Toddler scratched baby

[Alia99]

Feeling like the worst mum in the world. I was getting dressed this morning and my 2.5 year old suddenly attacked my 5 month old. He had bloody scratches down the left side of his face. My toddler is normally so sweet with him - lots of cuddles and kisses. He’s never shown any jealous towards him before. I had my back turned for a couple of minutes. My toddler admitted doing it but can’t say why or seem understand it’s wrong. I just don’t know what to do.

My toddler admitted doing it but can’t say why or seem understand it’s wrong. I just don’t know what to do.

Your toddler isn't going to have developed enough emotional intelligence to express jealousy.

You just need to make sure you keep the baby within arm's reach while the toddler is around and cot or playpen when you need to put him down.

Try not to give the toddler any more reason to be jealous than you have to so those emotions are as small as possible and try not to overreact to the scratches.

"Attacked" is a very strong word. A 2.5 year old doesn't have the capacity to form the intent to attack anyone. When I was slightly younger than that I bit my baby brothers finger, mum thought I just wanted to see what would happen. It's possible ds1 just didn't realise that giving ds2 a squeeze would hurt him.