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Help please, my dd1 is attacking my dd2!

15 replies

Cooperoo · 22/09/2005 19:56

My dd1 is 2 yrs and 6 months old. Dd2 is 13 weeks old. DD1 initially took to the new baby beautifully being very loving and affectionate full of kisses etc. We have had to keep an eye on them obviously but the problems had all been her being too physical giving hugs and kisses. This lovely honeymoon period is now over however and dd1 is getting increasingly aggressive with dd2 hitting her on her face, kicking her and trying to stand on her . On many occasions over the last two weeks we have had to resort to putting her on her 'naughty chair' for two minutes and then extracting an apology. She is very good at saying sorry and making up but I really think its effectiveness is beginning to wear off. She has started to ignore us when we explain why she is on the chair looking all around apart from at us and the other day I took her to the bedroom with me while I put some clothes away and she ran down the corridor to where dd2 was lying in the front room, I realised that bit too late and ran after her by which time dd2 was crying and dd1 had taken herself to the 'naughty chair' already! I don't think this 'punishment'/time out is working any more. I have resorted to putting dd2 in a travel cot in the sitting room to protect her. Today dd1 picked dd2 up round her chest and I made the mistake of telling her to stop when I saw her and what did she do but drop her . DD2 is fine now as it wasn't from that high but she obviously had an awful shock and hurt her head and I just felt dreadful. I am taking her for a check up tomorrow. DH and I were both in the room at the time!! I am so sad that my beautiful dd1 who I love so much is hurting my beautiful dd2 who I love just as much and causing her so much upset. I feel guilty that this is a situation I have caused. I know it is attention seeking and classic behaviour for her age etc and a lot of the time she is very caring, helpful and affectionate but how can I discipline her and get her to stop . We are doing a lot of praising positive behaviour and trying to involve her but I really feel I need an effective punishment too. Should I persevere with the time out even though she seems to enjoy being on the chair and ignored (even singing yesterday) ? Has anyone any advice or techniques I can use? It has been breaking my heart today. I am trying to comfort an upset, hurt little baby while trying to discipline and invariably shouting at a toddler and I do not feel I am coping with this very well at all.
Anyway I have gone on enough. Any advice gratefully received.

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cod · 22/09/2005 19:58

Message withdrawn

Cooperoo · 22/09/2005 20:00

I should add that dd1 is ignored when she is on the chair. The explaining I mention, when she ignores us, is after her two minutes when we are explaining why we and dd2 want an apology.

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MarsLady · 22/09/2005 20:00

I agree with cod.

I think she needs to see the baby as her baby iyswim. I don't think that you are a bad mum. I do think that she is at a difficult age.

Sabella · 22/09/2005 20:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cooperoo · 23/09/2005 12:42

Thanks for your comments. We are having a better day today but haven't reached the 4pm flare up time yet. I have taken on board what you have said and will try to get dd1 to have more of an active role. She was great to start with wanting to help, but the novelty wore off.
I will have a look at that book too thank you. I agree I can't leave them alone together, esp if dd2 gets damaged when both dh and I are in the room .
Anyone else with any bright ideas or experiences to share?

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Miaou · 23/09/2005 12:51

aha - 4pm flareup time. Let me guess, dd1 is tired/hungry/bored and dd2 needs feeding/changing/seeing to. If this is a flashpoint, then is there any way you can head it off before it happens? Eg, can you manipulate dd2's feeding/sleeping so that she is asleep around this time and you can give dd1 your full attention? How about a drink/snack around this time just to boost her energy levels? Could she watch a bit of cbeebies/dvd/video around this time?

You've probably tried all this but I'm just thinking off the top of my head here - my dds have a similar age gap but I can't remember what I did at that time!!!

Cooperoo · 24/09/2005 07:19

Miaou - Thanks for the post. Great suggestions and things I have sort of tried but a bit half heartedly. It is just when I get tired too of course so I am not very well organised either. I need to be a bit more focussed I think.
Yesterday was lovely though and we had no problems at all. DH was home in the afternoon and we made a real concerted effort. I actually took dd2 off to the bedroom for a nap for an hour and dd1 went out to the local shop with dh. She was very sweet with dd2 when they were together. So the challenge is to control the behaviour when I am on my own. I liked some of the ideas on your thread too and think I will try them, although dd1 may be a bit to young it is worth a shot. I know we will get there and it can't be an uncommon problem can it?

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Mytwopenceworth · 24/09/2005 07:52

Obviously, as you know, she's jealous. Sibling rivalry is a common problem, particularly among children who are the same sex and close together in age, apparently.

Rates of sibling rivalry are apparently lower in families where children feel they are treated equally by their parents. (NOT saying you are not treating them equally - saying your dd1 needs to FEEL this)

This below is from Elizabeth Pantley, and I thought it made a lot of sense.

"Think about it: Before the baby entered your family, your toddler was told he?d have a wonderful little brother to play with, and how much fun it would be. Then the little brother is born and your toddler is thinking, ?Are you kidding me? This squirming, red-faced baby that takes up all your time and attention is supposed to be FUN?? He then ?plays? with the baby in the only ways he knows how. He plays catch. You yell at him for throwing toys at the baby. He plays hide-and-seek. You yell at him to get the blanket off the baby.

He gives the kid a hug, and you admonish him to be more careful. Is it any wonder that your toddler is confused?

Teach: Your first goal is to protect the baby. Your second, to teach your older child how to interact with his new sibling in proper ways. You can teach your toddler how to play with the baby in the same way you teach him anything else. Talk to him, demonstrate, guide and encourage. Until you feel confident that you?ve achieved your second goal, however, do not leave the children alone together. Yes, I know. It isn?t convenient. But it is necessary, maybe even critical.

Hover: Whenever the children are together, ?hover? close by. If you see your child about to get rough, pick up the baby and distract the older sibling with a song, a toy, an activity or a snack. This action protects the baby while helping you avoid a constant string of ?Nos,? which may actually encourage the aggressive behavior.

Teach soft touches: Teach the older sibling how to give the baby a back rub. Tell how this kind of touching calms the baby, and praise the older child for a job well done. This lesson teaches the child how to be physical with the baby in a positive way.

Act quickly: Every time you see your child hit, or act roughly with the baby, act quickly. You might firmly announce, ?No hitting, time out.? Place the child in a time-out chair with the statement, ?You can get up when you can use your hands in the right way.? Allow him to get right up if he wants ? as long as he is careful and gentle with the baby. This isn?t punishment, after all. It?s just helping him learn that rough actions aren?t going to be permitted.

Demonstrate: Children learn what they live. Your older child will be watching as you handle the baby and learning from your actions. You are your child?s most important teacher. You are demonstrating in everything you do, and your child will learn most from watching you.

Praise: Whenever you see the older child touching the baby gently, make a positive comment. Make a big fuss about the important ?older brother.? Hug and kiss your older child and tell him how proud you are.

Watch your words: Don?t blame everything on the baby. ?We can?t go to the park; the baby?s sleeping.? ?Be quiet, you?ll wake the baby.? ?After I change the baby I?ll help you.? At this point, your child would just as soon sell the baby! Instead, use alternate reasons. ?My hands are busy now.? ?We?ll go after lunch.? ?I?ll help you in three minutes.?

Be supportive: Acknowledge your child?s unspoken feelings, such as ?Things sure have changed with the new baby here. It?s going to take us all some time to get used to this.? Keep your comments mild and general. Don?t say, ?I bet you hate the new baby.? Instead, say, ?It must be hard to have Mommy spending so much time with the baby.? or ?I bet you wish we could go to the park now, and not have to wait for the baby to wake up.? When your child knows that you understand her feelings, she?ll have less need to act up to get your attention.

Give extra love: Increase your little demonstrations of love for your child. Say extra I love yous, increase your daily dose of hugs, and find time to read a book or play a game. Temporary regressions or behavior problems are normal, and can be eased with an extra dose of time and attention.

Get ?em involved: Teach the older sibling how to be helpful with the baby or how to entertain the baby. Let the older sibling open the baby gifts and use the camera to take pictures of the baby. Teach him how to put the baby?s socks on. Let him sprinkle the powder. Praise and encourage whenever possible.

Making each feel special: Avoid comparing siblings, even about seemingly innocent topics such as birth weight, when each first crawled or walked, or who had more hair! Children can interpret these comments as criticisms.

Take a deep breath and be calm. This is a time of adjustment for everyone in the family. Reduce outside activities, relax your housekeeping standards, and focus on your current priority, adjusting to your new family size."

basketcase · 24/09/2005 08:08

mtpw - great article. Made loads of sense. I think my DD1 suffered a bit from this.
Things picked up for us as soon as the baby became fun, could waddle around after her and play/hold her own. Now they play properly together.
Until then we resorted to a sticker book and bought packs of stickers. Each time DD1 helped me change the baby/did something nice for th ebaby she got a new sticker for her book. She loved this and started enjoying being the big sister.
Agree with cod totally - we had a no touching rule that needs total strict enforcement and no wavering. Consistency paid off. We went from not being able to leave them in the same room together for fear of suffocation or some kind of attack to being able to nip into next room without any worry. Little steps like these make big differences to stress levels.
My DD1 was 2 and a half when DD2 was born too. If you are giving her plenty of praise and she enjoys good times with you giving her attention, she will soon learn that naughty behaviour will not get her more attention but less as you are removing her from the situation to fo on the naughty step. Just make sure that you are consistent and don?t let it linger on after your two minutes - apology then forgotten (I find this bit hard to let go of my anger/stress and be totally relaxed and normal again after a really dangerous/naughty moment).
Keep going - sounds like you are doing all the right things and hope it get better soon xx

Cooperoo · 24/09/2005 08:31

Thank you for those two last posts. What an excellent excerpt thank you! And thank you for your support too Basketcase. I am off to get dh to read this now so that we can be consistent about it all.

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Cooperoo · 24/09/2005 12:38

Mytwopenceworth - What book is that from? I like the common sense!

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Mytwopenceworth · 24/09/2005 18:35

Perfect Parenting - The Dictionary of 1000 Parenting Tips.

Elizabeth Pantley is also the author of;

The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night

Kid Cooperation: How to Stop Yelling, Nagging & Pleading & Get Kids to Cooperate

Hidden Messages: What Our Words & Actions Are Really Telling Our Children

Gentle Baby Care: No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry -- Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby

Cooperoo · 24/09/2005 18:51

Thank you. Do you have all of those books?
I may well get the first one. I will have a look on Amazon.
The Hidden messages one sounds interesting too.

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Mytwopenceworth · 24/09/2005 23:02

Nah! I'm far too stingy to pay for actual books!! I get loads of tips and bits and extracts from the internet!!!!

Cooperoo · 26/09/2005 11:50

Oh good thinking! I think I would be more inclined to do that if I had broadband. Thanks again.

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