Wesley is only 20 months. Why is he entering the terrible twos???? We just returned from Duane's softball game. Notice I didn't say from watching Duane's softball game. Wesley was a terror!!! Granted, he didn't get much of a nap today, but still! He screamed and cried for Duane for about 20 minutes. Then a beautiful and friendly dog arrived that that kept Wesley busy for a few minutes. Then we discovered the playground. That OK for awhile, but all the kids on the playground were at least 4 years old and they played ROUGH! After a few narrow misses with Wesley, I decided it was time for us to leave. Too bad Wesley didn't feel the same way. He screamed and cried and pinched me and scratched me (broke the skin in several places). I look like a broke up a fight between Sanders and Gus!
I know that some toddlers go through the pinching or biting phase, but I think I'm the only one Wesley is this aggressive with. It's starting to give me a complex - not to mention scars. How do I deal with this? Some people have told me to pinch him back, but I don't want to teach him to hit when he's mad. Speaking to him in a stern voice doesn't seem to work and neither does sitting him down someplace away from me and walking off. Any advice???
2 comments:
Oh good... I'm not alone in the scratched-face-from-toddler club.
Elaina will sometimes rip out some agression from time to time and tear her nails into pinching my face as well. Please note that she has never done this to Eric.
I don't beleive that pinching her back is the solution either. The way I have dealt with the occasional monster-temper is when I see the hands coming, especially when I'm holding her, I drop her to the ground (quickly) and grab her wrist (hard) look her in the eye and tell her "Absolutely NOT!" in my most stern voice. I think this helps to halt her behavior as she is startled to see what mom is going to do next. It also helps to redirect her pinchers to her own chest, so that if she wants to pinch, her hands are nearest herself.
This advice isn't going to stop him from ever trying this again, but will settle the war somewhat quickly and prevent any further battle wounds. Good luck... I would love to hear any results of how this works out for you!
Colin went through this phase... and we tried everything. What worked for him (and not for every child) is that we told him he could hit/spit/scratch his blankie. By giving him permission to do what gets him attention, it was no longer fun. Not to say he doesn't try his fangs out occasionally... but most of the time this works for us.
I'm just glad you didn't ask for bedtime advice. We still haven't figured that one out. Ugh.
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