help i've got a she devil

[luvsgonzo]

Hi all

My dd is 2.4yrs old and in past couple of days she's turned into a complete nightmare she's always been my little livewire and kept me on my toes, she was an early walker (9.5 months) and since then shes never still and never quiet lol and has her 2 big bro's wrapped around her finger they will do anything she wants them to.

She's always been a stressy child and threw tantrums at the drop of a hat which i've managed to control by removing her from the situation and ignoring, unless it was obvious she was at risk of hurting herself.

I've gone as far as hiding keys and keeping doors locked she's an escape artist who has learnt how to use keys, we did have stairgates but they are just orniment now as she can climb over them as well as climbing anything that really takes her fancy.

The past couple of days though she has gotten even worse, i understand they all go through phases my older 2 did and i'm fully expecting ds3 to do the same as he gets older but dd has gotten really aggressive to her older brothers and children of her ages she still good with the baby just needs gentle reminders sometimes to not be too rough. She is now refusing to call me mummy which is annoying but i just remind her that is my name to her but the worst thing she is doing is biting and its getting worse.

The 1st few times she bit there were just teeth marks which was bad enough so she was put on timeout and i explained it wasn't nice and it hurt people we have had hitting and hair pulling in the past and it worked for that but it isnt for the biting. Today she has bitten her friend and made him bleed quite a bit so she spent time on timeout for that and then tonight she has bit ds2 on the arm it bled a bit but looks like its going to bruise.

I was hoping someone might have some advice on how to deal with this as i'm now worried about going to playgroups incase she attacks anymore children:(

sorry my own dd was a nightmare on and off from 2 years but not in the same way.
bump for you in case someone going through it now and can be more help.
I actually found hugs were the best way to deal with dd own "frustrations" which is how I tried to see the behaviour so not giving attention to the bad behaviour but rewarding and talking about as much good behaviour as I could grab at. Exhausting and very difficult but perservered and it did take years on and off until about 6/7 I suppose when she could understand and talk about feelings better.

ok thank you ziggiz

i do try to give her hugs when she is frustrated but at the moment its just resulting in me being hit and her trying to bite me so i just walk away til she has calmed down a bit and try again,

How about a bit of special one to one time with her to give her some extra attention. Not saying she isn't getting enough attention, I just know they all need a bit extra now and agian.

When my DDs behaviour was bad we had special Mummy and DD time. For us that involved driving to local town, just me and her and then reading books in a cafe together with a juice and a coffee. Cuddled up on thew sofa. This only lasted 30 mins or so but we tried to do it on a saturday morning and I couldn't believe the difference it made to her behaviour those weekends.

Obviously you'd have to create your own special time based on what she likes to do etc. Good luck.