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Help please young children have me in a constant panic!

8 replies

jessebuni · 16/08/2013 11:57

I have a 4 1/2 year old son and a 14 month old daughter. I have a few issues at the moment - firstly my son practically hates his sister. He shoves her and hits her and shouts at her. Not just in a playing up spur of the moment way but in a losing his temper rarer agressive way. I'm trying to focus on him and why he is acting this way and give him his own attention etc. but it doesn't really seem to be helping. Secondly my daughter started walking at 9 1/2 months and is now 14 months and she is just sooo reckless and climbs on everything that I'm constantly panicking she will get really hurt. There's only so much child proofing you can do after all I can't remove the toilet and sofa and chairs etc from the house, all of which she can climb on and ten fall of if she loses balance. A few days ago I was on the toilet and she kept trying to pull my top down to find (she's still breastfed but is now being weaned off the breast except for before bedtimes) so I removed her from the bathroom and pulled the door shut, I didn't lock it just pulled the door to. Well I was doing my business and then I hear her screaming. My son had gotten he of olbas oil (which before anyone says it shouldn't be in children reach it was on a very top shelf but my son used a chair to get it as well as a set of keys for some reason) anyway he then covered his sisters face and hair in it and fed her some!!! So I then had to take her up a and e as its very toxic. How do parents literally watch two children 24/7 and still be able to clean, eat, go to the toilet etc? I'm trying my best but I've now had a yellow form sent to child services because of that incident and worry! I have even previously put her safely in her cot to go to the toilet of make dinner etc but then my son throws loads of toys in there that she can stand on to get out or he has also tried to climb in with her and ended up tipping the whole cot over which resulted in both crying! I don't want people to think I'm a bad mum when I'm honestly trying my best and love them to pieces! It breaks my heart when they get hurt and cry but people see bruises and think the worst nowadays! Any advice?

OP posts:
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CreatureRetorts · 16/08/2013 19:14

Ok first of all your son needs to realise its completely unacceptable to be aggressive towards his sister. If she's bruised, that's really horrible for her. What do you do? I would not leave them unattended together and use time out. Time out is quite specific technique - you tell him calmly he has time out for hitting then put him somewhere boring for 4 mins. Use an egg timer if need be. Then when done, ask him why he had time out. If he doesn't answer them tell him why and tell him what to do next time.
Also supervise them closely and any sigh of aggression, intervene and tell your ds what he should do. Eg don't push, but ask nicely or wall around his sister. It gets boring but you've got to do it all the time.

I would lock away anything medical or chemical.pcks ate cheap. Be vigilant and keep out of reach. Even if you think it'll be fine, it is better to be safe than sorry.

I would take one with me to the loo - give your dd toys so she doesn't grab you. I actually use the loo with the door open now mine are older (nearly 4 and 20 months).

Speak to ss about parenting classes. This will give you techniques for dealing with stuff. Nursery gave me great ideas so there's no shame in asking for help.

I taught dd how to climb off the sofas safely. It was stressful when she was at risk of falling - i basically kept her with me eg had a highchair in the kitchen, toys in the kitchen etc. housework - i do little and often as easier to manage. We don't have book shelves in the living room, any we do have are fixed to the wall and we used stair gates.

I also got out of the house a lot. Your 4 year old will probably be having a testosterone surge hence the aggression - does his dad have any involvement? He needs to be wrestling/tickling him etc to help release the pent up energy. Failing that, get out in the park, get him running around as much as you can!

It is hard with two young one. To some extent you have to accept that for now you cannot leave them alone, it's just not happening, but it's only temporary. Now dd is 20 months I can leave her for a few mins at a time but prefer to check on them both quite frequently.

CreatureRetorts · 16/08/2013 19:17

Typos galore! Sorry - I meant locks are cheap. And walk around his sister not wall.

jessebuni · 17/08/2013 11:12

Hi we have now emptied our paperwork out of our filing cabinet to lock te medicine away and normally I do have my daughter in te bathroom with me or the door open but it was only because she kept try to feed that I removed her. She can climb on and off the sofa fine but just seems to get over excited then fall. Hell she was on my lap on the sofa yesterday and STILL managed to fall off onto the floor quicker than I could catch her.

We have a stairgate on every room but my son is 4 1/2 so can open them all unfortunately! We have actually been trying time outs for 4 mins but I'm really struggling with it because the only place I can put him for a time out is his room with a stair gate up he then opens the stairgate and it results in me having to repeatedly put him in one corner of his room while his sister screams her head off the other side of the gate because everyone else is in a room she can't get in.

We love in a top floor apartment with no garden or enclosed space here so outside time is limited I do take them to the park or a relatives house every day so that they get a couple of hours outside but obviously it's just a bit difficult to get as much outside time as they need. We are saving up to move but its a long way off yet.

I understand that I have to supervise them and can't leave them aloe but my question is how? How can I literally watch two children every second when they want me to make them food and I need to use the toilet etc? It's surely not safe to be cooking with a 14 month old running around the kitchen so that's time I can't be watching her like a hawk. I will definitely be speaking to the Health visitor about some parenting tips though. I just wish my husband was here more to help as well lol!

OP posts:
MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 17/08/2013 11:28

Can you put them both up at the table (her securely belted into her high chair) with an activity (drawing or playdough or pretending to cook with a few bits and bobs that they can eat raw safely, nothing fancy) while you cook?

Going to the loo is a nightmare with a child that age - until recently my youngest was obsessed with climbing to the top of the book case, emptying it as he went, whenever I went to the toilet Hmm. I think you do have to take her with you, just keep saying "No, not when Mummy's on the toilet" and putting her arms length away when she tries to lift your top ... maybe even have something in there she can play with or give her some raisins or a cup of water to take with her each time you go in - not perfect hygiene but not too terrible!

Your son sounds like the main challenge tbh - it will be hard but I do think you need to find a way to address his aggression towards his sister. Can you ask your HV for help? Can you take him for long walks (perhaps with him on a bike or scooter if he has one) over her nap time, with her napping in the buggy? I have a similar age gap from DS1 to DS1 but was lucky that Ds1, though he has aggressive phases which I think are a mix of frustration and testosterone surges, has only ever directed his aggression at me, he's never been anything but lovely with his little brother, it is more the little one who hurts the big! If you are using time-out he has to come to accept it and stay where he is put, if you are using it consistently and still having to put him back every few seconds then it probably isn't going to work and you need to find another option!

Could you try some positive discipline with your son? Sticker charts building up to fairly easy to achieve reward to reward gentle behaviour towards his sister and short periods of time drawing or playing quietly (perhaps in a different room - does she wreck his games when he does try toplay alone?). Would be perfect if you could incorporate 1:1 time with you into the reward - if you could leave his sister with your husband at the weekend and take him to the cinema or bowling or out for a brief cafe lunch - some "big boy" activity with just you (or just him and his dad, his choice) as that way he is getting 1:1 and an incentive for good behaviour.

jessebuni · 17/08/2013 12:00

I'm so glad that someone else has finally said maybe time outs won't work for him because honestly we've been trying for months and no change! I use it several times a day and he just keeps fighting! Actually I think e may even do it so that it takes longer meaning more attention for him and his siste crying. But how else does one punish bad behaviour? We used to do a reward chart which was working brilliantly until about a month ago when he just decided he didn't care about losing or gaining rewards. The worst thing is I feel awful that he feels like he has to act like this? How upset or lonely must he feel to act this badly?! We do try walks but he seems to have a thing for running off! So terrifying and dangerous! The other day I took him to this huge open air museum that he could run around but he ran off then! Or he throws himself on the floor and will not move. I'm so grateful for online shopping because last time we went to tesco he threw himself on the floor repeatedly until I had to have carry half drag him one armed while pushing the full trolly with his sister in. He then proceeded to make himself throw up on the floor on purpose! I definitely think its an attention thing but what can I do? I can leave DD with my husband at the weekend because he's rarely home from work. It's a good week if the kids see him for more than 5-6 hours a week (he is currently looking for a new job but no lick yet). I've been thinking of trying to get my dad to spend some time with him doing "manly" things to see if that helps but I don't want to "replace" his dad. Do you think it might help or hinder?

OP posts:
YoniBottsBumgina · 17/08/2013 12:31

I think they are just both in tough ages - I struggled with both of those ages so both together must be hard! I'm sure it will get easier in a few weeks when your DS starts school and DD starts being able to communicate more in the next few months.

BTW the testosterone thing is an oft-repeated myth, but a lot of 4 year olds go through a very challenging period just before they start school.

My son is 4.10 and I don't use time out because it becomes too much of a battle to get him to stay in one place. I try to manage behaviour in a related way, but if I need a single unrelated consequence then I ban him from TV for the next half hour and then I can increase it if needs be.

When cooking could you perhaps distract your son with some "big boy activity" that he can't do with his sister around, lego or colouring with some special pens she isn't allowed or something? And put her in a playpen or highchair in the kitchen so she can see you but not get out causing trouble/getting under your feet. I hated cooking with a child that age so I feel your pain. You can also try using a slow cooker which means all you have to do is chop the veg (you can do this in the morning when your older son will be at school/nursery and hopefully your DD will be napping! Or at night after they have gone to bed) and meat etc and throw it all in and switch on. Or the other thing I used to do was rely on meals like fish fingers/chicken nuggets in the oven or frozen pizza (this is good too for getting them involved as can buy a value one and let them add their own toppings) and microwave veg bags so that there were no pans on the hob and minimal hassle. Or DS likes "cold tea" especially when it is so hot, which is basically lunch - pepper, cucumber, carrot sticks, cold meats, crackers, breadsticks or bread and butter. Humous or other dips to dip the veggie sticks in are good fun too and humous is a cheap source of protein which most children like. Beans on toast or jacket potatoes is another easy and safe meal to make because you can warm the fillings up in microwave or use cold - tuna, cheese, coleslaw etc all work cold.

Lots of descriptive praise when you see DS doing something nice (so not just "good boy" but "DS that is lovely the way that you are holding DD's hand") and make sure he sees you telling DD off (mildly, even if she doesn't understand!) for things he isn't allowed to do or he might think it's unfair that she's allowed to get away with it and he isn't. This is where related consequences really work too because if someone is for example using a toy inappropriately, the toy goes away until they can behave with it. Works for both of them.

Do you think he is angry/jealous of her (possibly playing out anger at his dad being away so much?) or do you think he is trying to play but just not expressing that very well? You could try and think of some games they could play together, it's hard at her age, but something like him building a tower of bricks for her to knock down, or him rolling a ball towards her and getting her to push or kick it back. Or perhaps he could build a train track for her to push the train around or something like that. But equally it's important for him to have playtime that she isn't allowed to get into. Perhaps you can have one on one time when she naps? I think going out for days with Grandad is a great idea and it wouldn't be replacing his dad because his dad is still around.

There's a great book called "Siblings Without Rivalry" which is really good - that might have some good suggestions to help improve their relationship also?

(Just a small point too, not meaning to be rude, but your posts would be a bit easier to read if you could break them up into paragraphs every few sentences as it appears as a big block of text which can be difficult to focus on.)

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 17/08/2013 12:36

Involving your dad sounds a brilliant idea in that situation jesse - as grandad, not to replace his dad - clearly you need another adult involved as your husband is only able to spend a few hours a week with the children at the moment.

Maybe get Grandad to spend a couple of hours a week 1:1 with each child, if he is able to? That way he can have say a 2 hour 1:1 outing with grandad once a week, and 2 hours alone with you while your DD gets 2 hours grandad time - if your grandad can manage and if he has the time of course, but that would probably go a long way.

Your DS is probably dealing with a mix of things that have hit together - the testosterone surge somebody else mentioned, which is very real and hits some boys harder than others but usually comes around age 4-5, daddy being absent (through no fault of anyone's by the sound of it but that doesn't matter to a 4 year old), jealousy of his sister, which tends to peak once they become "people" rather than babies (it did for my older 2 with the consecutive sibling each time, though I have been very lucky with minimal jelousy, when it has struck it has been once the next sibling is walking and talking and getting into their stuff, needing attention as a child not a baby and so becomes a peer and rival, not an exotic pet :o ) and quite possibly subconscious or concious anxiety about starting school in Sept (if you are in England) - a huge change in his life about to happen, and which might be making him even more jealous of you and DD being alone together when he is out at school. There is also always a lot of boundary testing around this age of course.

Keeping your DS as physically active as possible and outdoors as much as possible, giving him praise whenever you can, for the tiniest thing, spending 1:1 time with him while grandad has his sister and getting grandad involved taking him out too, will all probably help. At the same time as working really hard on the positive attention, really laying it on thick for a while, could you try a different response to the aggression - remove a toy he adores for a fixed period, no TV for a fixed period, something that doesn't mean you have to focus on him to enforce and he can't use to play on the negative attention? Only you will know what will actually matter to him personally.

CreatureRetorts · 17/08/2013 12:58

Several times a day for time out is far too much. It's only for serious stuff, not everything.

With my two I kept my youngest with me and the oldest had a bit more free reign. But we use a lock at the top of the utility room which is where all dangerous stuff goes so ds cannot open it. He also has a play corner with clear space which he uses for his make believe games - can you do something like that?

Also what do you do when he hits? Can you work out if it happens at certain times and try and predict then prevent?

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