My dd has turned into a stroppy, vicious mutt.....

[AllieBongo]

Who has constant tantrums, scratches, pinches and lashes out in temper attacks ds (she is 18mths, he is 6yrs) Wakes at 2 am every night, and doesn't want to be picked up, but doesn't want to be left alone. I had to shut her windows the other night as her temper screaming would have woken the whole street. How can I discipline her???? I've tried saying no firmly, she face rakes me and laughs, I've even resorted to smaking her hand when she lashes out (after being egged on by mum and mil) and now she hits herself and says no.. i'm getting towards the end of my tehther, and poor ds is having a pants summer hols cos she's so demanding. heeeeeelllllpppp

oh allie,poor you. no answers im afraid other than its a horrible,nasty phase and bear with it because itwill pass.Liam has changed over the last month and has terrible tantrums and really smacks me and Luke if he doesnt get our attention or if hes just got the hump.have to say that when he kept smacking my arm this morning i got the hump and smacked (gently of course)his arm back, he looked at me and carried on wacking me!i put him in the bedroom and lefthim screaming and when i bought him back down stairs he knew he was wrong because he sat very subdued in front of the t.v and then fell asleep!

Allie, I do sympathise. I would try the approach of withdrawing all your attention when she does stuff - don't let her get close enough to face rake or whatever - it will also get you far enough away from her not to smack her, which certainly won't help her know where the boundaries are re: being physical with other people!!

If she is tantrumming, walk out of the room and withdraw her audience; if you can't go, engage DS in some fascinating activity that takes all of your attention!

thanks guys. it's so bloody hard. ds was never like it! She throws herself back and bangs her head. think i need to get a bean bag!

ds1, who is 2.8 had a tantrum for 15mins the other day... because he didn't want me to put the Pogues on. He's had one today because only Daddy is allowed to help him put his knickers on. Yesterday he nearly suffocated ds2 with the feeding cushion, bit me, and launched himself on me by bouncing on the bed to get some force behind it. But he can also be really lovely too. Its just an age thing. And, in his case, finding his own emotions/ coping with no daytime nap... he doesn't need one till late afternoon, which there's no way I'm letting him do!
Its sooo hard to just ignore him and walk away; when I lose my cool and shout, he just shouts back. Yesterday I threatened to leave him in the house alone if he didn't hurry up and get ready to go out, after 8 times of asking