My Sweet, Adorable One year old..........

Became a Two year old BRAT today!!! She has been throwing her self on me and telling me NO! and STOP IT!  She even smacked me a couple of times. I was watching a baby story today and when the baby came out and was crying she pointed at the TV and said NOOOO! I'm very worried about Niklas coming out, she is going to hate him. I will never be able to leave them in a room together for even a second, I will have to pee with him in my lap...lol.  Why is it when you are sooooo stressed out they sense it and act out to make things worse?? I have been stressing all day about our financial situation since my doctor took me off work, I don't think we are going to make it and we have nothing to cut back on. State disability is only going to pay 50% of my pay, we were already penny to penny, I'm praying since we wont be paying child care it might just even out?

Thanks for letting me vent

Don't know much to say about your daughter since I haven't had a second child...but maybe spend as much of the next few weeks w/her letting her know that you love her and that even when Niklas gets here...she'll still be your baby too...and standing her in the corner when she'****ting or throwing herself in the floor. 

I hope something works out re the money issues.  Would you qualify for any extras like food stamps or once Niklas is here, WIC?  If you got WIC for Niklas, I think you'd get a little extra food also for any of the kids who are under 5....so you might even qualify for some WIC now?  I don't know about everywhere, but years ago, I know the income requirements for WIC were higher than for foodstamps.

Thanks Holly. We actually just got WIC last month so that is going to help a lot.  As far as Zoe I think because I was at work and in the hospital for almost two days she is needing extra mommy time, so I have been trying to give her extra attention. Today she already seems better, probably because DH is home also.

Thanks again

Bailey started doing the same thing at about 18 months - so much fun! NOT! Mine says, NO, STOP IT, LET ME GO - Blah, blah, blah. She has slapped, pinched and bit me to the point where she broke my skin - that was the first time I ever really yelled at her, gave her a spanking and a time out.

When Bella came she was happy - all she wanted to do was hold her and give her kisses. Most the time I don't even think she remembers tha Bella is here. They two are 22  months apart. It was never a matter of her hating the baby - she was just acting out. Now when she does it I don't give her any other reaction that a time out.

Thanks Dawn. I hope Zoe is excited when this little guy comes out, I worry about it all the time. I also feel guilty that she doesn't get her first few years all to her self (my 10 year old doesn't want my attention...lol) I hope she doesn't become the screwed up middle child...lol.

She was getting into something yesterday and I spanked her butt and she laughed at me.....OMG that just pissed me off even more! She's going to be a fun one! How do you guys put a 16 month old in time out???

Ugh....sorry on your little one acting out....I know they say kids can sense our stresses...even little babies.....I hope it works out...have you thought about getting her a little baby of her own....

Sorry about your financial situation too....UGH.....any way you can do some work from home at all? I know there are some of those jobs you can do....just until your little one gets there....

Thanks Ann. Are any of those work from home jobs real? I always hear how they are scams, I guess it wouldn't hurt to look into.

Zoe has a baby and she's usually very nice to it and now sometimes she throws it on the floor and is mean to it, makes me really worry about the new baby coming home. I will just have to keep telling her to be nice to the baby.

Brianna,

Take a deep breath. Your little girl is still sweet inside, just going through an adjustment period. I went through this with Ethan too.



When Ethan was 3 and I was PG with Emma, we had a few weeks of downright nasty and violent behavior. He even unbuckled in the car and was slapping me because I hadn't bought him a toy. I remember crying and talking to my mom later, and being terrified that I was raising a sociopath. Yeah, it sounds silly now, but at the time I was overwhelmed.


The best advice I can give you is to be consistent. Do not tolerate the behavior even once. Have a naughty spot that she sits in for 3 minutes (a minute for each year of her life) and after her time out, explain why she was there, that you love her and give her a hug. When she realizes there isn't any reward for negative behavior, it will stop. I found that dedicating even 15 minutes a night to snuggling and reading to Ethan also helped reinforce better behavior.

Ethan never once hit, hurt or was mean to his baby sister. In fact, he showed so much love and compassion that it astonished us. I think you will find the same when your baby is born.

Finances and the stress of living paycheck to paycheck sucks. I wish I had some great advice there, but we struggle too.

Lots of understanding and hugs to you!

Thanks Jo. When she acts like that I don't let her get away with it I tell her "you be nice!" and then she pats me and says "niiiiice" it's kinda funny. How do you get a 16 month old to sit in one place for time out? I would probably just have to stick her in her room, but I wouldn't want her to think that her room is a bad place? I hope Zoe loves her new brother like Ethan loves his sister, that would be so nice.

I guess I missed that DD is only 16 months! I definitely didn't start time outs until the kids were older, so I wouldn't recommend that for Zoe yet either.