I have a pretty small group. Two girls (one year old and two year old) plus my daughter who is almost four years old. I have been caring for the two year old (J) since she was four months old. When I started my in-home daycare, I made it clear to parents that I wasn’t comfortable with discipline techniques like spanking. I practice attachment parenting. Well, J has had some aggression problems since she was about a year and a half old that seem to have gotten worse since the birth of her brother (she was an only child until then). I expected this as I have a degree in child development and know it’s hard for young toddlers to adjust to new siblings. When J hits or is aggressive at daycare, I find redirecting her and reminding her to be a good friend/gentle seems to work the best. Today, however, she’s had more aggression than usual and actually almost hit me in the face as I helped her use the potty (I blocked her hand). Later she was talking and said, “Baby brother cry. Mama spank me. Owie. Bad girl.” She’s talked before about taking her brother’s binky and him crying so I assume this is what happened and she got spanked as punishment. I know I can’t tell her parents how to discipline her, but I also know that spanking a child only increases their aggression and inconsistent discipline isn’t going to help resolve the issue. If I provided her parents with some resources/studies showing how there are better techniques than spanking, would I be overstepping boundaries? I feel like I’m headed towards terminating care if the aggression issues can’t be resolved.

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