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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Help with 2 year old
kitkat 08:43 AM 02-18-2010
I am so frustrated!!! I have a girl who is just about to turn 2. I know the behavior is age appropriate, but I still need help/ideas on how to deal with it.

Problem 1: Hitting
Dcg will hit her sister or her mom when she's mad. It's not tolerated here. Time outs are given. The problem is that the time out doesn't even phase her. She will actually smirk when I'm talking to her and reminding her no hitting. She understands what she's doing and what I'm saying. It doesn't help that when she hits mom, mom tells her no hitting (in a some what firm voice) and then continues on to call her a little turkey (in a fun voice). What a great way to mix up a kid! How/what do I do to get her to understand this is a big no-no?

Problem 2: Taking toys from DD (17 months)
Dcg will take it out of DD's hand or chase her down to get the toy, which causes DD to scream like she's being attacked. Whatever DD has or I tell DD to get, dcg has to get it/take it. This happens all day long and it's driving me crazy!

Like I said, I realize this is all age appropriate behavior and I know it won't go away over night. I just feel like what I'm doing isn't helping it get any better and need some new ideas.
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mac60 08:58 AM 02-18-2010
It may be age appropriate but it is not acceptable behavior. If you find that the time out does no good....I mean a time out, not 2 min because she is 2, a "true" time out, then I would just assume that her bad behavior is due to her being tired, and I would remove her from the room and place her in a quiet corner to rest. It is way to tough to discipline dc kids because we can do nothing except time outs, which most of us know, does nothing. I have an almost 3 year old, he is a handful, if he comes in in the mornings with an attitude, off he goes to the living room to lay down....99% of the time he falls asleep, which tells me he was tired. He is usually always better when he gets up.

Also, when I find the kids are not getting along and seem to be in the fighting mode, I fold their nap blankets to about a 2' x 3' shape and place them around the dc room, with a few feet between each of them and give them each a quiet activity to do alone on their "spot", if they get off and are not quiet, off they go to time out. It really has made a difference. I rotate activities every 10 minutes or so.
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tenderhearts 09:43 AM 02-18-2010
Mac60, that's exactly what I do and it does seem to work, most of the time. When kids are acting out constantly like that it's not fair to us or the other kids.
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TGT09 11:24 AM 02-18-2010
Originally Posted by mac60:
Also, when I find the kids are not getting along and seem to be in the fighting mode, I fold their nap blankets to about a 2' x 3' shape and place them around the dc room, with a few feet between each of them and give them each a quiet activity to do alone on their "spot", if they get off and are not quiet, off they go to time out. It really has made a difference. I rotate activities every 10 minutes or so.
What a GREAT idea! I needed this as well! I have two 2 year olds and they are constantly crabby, handsy, or stealing toys from the 14 month old. I was at my wit's end this morning as they are also tattling like no other!
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booroo 11:30 AM 02-18-2010
read up on the love and logic method. Its great. If give option, mind you option that you can live with. Like:

Sally hitting is not nice. If you continue to hit Jen, then you can either got time out in a quit room, or and then pick something else. Then say, if neither of these optioin are right for you, then STOP hitting.
I also use OH NO right be before I give the option, so the kids are learn, ooops messed up.
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Tags:behavior, fighting, hitting
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