Help!

Let me tell you something, they don't call it the terrible twos for NOTHING. Henry has been downright TERRIBLE lately. I am at my wits end. We have tried time outs, spanking, taking toys away, and positive reinforcement; you name it, we've done it.

How did you Mama's of older babies tame the terrible twos?

Henry has been down right defiant lately. He pushes every limit we've set, he throws things when he doesn't get his way, and he's been throwing fits that are just ridiculous. I'm talking... 20 minutes of screaming at the top of his lungs simply because I picked a toy up off the floor or filled his milk cup or sat down myself. It's been AWFUL.

I feel like we should set more boundaries and recreate his schedule to better suit his current needs, but it's hard to approach anything new at this moment because we are struggling so much to control him. I feel like I'm suddenly raising a completely different child and I need some help because my nerves are just shot.

He's also got this great new trick where he wakes up in the middle of the night and throws one of his newly famous fits because he wants to read books. And I'm not talking one book and back to bed, it's 2 hours worth of books. I stayed up with him the first night because I thought his teeth were bothering him, but then the pattern has repeated itself until Mama's exhausted with no patience left. Last night I simply put him back to bed, turned off the light and let him scream and kick and yell for an hour. Yes, I said an HOUR. With my new work schedule, I'm working almost every day of the week and I get home late. To be running on less sleep is killing me.

Do you have any suggestions for this very tired, very stressed-out Mama? The people around me (my husband, his parents, and my grandmother) keep telling me that it's just a stage and I have to just deal with it, but I really think that there has to be some way to shape this defiant child's attitude. Please help!