21 month old angel turns vampire...HELP!!!

[Jantubb]

HI!

My gorgeous sweet placid little angel boy has turned face over the last 4 weeks or so.. he is going through a developmental spurt speech and cognition wise and I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact that he regularly attacks other children, pinching, nipping, scratching, pulling hair and worst of all and most common of all BITING!! He has an older brother of 3 1/2 and often chooses his brothers' peers to attack!! (His brother takes the brunt most often also)!

It's so awful and so embarassing.. I make a big show of withdrawing, disciplining (naughty step / fastened in pushchair / put in bedroom) and making a fuss of the victim.. he doesn't seem to get any better though..

He is a VERY affectionate child whom kisses and hugs everyone and it's sometimes as if he's over zealous in his hugs etc.. although he is VERY AWARE of how naughty he is being and he always signs (babysigning) sorry afterwards.

What can I do? My friends say I am doing all I can but I'm beginning to dread taking him to play with others.. perserverance.. that the answer?

Any advice / suggestions gratefully received!

Jan
xxx

[Lilypie]

How old?

[Jantubb]

Sorry .. 21 months!

[MagicGenie]

Jan, I know how you feel; see my recent thread here .

Only things I can suggest, after watching my DS's behaviour closely since my original thread, are that he's probably doing it as he can't express himself any other way. And for attention.

So making sure you give him the message that it's not acceptable, without blowing it out of proportion and making it worse, is the best thing to do.

Sorry - probably not great advice but I know how you feel! x

[Jantubb]

bump

[Lina97]

Maybe our kids should have a play date- my loving 2 year old is becoming a demon. She knows when she is wrong and is very polite when she says sorry. However this is usually after the other child has ran off screaming to find their parents/childminder.

Having removed her from toddler groups where there is little structure I am hoping that structured and focused play will help with the problem. Certainly the two classes that she goes to at the moment that are structured seem to do the trick. I fear genetics has a lot to with my daughter, my husband was a hitter/violent/overly aggressive toddler, and he turned out pretty smart and out of jail! My mother-in-law assures me kids grow out of it-and it is nothing that we are doing.