hitting and bullying

E&E are becoming so aggressive toward each other. I don't know if they are having adjustment problems since I had the baby or what. They know they are being mean and run to timeout as soon as they hit the other. Any other suggestions to discipline them?

 

Oh my gosh!! My girls are exactly the same lately (right down to hitting or pulling the other's hair and running to time out...) and I was wondering what was going on.... I am amazed that at almost 2 they are able to know how to push eachother's buttons... I'd be interested to read other posts...

 

Mine are aggressive towards one another (and at times towards other children). I just try to separate them when they are feeling the need to attack (hitting, biting, pulling hair, etc.) I can normally hear that the attack is about to come on before it actually happens. I am still trying to teach timeout . . . difficult process. I'm impressed that yours automatically go to timeout.

 

It seems since they were able to walk that Ella goes after Drew, but never any other children. Drew has never been aggressive to Ella. Nature vs nurture!! Anyway, I look in her face and speak to her in a stern voice. We don't call it time-out, but she then has to go to her room or a corner for a little bit. After that we talk about it and she apologizes to Drew. She goes through spurts where she won't do anything for awhile and then starts up again. It is usually when she is bored, so I try to keep on top of her. I would also love to hear any other ideas...

 

We have the same situation here. Aidan actually seems to enjoy our time out spot (sitting on the stairs). We discuss the reason for the time out and we make sure that we're consistent. It has taken a while but the outbursts have slowed down. They seem to get wild when they are getting tired. I think this is very common in small children and they have a hard time understanding consequences.