I have about had it with one of my 2 year old dcb's. He is a terror! Every single day he dumps the toys boxes out in the toddler room. E.V.E.R.Y D.A.Y. I try to catch him before he does it, but he ALWAYS does it when I am otherwise occupied. Like changing a diaper, greeting a parent and dck, going to the bathroom. He KNOWS it is not ok. I am so fricking sick of picking up after him, and it is a game if I sit and watch him pick up every single toy. I am thinking of banning him from the toy boxes PERIOD. But it isn't going to keep him from doing it behind my back still. I don't feel the greatest today (up all night with a bladder infection) so I don't have the same level of patience, but still. ANNOYING. How do you deter them from doing this?!

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Take the toys and put them where he can't get them....if you get pre-occupied, is there a spot in your house you can confine him to where he only has a couple of things to play with?

I am going through the same thing with my 2 year old daycare boy...he is BUSY and naughty! He is rough with the toys, he throws them across the room, he hits my other daycare boy, he destroys my house if I am preoccupied. And it seems he does it all for entertainment I guess..he's one that if he isn't occupied every SECOND, he's in trouble. I have had to start sectioning off my house with gates because it is so wide open but even then he finds trouble!!

So what I have been doing is when I have to be busy with something else and i know he is in a mischevious mood is put him in the pack n play for a bit. It is the ONLY way I have a peace of mind knowing he is not destroying something in my house. He doesn't like it of coarse, but better than hurting someone else or destroying something.

Last week at pick up he ran full force in my big screen TV...I was NOT happy and neither was my husband. He's a handful for sure! It does get exhausting, day in and day out.

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Totally normal, developmentally appropriate behavior. If it is too much of an issue to handle, the I suggest removing anything that can be dumped. I don't have toyboxes for this reason.

You could try to redirect him too something that he CAN dump. Tell him, I cannot allow you to dump the toyboxes, but you can dump this....then give him something too dump. Some ideas...fill a couple of coffee cans with balls and put the lid on. Help him figure out how to remove the lid and let him dump and fill. Or, try a sensory table, with sand and cups that he can fill and dump.

Or, don't watch two year olds (totally kidding, of course)

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Some earlier post on Terrible 2's: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23003
https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13384

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