Pushing kids over and bathtime!!

[karma]

Two things. Firstly I've been informed by one of the girls at nursery that my 20 mth old ds keeps pushing the younger children over, and when he's "told off " about this he just laughs. He's a very sociable, happy boy but this behaviour has started to worry me a bit. Is it just a phase and fairly normal for a child of his age?
Secondly, for some strange reason he hates bathtime now, and screams when we try to put him in the bath, clambering to get out. He used to love his bath, and we can't work out why the change in behaviour. Has anyone got any experience of anything similar? This has been going on for several months now. Would really welcome any advice.

don't know what to say about pushing other children, but we had a hate bath time period when dd was about 24m old. she used to love it before, then she just started making a big fuss everytime i tried to get her in the bath so for a while she didn't have a bath or had a bath with loads of screaming & crying. it lasted for a couple of months and i still don't know what caused it and nothing seemed to work. so i took her swimming (she hadn't been for a while because i try to avoid swimming with her during winter months when it's too cold) and since the evening of that particular day she's always having a bath without any problems. one other idea which i didn't have at the time is to try and use some baubbles (the ones you blow through a circle and makes lots of soap balloons), it's the one thing that gets my dd's total attention and she doesn't mind anything else. if your ds likes them you can make it as a special treat for bathtime.

Thanks Branster, it's reassuring to know that others have gone through this phase. The bubbles sounds a great idea as he loves those.

I was all set to post on the very same thing today. For the past few attempts, we have had screaming at bathtime, attempting to climb out, clinging to me... guess its just a phase. He still loves swimming. Just have to keep washing him.

Any advice on a 17month old who's suddenly become very fussy food wise...

I guess they just go through phases, test the boundaries etc

My dd pushed others for a while, nursery dealt with it well (time out & attention to pushed one) and she quickly stopped. She was about 20 mths I think. Now she is 30 mths and gets very distressed when other kids push her. Lots of them seem to do it, at about the same sort of age. They don't have any real grasp of what it's like for the other child, so I don't think it means anything that he laughs about it. Hope it passes quickly.

Karma. My ds is going through a pushing phase, he too reacts with joy when he is pulled up about it. I think rather than meant as pushing he sees it as a social interaction!
Dont worry these thing as normal in toddler development, your ds is like every other toddler.

thanks carlyb, I'm sure you're right. The more I think about it the more I realise that there is nothing malicious in his actions, he just enjoys rough and tumble and doesn't yet realise that some children don't!
Posey, bubbles at bathtime definitely works! Our DS is almost diving into the bath now with glee! As you say, they do tend to have these phases, but it's good to hear from others going through the same thing. Thanks.