13 month old hitting everyone (in trouble with creche)

[andypandydulterdandy]

Hi all, I am at my wits end with Ds2 who is 13 months. I work a 3 day week and during that time he goes to crèche. He walked very early so they moved him into the walkers room a month or so ago. I thought he was a little too young but was told by the staff members that they had to move him as he was too rough with the babies and didn?t know his own strength. he is not a big baby, just average, but he is very strong. Since he has moved to the walkers room I have had to sign two accident forms where he scratched other toddlers in the face and marked them. He will do this to us at home as well and we tell him NO and put him down, we have been very consistent with this and he does it less at home now, but is still doing it a crèche and is getting worse. They tell him NO and maybe put him in a high chair for a few mins also, but it does not seem to work. One of the crèche staff told me today the other toddlers are scared of him, this is really getting me down as he is just a baby and really does not know what he is doing and is a very good wee child. I don?t want him labelled like this. His brother is nearly 4 and was at the same crèche, we didn?t have the same problems there. He is very rough with his brother also and will mark his face frequently. Is there something I am doing wrong here?

Well it is normal behaviour and you are doing nothing wrong as you are trying to modify it,

I would suggest every time he scratches you put mittens on him (or socks) as well as filing his nails very short and smooth (you may need two people to do this) It is very hard and it is just a stage, be consistent and ensure that the crèche punishes him the same way.

He is also very young to be in the walkers room as he will still have quite poor impulse control still, it sounds like the staff need to try and work with you to get a solution instead of giving you extra stress to deal with

Thanks, I think he is young too, but he was walking well at 11 months and they said once they are steady on there feet they move them. He is the youngest one there and still a baby. I think I will speak to the creche again and make sure they are doing the same as us.

That member of staff ought to have kept her mouth shut. They know that he lashes out, they know he lacks the understanding, therefore they need to do their job and supervise him properly. Definitely ensure that there's consistency in stopping it and make sure his nails are kept as short as possible.

I think its really unacceptable for the nursery worker to tell you the toddlers are scared of your ds. Im sure they are not, I have a few friends that have very boistrous walking babies the same age and when they hit or scratch the toddlers you have to explain to the toddlers that this is because they are babies and don't know how wrong it is yet.
13 months is too young for your ds to understand the consequences of his actions iyswim? Also Im sure that second siblings are rougher than firstborns because they see the older siblings playing roughly and naturally copy.