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Toddler and new baby problems
I have 3 children ages 6,2, and 4 weeks. This morning I was taking a nap with my newborn in his bassinet next to the bed. "Grandma" was supposed to be watching my 2 yr old daughter. I had woken suddenly hearing the baby cry, and realized the baby was not in his bassinet. I immediately knew something was wrong and called my daughters name and ran to where I heard the baby crying. My daughter had dropped her brother on a pile of laundry and ran to a corner when I called her name (she knows she isn't supposed to be anywhere near the baby without supervision). It turned out "Grandma" has fallen asleep watching TV, instead of watching my daughter. My daughter has picked up the baby by herself multiple times without out us even hearing, she does it very sneaky. She knows its wrong, but I can't seem to make her understand she can severely injure or even kill her baby brother. She has her own baby dolls we got her to play with, but she ignores them and wants to play with the real baby. Any advice please? This is very scary, it had me in a panic almost in tears.
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A 2 year old understands way more than some may think. She understands "No!" and consequences. Everyone disciplines their children differently. Whatever way you do it (spanking, time outs, etc), you desperately need to do it. Your newborn could easily die. If she were to drop him on his soft spot especially.
I would suggest telling her if she touches baby without mommy or daddy helping her, she will lose all of her dolls (or whatever her most prized possesion is). And then stick to it. And give them back to her in a couple days and try it again. Whatever form of punishment you choose needs to be consistant or she won't learn.
I also think the baby gated idea is an excellent one. Then you only have to punish her for trying to get through the gate rather than touching the baby.
Also, she's probably jealous of the baby. I know it's hard to juggle 3 kids, but I think spending some extra one on one time with her would be make her feel that she hasn't been replaced as the baby of the family.
Hope this helps.
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Baby Gates.
Ever seen them? We used them at home when I was a kid to keep the dogs where we wanted them.
If you're going to nap with the kid next to you, put up a baby gate so the 2 year old can't get in. Usually if you put the latch on your side a 2 year old shouldn't be able to undo it without making enough noise to wake you up.
Then she's in trouble for opening the gate instead of picking up to the kid. Preventative measures might do some good until she's old enough to understand that this kid isn't a toy to play with.
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dont bitch at grandmaw she's older than you and deserves sleep but so do you and yes i dont htink your 2 year old wants to hurt her but its sometihng about a baby little kids love dont matter if they are 2 or 8 my little brother is 8 and he used to love to try to grab a baby and play with it but he would sometimes drop it even with adults helping.
also a daycare would be a good choice
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One of the answers says that your daughter isnt old enough to understand... But i disagree. She is probably feeling jealousy towards the new baby. Or perhaps she just wants to play with him. You need to be firmer with your 2 year old, i think. She needs consequence and punishment.
I'd be seriously coming down on grandma. You're the one with the new baby, you're the one needing your sleep. Grandma should have been doing her job!!
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its a tough problem my mom has with the daycare she runs. The most important things are repition, explination and consequence. Its a habbit or want to be with her sister you need to tell her literally 100 times. You have to explain very carefully to her. And when she does punish her appropriatly but let her know why. She'll learn but you have to work at it. Let me know what happens lol =]]
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Your daughter is 2, she needs to be supervised. She is too young to be required to understand completely why playing with the baby is wrong.
If grandma can't supervise and then it's your job to make sure your children are safe. That might mean trying to change your napping schedule, or putting up a fence or locked door, or hiring someone besides grandma if grandma cannot be informed that only one adult in the home may be asleep at once.
I'm sorry to be so harsh about it, but there it is. Of course you need to keep teaching your daughter not to play with the baby, but she is simply too young to be trusted completely, so she needs to be supervised at all times. If the current system you have for supervision is not working out, you need to create one that does. A baby fence or locked door might be all it takes.
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You could try buying one of those baby saftey gates that have a lock on it and put it in front of your bedroom door. If you don't already have one, Try a baby monitor also.
Good Luck
xx
BahaiMa22
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