Rough morning - how do I regulate myself better?

General Question/Discussion

I was harsh towards my 20 month old and I feel really sad about it.

I didn’t sleep well, the house was a mess, and I’m about a week before my period. I feel like my hormones are going crazy around this time and it fills me with anger. Since having my baby, this irritability/anger before my period has become much worse than it was before pregnancy. Can anyone relate?

Usually I manage to regulate myself, but this morning normal toddler behaviour annoyed me more than it should have and I raised my voice over completely unimportant things. He didn’t deserve it at all 😔

I apologized afterwards and explained that it wasn’t his fault, but I’ve still been feeling bad about it. I don’t get physical and I haven’t yelled until now. But
I know that it will get more challenging and I really want to get better at handling my own emotions. I was in therapy for depression before pregnancy and I’m considering going back.

For those of you who’ve worked on emotional regulation, what actually helped? Books, therapy, podcasts, practical techniques, anything?

Posted Aug 11, 2026, 11:29 AM UTC

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