u/Unusual-Medium7045

EDIT: The issue is not supervision! We’re always with him. Both me and my husband are always home with him in the same room. He is just that fast. He has the reflexes of a little baby ninja. Our friends have nicknamed him Jack Jack. All of the things I mentioned in the list he accomplished within my arms reach. He is that fast. That is why I was specifically looking for thoughts from those of you who have a child like this. Unless you‘ve experienced a child like mine, it’s really hard to understand 😭😭😭.

My oldest child was an angel toddler. My second? An absolute menace. This week alone he has:

-tossed my husband’s phone in a pool

-upended an entire bowl of cat food

-splashed half a cup of water over my husband’s expensive computer

-dumped out half a bottle of pure maple syrup, half a bottle of liquid dish soap, and half a bag of powdered sugar

-pulled out and smashed a dozen eggs from the fridge

He also constantly pulls our oldest son’s hair, pinches, bites, and spits. We can’t have chairs because he will push them to the kitchen and use them to reach things and turn on the stove. He can unfold his high chair, which he then pushes to the kitchen table, climbs on top, and then leaps onto the couch multiple feet away. We‘ve tried baby proofing but he breaks all of the baby-proof gadgets within a week...like just grabs and totally rips them off. We cannot go out with him, like ever, unless it’s to an outdoor space such as a park. He’s usually causing messes while we’re cleaning up the previous mess (e.g. dumping out the dish detergent while I’m cleaning up the lotion he also just upended onto the floor).

We tell him no. We redirect. We take away any objects he’s misusing. We remove him from situations. We give and enforce consequences. We keep things away from him to the best of our abilities (this is nearly impossible). NOTHING works with this kid. My dad and sister have already mentioned that I should not bring him when I visit for Christmas because they are not able to toddler-proof their house to the extent needed for him.

For those of you who have or have had toddlers like mine, what did you do??! He’s always been like this- walking by 9 months through sheer force of will. Does it get better?