Verucha Salt in the making?

[SassyMummy]

I'm wondering if I'm turning my 6.5 month old daughter in Verucha Salt...the little girl from Willy Wonker who gets whatever she wants (the "I WANT IT NOW!" girl).

My daughter is generally a very good little baby...she's smiley and happy and doesn't whinge too much. Until recently that is.

When I'm feeding her, she'll "yell" in protest if I don't put another spoonful of food into her mouth quick enough...so I rush and hurry just to make sure not to upset her.

When she's falling asleep (which usually takes place whilst sitting on me...) she loves to pull on my hair. Even if she looks like she's asleep, and I try to remove it from her hand, she'll wake up and scream until she's got my hair in her hands again. It hurts, and I have to sit awkwardly to let her do it. I can only remove it once she's in a deep sleep.

And in the shops today, I was trying pairs of shoes on her (just for fun while I was waiting for a friend). She was whinging with most of them but she was very happy with a pair of slippers (they kind of had teddy bear faces on the front so I think she thought they were like toys). I took the slippers off and put them back. She SCREAMED as if I was MURDERING her. So I gave them to her for a few mins. Then I took them off her again and offered her one of her toys. She THREW it at me and screamed some more. So I bought them and gave them to her and she just smiled at me. I bet she was thinking: "Yeah screw you Mum...I won!"

I like to think giving into her at this age is fine...she doesn't yet understand that she can't always have her own way so I don't think it'll turn her into some brat. But I also wonder if actually, I have no idea what I'm talking about and I'm just slowly turning her into an "I WANT IT NOW!" kind of kid.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

[reAllytee]

Dont worry you sound like me !
I have a little boy who when he doesnt get his way if im holding him or he is close enough to me will slap me across the face or headbutt me :eek:
Can be rather testing at times thats for sure !
Slowly but surely ive been trying to help him understand what "no" means especially as ive had dramas with him of late wanting to play with power cords & fans :rolleyes:
We were having a very hard time with feeding as when it wasnt something he wanted ( he went through a stage of only wanting pureed rather than mashed a month ago ) he would slap my hand when it got near so food would fly everywhere then complain as to why i wasnt feeding him :confused:
Ive also been trying to make him realise that if he screams for attention he wont get it because he is now almost 1yr old he is starting to work out how things work. So its been a case of walking away when he starts & then when he stops "rewarding" him with either a big cuddles or the likes.

But as you said your little girl is still only young so at this stage so i wouldnt be too worried thats for sure. But sometimes you do have to be firm so that they understand that they cant always have their way so i found i would have to put down something bubs wanted & distract him with something else as well as taking him well away from what ever it was he wanted.

Good luck i know its hard but sometimes its a case of stumbling along until you find the right way to go about it all as every child is different with how you have to approach their discipline & behaviour. :)

[Ana Gram]

it really depends on how stubborn you are and how much screaming in public you can take.
I am one of those mother's who doesn't try and quieten DD if she is having a screaming tanty in public. The last one happened waiting in line at Coles the other day. I had everyone else giving me dirty looks which I gladly returned with interest. DD eventually got the hint that I was not going to give in and is learning that mummy is way more stubborn with many years of practice.

Don't be fooled, kids learn VERY quickly what behaviour will work and what won't when it comes to getting what they want.