community

all boards


birth clubs



my blog

Sort:
12-13-2012 at 6:30 PM
StellaMake...
Not Ranked
Joined on 12-07-2011
5,063 Points
StellaMakes3 is not online. Last active: 05-19-2013, 9:33 PMNewbie

Struggling with gentle parenting for 15-16 month old

Hi all-

I hope this won't be too long. We have been doing really well with attachment parenting since our LO was born. However, now that she's hit her "toddler" years, she's become a major handful- whining, screaming & crying constantly, fussing, not listening, hitting, biting, spitting- all the "bad" behaviors.

However, I have always felt that at her age, she can't really be "bad", but our parenting style can determine how she behaves. We have tried everything we can think of to be gentle to her- redirecting from a negative activity to a positive one, encouraging play, letting her have lots of freedom/ saying yes when we can, and trying to let her learn her environment in healthy ways, rather than cooping her up in a high chair or pen all day. 

Here lately though, we can't seem to get it "right". Her behavior is out of control- I am worried about how she acts when she's away in church nursery and when she's interacting with other kids. I SAH with her right now, but I am planning to go back to school soon, so daycare is in her near future.

 I don't want to spank her, but my H is thinking it may be a good solution. She seems too little to understand time outs, and I am not sure what other choices we have, if any. 

 Does anyone have any encouragement/ book suggestions/ links I could read/ tips/ etc? I am running out of steam with my attempts to parent gently.q

 

TIA

 


Lilypie Second Birthday tickers 
12-13-2012 at 6:53 PM
ClaryPax
Not Ranked
Joined on 04-25-2012
17,272 Points
ClaryPax is not online. Last active: 05-20-2013, 6:48 PMBronze

I am anti spanking, and she is too little for time outs.  However you can be stricter with her, by saying no in a firm voice, giving her natural consequences (maybe a little less freedom), re-directing and understanding this is probably a phase.  Maybe you can sit in at the nursery and see her interaction with the other kids.  Also don't worry about the daycare- if you pick a good on the teachers will be experts on this age group and can help her out a lot. 

 
12-13-2012 at 8:06 PM
kdjudd
Not Ranked
Joined on 08-25-2011
32,313 Points
kdjudd is online. Last active: 05-20-2013, 7:50 PMSilver
I feel like spanking will just make your child act worse. If daycare is in her near future then the last thing you want to do is model hitting for her. Have you read Dr. Sears "Complete Book of Christian Parenting and Child Care"? It's a great resource that has helped me since I was pregnant. I feel like it is a great book for Christians and non-Christians alike, but if you find religion offensive then you might want to avoid it! 

This website has a ton of information that might help you as well. It lists out all sorts of bad behaviors and how to manage them! 

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/discipline-behavior/bothersome-behaviors

 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker  
12-13-2012 at 8:24 PM
tokenhoser
Top 500 Contributor
Joined on 06-04-2010
53,091 Points
tokenhoser is online. Last active: 05-20-2013, 7:59 PMPlatinum

How's her sleep? How's her eating? A tired or hungry toddler will be impossible. What time is bedtime? Naps?

Spanking won't help because she can't understand why you're hitting her. You really have two choices - you childproof the hell out of your house and let her run in that part of it, or you watch. Really closely. And when ever she does something she shouldn't, you take it away and redirect and deal with the tantrum. 

We baby proofed, mostly, but we still have run-ins with his temper several times a day. I mostly offer hugs, but don't give him everything he wants.

12-13-2012 at 11:09 PM
TiffanyBer...
Not Ranked
Joined on 08-29-2009
10,924 Points
TiffanyBerry is not online. Last active: 05-20-2013, 2:53 PMBronze

It's a tough age and you should EXPECT her to not listen to you easily.  Giving her choices (do you want this shirt or that one?), giving her warnings on transitions (we will be leaving/eating/going to bed/etc. in 10/5/2/1 minutes), and being SUPER consistent are vital.  If you are not 100% consistent in your follow through, you are actually teaching her to continue misbehaving in order to "figure out" how she can get her way.

One thing that helped A LOT for us at that age, was a three step process.  Let's say it's misbehaving at the table.  For the first offence, I would start with "We do not stand/throw food/scream at the table.  Please sit/put your food back on your plate/use a quiet voice."   For the second offence, I would repeat that - as word for word as I could get - and add the consequence "... If you stand/throw food/scream again, you will get down from the table and dinner will be over."  For the third offense, I would tell her what she did wrong and follow through, "You screamed again, so now dinner is over."  When she was your daughter's age, I would give her another chance after a minute or two.  One more chance, and then it was a 10 minute break from dinner.  Now that she's 2.5yrs, while it rarely happens, she just gets a 10minute break from dinner, and then, depending on the situation, I may give her another chance.  But I'm giving her a long enough break that she is moving on to something else and "feels like" dinner is over.

Oh yeah, and spanking isn't going to help very much here, and might just teach her to hit when she thinks you are doing something wrong. 


IMG_0199  Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker  
12-14-2012 at 10:34 AM
fredalina
Top 10 Contributor
Joined on 05-03-2006
Here
64,641 Points
fredalina is not online. Last active: 05-20-2013, 6:50 PMPlatinum
Honestly, I struggled a LOT with the age group. At least I assume the same age given I can't see sigs on mobile, but yeah. 12 to 18 months and a bit beyond were the absolute worst for me. And I'll tell you why. Because I had not yet realized that I cannot control my child's behavior.

Yup, that's it. It's that simple, especially at that age. You can't say "No, No" and expect them to stop unwanted behavior. They will continue to explore their world and think the universe revolves around them; it's, in fact, a biological imperative that they do. You might as well worry about keeping them safe, putting property you need to keep safe out of reach, and relax more.

Yes, you will shape your LO's behavior. You will intervene when they hurt you or another person and be there to prevent it as much as possible if a pattern forms. As they get older and can understand more, you will explain more. But for normal developmental stuff like exploring, babyproof and let go. The truth is, if you try to control your child's behavior, whether it be with time outs or spankings or any other way, you will both be miserable. Parenting isn't a series of problems to be solved.

A good book I wish I'd read in the toughest times for me is "The Emotional Life of the Toddler".

TTC since January 2007 -Dx Stage IV endo - 1 removed tube
AlternaTickers - Cool, free Web tickers

Just hanging out! 
12-15-2012 at 10:52 AM
StellaMake...
Not Ranked
Joined on 12-07-2011
5,063 Points
StellaMakes3 is not online. Last active: 05-19-2013, 9:33 PMNewbie

Thanks everyone for the tips. We (DH & I) have been talking alot about the impact of what we do on her behavior and we have agreed, spanking is not for us.

 

We are definitely going to check into some resources mentioned! I have seen some improvement once I followed Fred's advice- realizing I cannot control her behavior has been key! I think it's even more difficult because we're inside most of the day. We're working on that!

 

 


Lilypie Second Birthday tickers 
12-15-2012 at 11:02 AM
StellaMake...
Not Ranked
Joined on 12-07-2011
5,063 Points
StellaMakes3 is not online. Last active: 05-19-2013, 9:33 PMNewbie
tokenhoser:

How's her sleep? Pretty good for her age, I think (more below)

How's her eating? She is not very picky, but she is finicky & tends to feed the dog about as much as herself. She eats lots of variety, usually 3 square meals and 1-2 snacks a day, depending on when she gets up.

A tired or hungry toddler will be impossible. What time is bedtime? 9:30 here- DH works nights & she sleeps from around 9:30/10p until 9-10 A. She hasn't woken up through the night in months- she sleeps & naps in her crib almost always, but if she's not feeling well or having a hard time going to sleep, I will bring her in with me. Naps? She naps between 1-4 (sometimes 2-4, sometimes 1-3) every day for at least 1.5 hours.

 

I'm wondering then, if maybe she's hungry, not eating enough? She is our first & I feel like I may be going about feeding wrong. She has a cup of milk when she wakes up, then a small breakfast (usually a yogurt/ waffle/ applesauce/ pancake/ oatmeal/ fruit & complex carb combo)  within an hour of getting up. Lunch is before naptime, and usually a meat/ veg/ carb or fruit meal. (ie- grilled chicken with sauce, rice, & green beans,  sometimes with a side of banana). Snack when she gets up- puffs, fruit, fruit leather, if she has juice that day, she has it with snack. Then dinner's usually around 7, and is similar to lunch but usually a heavier meal. Does that sound about right? She has a cup of milk before nap & bed as well.

 

Sorry so long!


Lilypie Second Birthday tickers 
12-16-2012 at 8:50 PM
crabbypatt...
Not Ranked
Joined on 12-06-2010
261 Points
crabbypatty426 is not online. Last active: 05-10-2013, 6:58 PMNewbie

We're only loosely AP with our boys, but they can be pretty wild and we have found some things that have worked well for us. My youngest is 18 months, but starting around the same age as your DD, he did the same stuff. We have childproofed our main room so that both of the boys can play pretty independently in here. We don't do "time out" because I agree, he's too young. But for things I can't childproof for whatever reason, he gets gentle warnings with redirection. After 2 of those, he gets a break. He goes in a PNP where he can still see me and sits for 30 seconds or so. It's usually enough to just break him out of the behavior. He doesn't cry or panic. He knows I'm there. And we don't talk about it after that unless he does it again. No need to remind him of it now that he's distracted. We don't spank because one of our biggest behavior issues with my older son (2.5) is hitting, and I don't want to model that behavior as a solution. With him, we do time outs in another room. Sometimes he needs just a minute or 2 to get away and refocus. Sometimes when even that doesn't help, he gets to take some books or quiet toys and hang out in his room for 20 minutes. It gives both of us a chance to settle and regroup. I know your DD is too young for that idea now, but something to maybe keep in mind. 

We have had a lot of success with finding ways to give them choices. I think with strong-willed kids, they need to feel like they're somewhat in control. I hate telling them no constantly, so it's been good for all of us to give them options, even when they're not really options. "We can go take a nap now, or we can play outside for 10 minutes and then nap." Either way, nap. But it makes them feel like they've cheated the system and they almost always go happily and quietly to nap.  


A 4/26/10 and B 6/13/11 
12-22-2012 at 1:09 AM
Bride-hild...
Not Ranked
Joined on 11-07-2007
Northridge, California
15,137 Points
Bride-hilda is not online. Last active: 05-17-2013, 11:20 PMBronze
I don't think she's too little for time-outs. I think if she's old enough to throw a tantrum, she's old enough to understand that she has to stay in a seat until you tell her she can leave it. If you gave her a time-out that only lasted a minute, she'd learn she was in trouble, and needed to check her behavior. Sometimes kids can learn that their actions are wrong, just by being in a TINY bit of trouble.
01-10-2013 at 7:10 PM
Oleg&Liz
Not Ranked
Joined on 06-04-2007
St. Louis
561 Points
Oleg&Liz is not online. Last active: 05-16-2013, 11:38 PMNewbie
You can have her vitamin levels checked. Deficiences can cause behavioral problems. 

 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker 
Hot Topics

New dad or dad-to-be? Chat with other dads here!
Visit the Dads & Dads-to-be board

Need baby shower inspiration? Get ideas here!
Visit the Baby Showers board

Chat with other crafty moms here!
Visit the Crafty Moms board

search boards

choose another board