Originally Posted by hwichlaz:
It's not a "boy" behavior. I have a little girl that does it. She started at about 15 months, she's 18 months now. Dad is a wrestling coach. I talked to them, and they enrolled her full time so that dad wouldn't have to take her with him to wrestling practice. She's gotten much better since then, but it's still an issue. Luckily, she's the smallest one in care so it's not as big of a danger.
I don't think it's a boy behavior either but it IS a 20 month old behavior.
I would be concerned about the 13 month old but not because I was afraid they are going to leave but because mom is concerned about her child.
I understand that she actually witnessed this but I also think she needs to understand that 99.9% of toddlers learn via physical interaction and that rough and gentle have NO meaning to a child under age 2.
They need to be taught this.
I would definitely have a discussion with the 20 month old's parents but I would not classify this as any more than normal.
A group of toddlers ARE going to be physical. A group of toddlers ARE going to push, pull, hit, and try to "fight" for what they want/need in whatever manner they know and right now at 13 and 20 months, all they know is physical. Communication skills are just emerging at that age and impulse control is virtually nil so having the right expectations about what will and won't happen is necessary for a parent when they enroll their child in GROUP care.
How many little ones do you have?
I mean no disrespect to your DH but was he actually watching the toddlers or was he doing multiple things at once so his eyes weren't actually on the 20 month old? Sometimes, that is the problem... honestly you really do have to have your eyes on a toddler at ALL times or provide them with an environment that doesn't allow for them to be physical with others.