Children fighting

[CinnamonApple]

I'm absolutely fed up. My dd is 5 (nearly 6) and my ds is 2. And they are constantly fighting. He will hit her/ head butt....she will taunt him and wind him up till he snaps. This home is such an unhappy place to be from the moment we wake up ...then after school it is awful. I have had to stop other children coming to play its so bad. Threats don't work, time out seems to rev the whole thing up. My husband hates coming home, I hate being here. We tried to put a positive behaviour chart in but she refused to take part.
I don't know what to do.
I tried today to make sure their time was really structured (we made biscuits) which they did happily, but then the second that it finished they are off again. Anyone been through this?
Any advice...I don't know what else to do...

I completely understand. My two have been the same. I would recommend Siblings without rivalry. Its not that easy to read but talks mainly about empathising with the child and resisting getting involved in the arguement until you have to. Very difficult to implement but may help you a bit.

The main technique is to say to the kids. Hey, I see you two are arguing and thats not nice. What doyou think we can do to sort out the problem. I would also encourage your younger child to ask your elder for help. That works very well and rewarding both of them for working well together. E.g. a jigsaw puzzle or trying to open a door?

It just goes from 0 - 10 rage in a split second....then we have screaming etc- its so wearing...

I know. If I sit there with them they are fine. When I leave the room to do something else they start kicking off. Its not much fun. I will try and find a link to the book.

Try this

I recommend that book too.