I have absolutely had it today with my 3.5 year old's behaviour. She's as good as gold in public, as well as at nursery, but she's a complete terror at home.
- refusing to get ready for bed or stay in her bed (she has severe eczema and needs a lot of lotion on which is a battle I have to contend with twice a day).
- repeatedly waking up overnight and screaming for us.
- waking up at 5.30 am and refusing to go back to bed.
- refusing to let her sister nap.
- constantly nagging for food. She's a bottomless pit.
I've just spent the last hour asking her to leave me alone for 10 minutes (I gave various options of TV shows to watch, toys to get out. Promises that we can play doctors once dd2 is asleep) so I can get dd2 (2 months old) to sleep. That wasn't acceptable, she's just followed me around the house, jumping and screeching, doing anything possible to keep dd2 awake.
I really can't cope with her anymore and even my normally calm DP is fed up with her. I know she has to deal with having a new sibling, but her behaviour has been like this long before I was pregnant (except obviously not letting her sister sleep).
We've tried naps and no naps. Early bedtimes late bedtimes. Rewards and ignoring. Nothing seems to work. Any advice?