almost 2.5 and sharing?

rmrm

I would love some advice on this.

My older son is 29 months. He has always been very good with his baby brother (who is 8 months). However, now that my younger one is crawling around, big brother is not doing well with the idea of sharing. Whenever my younger one reaches for something, he kicks it away or grabs it and says "no, mine." 

I'm struggling with how to deal with this. I totally see his perspective that these have always been his toys. Obviously he has to learn to share with his brother though. I think I've read that kids this age don't really understand sharing yet. 

I usually tell him "we have lots of toys, when little brother is done playing with this, it will be your turn" Sometimes i actually sit there with him and help him alternate turns." When we do this he enjoys it and is very quick to tell my little one "ok your turn."

it's my understanding that he shares very well at daycare. he even brings toys to other kids for them to play with.

this is a constant thing. I really can't look away for a minute without him removing something from the baby's reach. how would you handle this? I feel like if my older son was a little bit older it would be easier to correct bc he would understand the idea of sharing better . . .

rjeller32

DD1 is 2.5 and DD2 is 6 months. When DD2 is playing with one of my older child's toys, and she starts to go all crazy on her and try to take it away, I tell her to wait her turn.

I don't really like to yell at her for it, because they are technically her toys, but we also allow her to play with all of DD2's stuff. 

When it is one of her favorite toy's, I tell her she can take it if she gets DD2 a new toy. That usually works for me. 

sosoph

Same ages/age difference here. My most effective strategy is the "trade". So, I let her take what the baby has if she offers him something else. When she is playing with his things, I always say how nice it is that he is sharing with her, and praise her, too, when she voluntarily shares.

BeanNut

Similar ages here.  We have taught DD1 that if she wants a toy her sister has, she needs to trade her for something else.  It probably took about 100 times reminding her but sometimes she will bring her sister a toy just to be nice.

dragon_chica

Ditto everyone else and also keep in mind that at this age the concept of sharing doesn't exist for them.  They are very egocentric right now and it's all about them.  Continue to reinforce it and praise a lot but don't always expect your kid to be so generous.  DD at 3.5 y/o still has problems sharing and still have been known to grab things out of DS's hand.