Question
Hi!
After raising four children myself, I can say that my 2.5 year old grandson is on the far end of the active, aggressive, physical, energetic, testing, bouncing-off-the-walls and curious scale (he has been since birth, beginning with endless sleepless night, on up to the present day).
As we speak, he has been screaming and kicking at his door for about 2 hours past his bedtime to get out of his room. My son and daughter-in-law have run the whole gambit of approaches, including spanking (but stopped, since it wasn’t getting through to him), and nothing is making a dent in his behavior. They tell him he can have the door open if he stays in his room but every night he gets out of bed, they close the door and the drama begins. This is just one example of how exhausting and persistent he can be.
He has always been a SCREAMER throughout the night since his birth, getting by on little sleep. He now goes to bed between 7:00-7:30, wakes up (often upset) in the middle of the night, usually wakes everyone up, eventually falls back to sleep, and gets up anywhere between 5:30 on.
He is also often very defiant throughout the day but, as relentless as his defiance, testing and physical energy can be (he bounces off the walls from the moment he gets up), he also LOVES BIG!!! He charges at us with his hugs, gives us love “POUNDS” and BIG kisses, and says the most adorable and precocious things. He can literally light up a room with his cuteness!
Unfortunately, though, our kids are exhausted (especially now that they also have an 8 week old) and they need some wise counsel on how to positively and successfully discipline and guide their son with this GIGANTIC personality. They stay on him really well, but they can get really discouraged at times. If you have any good advise, would you please send it our way?
Thank you so much
