How can I discipline my 23 month old, just-turned Demon

[FrancyMgo]

I have a gorgeous little girl, nearly two who is trying to mimick her 1 year older brother.
She has very recently become incredibly hard to control. Very willful, shouts and hits me when I try to do the simplest of jobs like change her nappy..help!!

Have gone through various phases of difficulty with my 2yo and the most successful way of dealing with it was to exclude her when she was difficult. By which I mean, walk away from her, put her in a different room, deny her an audience. If she's hitting/physically struggling with you, put her away from you and walk out of the room.

Perhaps you have already tried this already though?

She's jealous of the 1yr. old i would say. Try and involve her in the care of herself and baby make it all a game, sing songs etc. REmember she is also a baby enjoy her!!

2yearolds want to express their own personalities. perhaps take her out without the babe to show you still value her. It's worth a try any way!

MoChan
Thanks for your help, I havent really tried it, I think part of the prob could be that her brother having just turned 3 is still in high demand of attention so she has invariably flown under the radar up to now..a lot of the time she is lovely but she can be nasty too and I hate thinking that of her! Oh, the merry-go-round!

Entirely possible that she is trying to get your attention, and being difficult in order to get it.

In your position, I would try to make a big effort to pay her as much positive attention as possible - chatting nicely, playing together, getting her to 'help' you with something (my LO enjoys 'helping' me cook/do laundry) - though I know it's hard, especially if you have a demanding older child.

However, if you can do that, then do the 'exclusion' thing when she is being difficult, the message may get through that things are much nicer when she co-operates...?

I have had a degree of success, I think, doing this, but it's never going to be plain sailing. Toddlers aren't easy!