I'm another with the sweet sounding frustration - I don't want River to realise I'm at the end of my tether so I say it nicely or I'll sing a song while bouncing him like 'If you aren't quiet I'll send you to Angelina Jolie then I'll be Jolly you noisy noisy brat'. Obviously I'll need to stop this soon when he starts understanding words but it was great for calming me when he's teething and whinging like nothing else!

Another one my midwives told me was to throw his soft toys against the wall. Once again, great for wailing at 2 in the morning.

It's good to see threads like this to remind me to consider people's situations - not that their situation makes their behaviour any better, treating kids badly is bad behaviour, but no one can behave well all the time (especially in high pressure situations), and it's nice to think that there are lots of good and lovely parents out there just having a difficult moment.

I am not so concerned about whether I might lose it with my children one day - I mean, everyone loses it sometimes. What I'd hope to do in that situation is role model for my children how to deal with it - as in, I'd like to think that after losing it, I would say sorry for yelling and move on (and that's a value my dad instilled in me, so I'd love to pass that on - he would say 'I'm still upset but I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you').

I like the idea of Bellybelly cards, or asking a mum if they need help - I think it helps in a situation like that to feel that we're not alone!