At my wits end!!

[Guest]

I'm starting to have a hard time with ds, he's what people call 'spirited'. I really don't know how to break some of the behaviour or if its even normal ie. 'will it pass' What he does that drives me nuts all day is:
He gets into all the cupboards in the kitchen, I've gone through 2 lots of child locks because he breaks them all. He pulls out everything and bangs on pots, he pulls out spatulas, he can reach the top drawer and gets all the spoons etc and throws them about and I'm running out of places to hide the possible things that could hurt him, my drawers are literally becoming empty. he's also learnt to pull things out of cupboards and use them as steps, he stands in them to reach things on the benches.
He also gets into the fridge now and broke that safety lock too, I just spent another $50 on them for nothing he gets out the ice cubes etc.
He's also obsessed with my ensuite. I try and close the bedroom door, but sometimes I have no choice, I've put all my stuff in bags and he somehow still finds ways to get into them, he also plays with the toilet water and throws things in there. He's thrown my wallet before, all my cards, my hairdryer.
He literally gets into everything.
last week he pooed on his rug after I left his nappy off for not even 5 minutes and he stepped in it, put my keys and phone in it and then came to me to show me, I mean there was poo everywhere.
He's also pulled all the covers off the electrical switches, we can't leave anything in them and the ones we have no choice with have tape all over them. He also knows how to put things in the plugs now, so I now have to make sure he can't get to any electricals or anything that can electrocute him.
It seems anything he's not suppose to do he does, anything that's dangerous he'll somehow find it. Even when we're out, last week we went to a bistro for dinner and he somehow found the switch to the atm and pulled it out?
There's alot more he does, but the problem I have is no matter what I say he won't listen. He knows its wrong, he knows when he's not suppose to do it, but still does it. He also throws tantrums and its getting even worse and harder.
I'm not sure where I went wrong? I really don't know how else to change this behaviour and keeping him away from it all and baby proofing is getting impossible, he finds something to do and get into.
I take him out everyday, he's not bored he gets alot of stimulation and exercise but I just don't know?
Right now I'm in my room with the door closed and ds is with dh. I've had enough today and have a headache, and being pregnant I really can't constantly pick things up, chase after him to stop him doing things and constantly keep my eye on him. I really just can't stand him atm, he's in the lounge crying and tantruming right now because dh won't let him do something (not sure what?) I'm over it, I really hope he goes to bed and I'm about to go in there and lose it (at dh not ds)
HELP

[ComeBackKid]

OMG! That sounds so full on. I have no idea or advice but couldnt not reply. Do you have family help?

[melblake]

That is full on! Everytime you ask a question the answer seems to be "he'll grow out of it". Maybe have a chat with your GP or clinic nurse to see if there's any advice there. My DS is also very active, but he is not really crawling, yet...... Just wants to be into everything when in his walker or in your arms, jumping about the whole time.
Try spending 20 mins to yourself, even if that means walking about the block. Just to clear your head.
Take care

[Me&MrMagoo]

could it be food related? maybe he's reacting to a preservative or something? i dont know much about it but its the first thing that came to mind ...

[MsMummy]

That sounds so challenging. How old is he?

My son is 25 months but is quite different, so I don't have much advice, short of gating off the kitchen and the bathroom as they sound like the problem areas.

How does he get the electrical covers off? I have tried taking them off but can't. I have to stick a knife in them and prise them off? He must be a strong toddler!

[Guest]

He's 15 months. The covers come off easily here, they're new and I'm not sure why they're so easy to take off, obviously weren't designed by someone with a toddler And yes he is strong boy, 16kg.
I'm pretty sure its not a problem I should see a dr about, like I think its behavioural and he's in this habit? He sees everything as a toy, I blame myself becasue I let him do it and dh taught him to get into the drawesr in the first place, like we had some that were 'his' and now I'm paying for it.

The last thing I have up my sleeve is to gate it all, the problem I have with this house is its very open and there are hardly doors besides the bedroom ones. Even my study is open.
I just hope this is a phase and it passes because I'm not sure what else I can do? Do I put everything away except his toys, close him off in areas? Better routine? I have no idea what I should be doing.
Where's my blardy manual?

[MsMummy]

Wow, he is strong! My son didn't start walking til 15 months so our problems were more time limited.

I found that all that sort of behaviour (while not bad) has still decreased.

Like, he used to go to the cupboard and throw plates to watch them smash occasionally, but has stopped that now.

I would look at the gating in the short term.

Or diversionary tactics, maybe?

[The Fox]

oh dear i could of written your post almost word for word. My DS is also 15 months old and displays similar behaviour to yours. Please im hoping that it is a phase.
Pots and pans are his fav and now we have child locked all the kitchen cupboards and draws he gets very angry and just throws a tantrum. We had to try a few different brands of child locks before we found one that worked. We got them from bunnings and even i find it hard to unlock them hahaha. Also with the power point thing what sort do you have, ones that cover the whole thing or that plug into the outlet. I find the ones i have plugged into my outlet a very hard to get off, not even i can do it.
I dont really have any advise but perhaps it will be somewhat comforting to know that there are others out there.
My DS loves to put things in the toilet too *blergh* we had to put locks on all the doors that he can open.
He gets into my wallet and pulls out all my cards and hides them.
Like you my house is open plan and our study does not have a door either. He gets in there and pulls down the keyboard, climbs on the chair and onto the table.
He cannot be left unsupervised.
The other day he got the hylands teething tablets off the bed side table and went into his room, opened the lid (which was on soo tight) and then ate them all. Luckily when i rang poisons they said that it wasnt harmful.
Gosh he chucks the biggest tantrums if i refuse to breastfeed him. He threw a whopper the other night went on for at least 2 hours, the only reason he stopped was because i resorted to putting honey on his dummy. I cant stand him when he is tantruming, and the more he does it the more i dont want to give in.
What else he also hits me sometimes and its embarrasing.
Changing his nappy is a mission, i find it so hard to do on my own. he will kick me roll over try and jump off his change table its near impossible.
Other then that though he is a good boy so i have my fingerscrossed that it really is just a phase

[Myztiks#1Fan]

your DS sounds very very challenging.

i dont have any advice really but with the pots and pans, can you buy him a cheapo set of his own so he has his and you have yours? my son is welcome to my kitchen cupboards but he doesnt go in anything apart from where the cutlery is.

[Mrs Nietzsche]

that does sound fullon. DS is similar. I don't have anything in the bathroom vanities. I keep it all in a basket in my wardrobe where he can't reach (just spare stuff really).

I have found for this sort of thing that immediate diversion works best. I have always just ignored DS getting into cupboards and it is always just over quickly and he loses interest. Could be coincidence.

Can you get a climbing frame or something? Try and physicallly wear him out and run off all that energy and curiousity.

It doesn't sound like he is doing anything actually antisocial - he's just maybe not suited to how your house is set up sort of thing. There's nothing wrong with exploring, being inquisitive, and with trying to get attention from mum.

I guess I would just try to stave off fights by reducing his ability to do the wrong thing as much as you possibly can.

I honestly think you will find a huge amount of this passes pretty quickly and he will just move on to other things. When he's a little bit older he will be able to 'get' things like 'off the table' etc.

If you are feeling really over it and need a rest, maybe he can go to daycare 1 day a week or something for a fw hours. DS's daycare days are like an absolute breeze (even though DD2 is still home and i do uni work). When he is home everything has to be run like a military operation to prevent angst and horrors of him home, bored.

eta - i have to reiterate - i dont know what the go is but I found 15-18 mths very challenging, DS also started up with a spot of biting and hitting. It all passed. I have heard when htey are at this pre-verbal stage of wanting to communicate but not being able to, they can really act up. And it is true that life is so much easier now DS can understand me and communicate (within limits, but it is possible).