i really need some help!! i have a 2 1/2 year daughter. she is my life and i love her more than anything else in the world. she is extremely advanced for a 2 1/2 year old. very smart. but she is having MAJOR behavior problems. i know most people think it is the terrible 2's until they actually see it. she gets so mad about every little thing-- and when it starts, it will last up to an hour and half. screaming, crying, hitting, biting, hurting herself. it just scares me so bad. like tonight, i made her hot dogs. when i started cutting them up, she kept saying "put it back together". and when i told her no, she went off. the plate was at the edge of the counter, she pulled the plate off the counter, i picked it all up and threw it in the garbage, well she wanted THAT hot dog-- she stood at the garbage can screaming "i want that one" and would not stop. i spanked her bottom, popped her hand, ignoring her, and attempted to put her in time out, but she took off right back to the garbage. i finally put it on the dryer and she stayed at the dryer trying to pull herself up and kicking the mess out of it. i called my sis about 45 mins later, she came over and she finally calmed down. my sis saw this for the time the other day. my mother and my co-worker also saw it. they just don't think it is the terrible 2's. i mean, she will be fine one minute and then she will snap.

we have both been through a lot within the last year. last june her father and i divorced after a 6 year marriage. we had to live with my co-worker for a week and then moved into some apartments. he works on the oil rig so he is gone for 2 weeks at a time. it was originally every other weekend, and one night during the week that he got her, but now, he only gets her the two weekends that he is home. so she dont get to see him as much. i dont know if this has anything to do with it or not. surely not, because up until the last month, she had only pitched his kind of fit 3 times. but in the last month, she does it at least twice a week. i just cant handle doing this all the time. i work full time, go pick her up from daycare, and have to deal with this.

my sis and mother recommended her seeing a physhciatrist. but a 2 year old seeing a physhciatrist?? is she too young? no one in my family has ever been to a psychiatrist. it just scares me so bad. i am thinking about going to her doctor and just talking to her about it-- not even bring my daughter so i can actually talk to her. what do i do? any suggestions-- please help