Need advice regarding older child "helping"

ludicrous

DD has been into helping out her little brother, the problem is she likes to help a little aggressively. She like to rock him in his swing, into the wall. She likes to make sure he's clean, by rubbing his face down with a wad of papertowels. You get the idea. I don't want to scold or discourage her but how do I get her to stop when she is being a little rough without hurting her feelings or making her feel bad. Her hearts in the right place.

kattyleigh

Oh yes, we get that here too. I have to keep my eyes on her always or she tries cramming goldfish crackers in his mouth, sharing her sippy cup, rocking the bouncy seat crazy high while yelling "Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!", or trying to get him to color. What has sort of worked for us, was teaching her to "be nice" while stroking his head gently. Now instead of yelling "no!" (because like you, I don't want to punish her when she's only trying to help) I simply yell "be nice" in a non-condescending tone and she immediately starts stroking his head. Sometimes I even catch her doing it on her own and it melts my heart. GL!

kcisthebombdotcom

Redirect her. Like "instead of doing this, why dont we touch baby brother like this?" and when she does nice, offer her a ton of praise.

memali26

We're having the same issue. I just keep reminding her to use "gentle touches." She's heard that often enough now that it's usually enough to get her to stop the rough behavior, but if it doesn't then I'll help her - move her hand from DD2's face to softly patting her leg. She likes to help hold DD2's bottle and cover her with blankets, etc., so sometimes I'll redirect her by asking her to take care of her baby doll. And TONS of praise when she's is being nice and gentle.

mrsseguin

We always tell DS to be gentle with his sister and remind him that he's a big boy and she's a baby and can get hurt easily.  When he does something that's rough, I tell him that's too rough...he caught on pretty quickly.  A few times where he did really almost hurt her, I did raise my voice.  It scared him, but it was warranted with the situation...like him trying to pick up the baby.  He's always been really good with her and likes to be involved.  They just need constant reminding.

AdamsWife08

We have this same issue at our house sometimes, I just try to tell Burke to be gentle and show him how to be gentle.  I actually touch Blake like I want Burke to touch him, he usually mimics how I'm touching him.  Now all I have to say is "gentle Burke" and he'll imediatley soften his touch.  Good Luck, it's tough to get them to understand how fragile a baby is.