2 year laughing when i tell her off for hitting baby

[Weloveflowerss]

What can I do? I really tell her off and say ‘no we don’t hit’ and take her away from the baby but she finds it hilarious and keeps going back to try and hit her and pull her hair again. Is this normal behaviour? I’m at my wits end.

Unusual perhaps. How old is the baby, is she having trouble adjusting? And how is she in other ways? Is she meeting her milestones and is her speech & understanding where it should be?

The baby is 8 months old, so she should have adjusted by now. She has excellent understanding and her speech is ok, can string 2-3 words together. No idea what to do!

Has she got any favourite toys? You could role play the scenario as her, with the soft toy as the baby, and her as 'mum'?

Is she doing it for attention? Often at that age, they'll take any attention they can get, positive or negative, especially with a sibling in the mix. If you think it might be that, I'd try giving her the minimum attention you can when she hits baby. 'No, we don't hit' in a firm, but steady voice (same one every time if you can), and take baby away from her, lots and lots of attention for baby as the victim. If you can, physically move away from her for a minute or two (but keep the whole thing brief, she's only tiny herself).

On the flip side, if she is gentle with baby (try to get it in really quickly if she's prone to things like starting with a cuddle and then turning it into hair pulling) or does something helpful for baby like bring a clean nappy or whatever, lots of praise and attention. If there are really no good moments with baby, I'd just up the praise and positive attention for other things.