I get so angry at my toddler

[mtownson1]

Recently I've been getting so angry. I have a 2.5 and I have an 8 month old who's just started crawling.

My toddler plays so nicely. She just wants to do puzzles/ reads ect but the crawling baby is annoying her soooo much. Which I totally understand. The baby wants to play and crawl and explore and my toddler pushes her/ hits her and I just don't know what to do. Keeping them apart is so exhausting- they both want to be in the room with me. I don't want my toddler to have to play by herself upstairs. I don't want to lock my baby in a pen. I'm just so emotionally exhausted by the whole thing and find myself losing it at my toddler for hitting/pushing when I know it's just a response to the situation and then I feel so guilty.

I'm just so flipping tired. Usually I have loads of help but because of corona I don't and I'm struggling. I need tips to help me get some perspective and not get so angry!

That sounds really hard to handle I can imagine it is wearing you down! I would tell toddler about soft hands, and tell her if baby annoys her to come and tell you. If in the moment you feel too angry to do that, pick baby up so they are separated and go into another room for a quick breather. Then return and tell toddler the above. This probably won't fix it because at this age its hard to fix. It's just about making sure you are telling the toddler what is the right way to react. When both are playing could you try just sitting in between them to act as a barrier/mediator? And then if you need to get on with something like dishes you can put baby in highchair with some toys? Or a jumperoo etc?

I’ve been through this twice. You need to be sat on the floor with them to help stop the baby getting into your toddlers toys. Her hitting/pushing is an instinctive reaction.

At times when it isn’t possible to sit with them then youngest needs to be in a playpen or chair with some toys.

Sit toddler at a table where crawling baby cannot reach her puzzles.

Dont get angry with toddler.