Typical toddler behavior or crappy mom?
So my 26 month old is a super sweet little guy, full of hugs and kisses and concern when mommy has a boo boo. I've been noticing lately that at the playground he grabs other kids or pushes them and at home when he's frustrated he'll bite or pinch myself or my husband. Today I got a call from school that he tried to nip at the teacher and push another kid in the gym.
He gets tons of one on one time with me, so I know it's not acting out to get attention. Though he is starting to get his 2nd molars- not sure if that's why he's a bit more irritable these days. I try to be as consistent as possible with telling him we use gentle hands and if he does something that hurts, I tell him that "mommy doesn't want to play with you when you do that" and walk away.
However, I can't stop feeling like a crappy mom thinking that I'm doing something wrong, or that I messed up somewhere along the way and that's why he's doing this.
Anyone else go through this? Any advice?
Thanks.
Re: Typical toddler behavior or crappy mom?
I say typical toddler frustration compounded by teething.
just keep doing what you're doing (telling him gentle touch and walking away, etc.) and it will pass.
This. Especially if he still has a limited vocabulary, he isn't able to verbally express frustration, anger, etc., so he does it physically.
DD1 Feb 2010
DD2 Sept 2011
Yep. And, try to give him the words that he needs -- I understand that you're angry, but biting hurts and if you tell me why you're mad I can help you feel happy again. Or something like that...
We went thru this about a year ago w/ dd...we got a book called teeth are not for biting. I would read it to her as her bedtime book every night for almost a month and she started to change her behavior. The mantra in the book is "teeth are not for biting, ouch, biting hurts" and I would say exactly that - and nothing else - every time she bit. It definitely helped!! It would still happen occasionally until she was better at expressing her emotions but the book definitely reduced the biting, a lot!
It is so frustrating ... Good luck!