How to Deal with a Strong Willed & Social 2.6 year old

[kimcam]

Hi There,

I am just wondering how to deal with a strong willed 2.6 year old DD. DD does little things such as throwing toys, standing on lounge saying 'no' to me when I want her to do something, pushing chairs over.

DD of late constantly wants my attention to play with her too.

Does anyone have any suggestions do I start a timeout chair.

Kim

[codswallop]

hi
im having similar issues with my little diva
we started a time out conner just before xmas
and its working well
she must stay there for 30 seconds (will increase it as she gets older) and we count out the 30 seconds till she is done
one great thing about it is that she can count to 30 now with hardly any mistakes!!!:o
also the other day she through a huge tanty(chucking toys squeeling the whole kit and caboodle) so i layed on the floor and did it to
she stoped looked at me laughed and said
"mummy no sillies!":D
havnt had a tanty like it since!

[sare]

:hugs: Kim. I wish I knew the answer. My DD2 sounds very similar. She's headstrong and extremely boisterous. We use time out with her, and while it's helped, it still hasn't got to the stage where she is modifying her behaviour after a warning (she will on the odd occasion, but not often). My MCHN suggested I do a 1 2 3 Magic course, but I had a look at it and it is similar to the strategies that I use in the classroom.

I hope you get some responses that help (I'll be keeping an eye to see if there's anything that can help me with dd2)

[bgbgbb]

Buy the book Toddler Taming. I found it helped me to discern when to deal with the problem and when to just let it lie. It also gives great tips on handling toddlers and beating them at their own game. Since reading it my (now 3yo) and I are much better friends.

It's about $35 in the shops, but you'll get second hand copies on ebay for next to nothing!

I also found putting him into creche for one day a week gave me a break (so essential that we have a break from them or it all goes in a downwards spiral) and gave him a chance to mix with others and (hopefully) learn from some of their better behaviours (if there are any with 2 year olds!) It's also a good pre-cursor for kiddies starting 3 year old kindergarten (the kids who hadn't been to daycare were much worse at separating from their mothers than those who had).

Believe me, having had 4 children gone or going through toddlerdom, I'd take labour any day!

[NibbleCurlynBub]

Perhaps she needs more to engage her.

I know that if DS is in that kind of 'mood' if I can distract him long enough to show him a puzzle or start reading a book or talking about letters and numbers then he will stop what he is doing and get excited about participating.

Play-doh is also fun, as well as painting with various tools, like a fork, a brush, some cheap sponges cut into shapes for stamps etc..

[tyler's mum]

I wish i had the answers tyler is 3 goin on 16 she is so full on. Time out chair really does'nt work good for tyler. I find putting her in a room (not her's) that she cant see me that seem to work a bit better.

[mumma sienna]

Unfortunately no advice here, my DD who is 2.3yrs old is also at this 'lovely' age! My DD has always been very active and strong willed by i feel like it has gone to a whole new level of late. Her Dad is away with work alot (new job just before xmas) so i think this may have something to do with it. I have been watching Supernanny USA for a few months and i just wish she could come and help me. I feel like i need someone to teach me the right techniques.

The naughter stool works well sometimes but other times i spend an hour getting her to stay there for her 2 minutes.

one thing i have noticed is that the main problems begin when she is not getting my attention and i don't know whether i should punish her for that or not?

Nice to know that other children act in this way too, i am just hoping that someone can offer some good advice to you which will help all of us.

Good luck and stay strong.

[DoulaRobyn]

Stripping this back to the bare emotions, this is a power play between two females. She is obviously quite a strong character and you will have to teach her how she can use this part of her personality to her advantage and not to her disadvantage.

Love the idea of showing her what her tantrums are like - as teapotfairy did... take it even one step further and do a role play with her... get her to be you and you to be her... get her to show you want sort of discipline that she needs to hear when she feels out of control like that.

Let her teach you rather than you having to teach her all the time.