I think the smaller the child, the bigger the internal struggles, Kristina! Sure, they will have big feelings for years to come, but they learn to put words to their feelings and better understand what's happening to them as they grow. To my 18 months old, I guess it felt like being a boiling pot with a secured lid - "what's this, mommy? what is it happening to me? why do I feel like pulling off your hair?". To my 30 months old, it's still a boiling pot, but his lid now has a pressure vent :D He still needs help to put words to those feelings, though now he knows what those words mean. In any case, it's always troublesome when your "little" one lashes at you, and it takes so much energy to ignore your impulses and respond to him the way you'd want.