today LO lunged after the cat (for the billion and second time lol), and she kept her hand open and flat and lightly hit the cat's back a few times. The cat stopped and looked at us, we looked at each other with jaws dropped. The first time ever she didn't pull a chunk of fur from the cat!! That's exactly how we've been teaching her to pet (open hand, slowly up and down). We either get to the cat first and demonstrate, or we stop her, take the fur chunk from her hand and say 'no, gentle hands' and open her hand, and get her to copy the up/down.

Yiggle09

Yes my son is nick named bam bam. He trashes his play area aka living room. Pulls computer mouse keyboard slams hands on everything slams toys on everything grabs bites 

lmbrandt

YES. We are right there with you!  He is 10 months in two days and his behavior lately has been so different!  He is into EVERYTHING also.  I've had to completely strip our family room of any decor.  He trashes everything, dumps everything over, pulls out all the toys, pushes furniture around.  He has hardly any interest in his toys right now, just wants to be in everything he shouldn't be.  He pulls up on stuff that tips over constantly.  He has now learned how to open cabinets and drawers (ours are the style that don't even have knobs on them and he still figured it out!).  So he gets SUPER upset if you block him from doing it, or close it.

He is also chewing on everything.  His poor crib is ruined.  He chewed along the top rails, so I bought covers to stop it.  Those worked.  Until a few days later when he decided to chew on the spindles.  It's horrible, chunks out of it!  I have breathable bumpers that should be arriving any day now to hopefully stop that from happening.  I'm not only upset about the crib, but not too thrilled with him digesting wood chips and paint?!  We give him teething toys, teethers, etc...he wants nothing to do with them.  Just goes throughout the house and chews on everything he shouldn't...knobs, entertainment center, any corner he can find.

Tantrums.  Holy moly.  If he doesn't get his way, get ready for a full on scream fest.  Getting into his car seat, sitting in a shopping cart, getting dressed, diaper change, eating, having a bottle, etc!  He refuses to eat all the time now.  His latest thing is he doesn't want to eat from a spoon, BUT he also hates eating chunky food.  So if I put rice, fruit chunks, noodles, cheese, etc on his tray he flips out.  So he doesn't want the spoon, but also won't eat finger foods....so we don't eat?  He'll eat cheerios and puffs all day, but I'd like to get SOME nutrition in there.

By the end of the day I'm at my wits end.  Tired mama here.

dmbfan46835

^^^^ this, sooooo much this. Minus the eating the crib. Lol. Mine likes paper. Specifically the cards in magazines. The spoon is his mortal enemy. And changing him or dressing him is child abuse. I am shocked by the tantrums. I didn't realize it could happen so soon. I'm actually pulling him out of an in home daycare and moving him to a real one in hopes that the structure will help straighten his little butt out. Also Hoping this is leap related and not our new normal. 

pereza6

@Imbrandt@dmbfan46835 I'm so glad I'm not alone!! This! All of this! Sounds exactly like my boy. By the end of the day I am so exhausted from tolerating the tantrums, chasing after him, and trying to change his diaper I almost feel like this stage is so much harder. I've found that keeping him busy outside definitely keeps me sane longer because then he can't get into drawers/cabinets etc. But We are starting a dayhome next month and it makes me so nervous!! Especially since he's the only boy she is watching over. I have a feeling I will be getting a lot of phone calls... Definitely praying this has something to do with a leap or teeth (LO already has 7)

cmommy13

I tell my son to be "easy" or "gentle" before he does something and that seems to help.

When he pinches or bites me I say ouch loud enough to semi startle him and he feels bad and cries and it has drastically lessened!

mrsbacz

My husband didn't close the bathroom door. And this. Thank god he wasn't hurt but ugh, my ring dish I got as a wedding gift. 

ABombard12

Yiggle09 said:

Yes my son is nick named bam bam. He trashes his play area aka living room. Pulls computer mouse keyboard slams hands on everything slams toys on everything grabs bites 

Omg this is what we have nicknamed our son ha my boss started it and we were just like wow it fits and he looks like him ha 

amp61470

He doesn't like being changed, I actually get tears. More so when getting him dressed the diaper is still a rolling game.  He Is suddenly not eating, absolutely everything goes in his mouth and I got a tantrum when I took my keys from him. He is definitely harder now then he was 4 months ago. 

LoveLee85

I was thinking the same thing. My LO is still sweet and gentle, but He threw his first tantrum I believe the other day. I was like WHO ARE YOU?! He just laid on the ground screaming and flopping his legs for two whole minutes....until I slid a toy over to him across the floor. I didn't want to make it a big deal so I tried to ignore it. Once the toy was near him he rolled over, grabbed it and was fine and sweet again. YIKES! He was mad I wouldn't let him eat my dust pan. :-/ 

kmcshane0211

Yes! This morning she was the worst I've ever seen her! Checked my Leaps app and sure enough TODAY is that stormy period. Holy hell, she's a monster. Last night she was acting WIRED, like out of control, moving everywhere VERY fast, then laughing maniacally as she repeatedly tried to BITE both my husband and I. Crazy girl!

ljhans

I definitely noticed a change at 10 months too! It feels more difficult for sure! We also went on an 8 day vacation right when he turned 10 months so that didn't help anything. He was especially off his rocker that week, better since we've been back home but still definitely requiring more energy and patience as of late! We are definitely having to say no more and redirect/teach appropriate behaviors more.

ElleMF728

We have a new game where LO grabs on to his big brother and they proceed to run, screaming through the house until the baby falls down.  They love it, I hate it.