Am really fed up this week with DD

[newbielisa]

God I love her so much but a the moment she is pretty horrible so much of the time.

This week, had friends with boys all the same age as her 2yo (just) round to play she made each of the 3 boys cry at least once, not sharing - I get that's hard. Not letting them out of her playhouse, pushing them off chairs, hitting them with toys. Today we popped to MIL's where her cousin same age was, they were fine and then a big kick off. I'm 23 weeks pregnant with DC2, tired, emotional, fat and fed up.

Nappy changes and getting ready is a nightmare and when I do manage to lie her down then she kicks me really hard (chest and bump) continually, today I'm ashamed to say I smacked her bottom, on nappy so know it can't have hurt as such but really ashamed of myself.

How do I stop the kicking? I have promised myself from now on we'll get dressed and ready as far in advance as possible rather than getting stressed that we're running late for a class/activity. That should help a bit.

Have you had a kicker, I tell her it's unacceptable but how have you dealt with it? She does it to everyone not just me. Even her GM who adores her seems a bit intolerant of her at the moment and that breaks my heart.

change her standing up in the bath or lie her down in the bath to do it. Bit awkward but she can't kick you.

I had this exactly with ds1 in the months leading up to dd2 being born. It was so draining. He still is a right royal PITA with the whole sharing issue, though. However, now that dd2 is here and 9 months old, I've noticed that if he knows that a toy is dd's, not his, he will give it to her without complaint. I make a big deal about him snatching, and he has to give her a toy of her own as replacement if she takes anything of his which he wants back. Therefore, I always try to emphasise what are his toys so he feels a sense of ownership. A bit trickier to broker when friends comes round (which I've tried to avoid tbh)

I don't think I would have been able to change ds in the bath, not with a bump like mine was, anyway. It probably would have caused bigger tantrums as he is very sensitive to anything being different from 'normal'. The only thing that vaguely worked was the change him longways on the bed, like you would a baby on a changing table.

For other undesirable behaviours, a sticker chart worked for a while ( not anymore, sadly) but it's worth a go. For every row of stickers (approx achieved in a week - about 7-10 stickers from memory) I said he could have a toy ( i never brought him with me,as that would have been a nightmare, but I made a big deal about a secret present he would get that I knew he would like - the anticipation was often more exciting than the present itself)

Good luck

Do you use the naughty step?DS is 2.2 and I have been using the naughty step for a couple of months.I also use it as a threat which often stops whatever the issue is.
Bloody hard work this age!

My son (now 2.6) was a kicker at nappy change time too ! He started from when he was 1 day old and it just carried on!

I now use descriptive praise to get him to let me put his nappy on (look at you! you can really put your legs in the air well! aren't you being helpful to Mummy at nappy changing time? etc etc ). I pointed it out to his brother, his Daddy, his nanna, the cleaner. He's really proud of it now and will always do it when I remind him of his natural talents in that department!!

It may be your daughter is ready to start getting changed herself a bit. My son takes his trousers off and socks (and nappy) now. And puts his hands up to help with his . Maybe she's fed up with being "babied" and wants to be treated like a big girl a bit. (Good timing for you, too!)

DS was a complete PITA from about 9mo with nappy changes- constantly writhing about and kicking. As soon as he could stand up, I switched to pull ups (except at night time when I use normal night time ones as the pull ups arent absorbent enough). They are so much easier and also means you can change them much more easily when out and about.

Also, DS is about the same age as your DD (2 in September). The snatching and hitting in retaliation at having stuff snatched is also doing my head in, so you;re not alone. It's really wearing when play dates end up in a Lord of the Flies parody requiring constant intervention, when you were hoping the little darlings would play nicely so you can chat. However, what I've noticed is that it is pretty common in all kids around that age, and they do seem to grow out of it. I still tell DS off obviously, but I dont think he's a particularly mean or aggressive child as it seems common amongst his peers too.