How to get my 3yo to leave my 1yo ALONE!

BabyCakes3 · September 2011

DD & DS do pretty good together BUT I find myself yelling at DD to LEAVE HIM ALONE. She wants to pick him up or make him play something he doesn't want to. She pushes him backwards so she can tickle him but he hits his head or a toy. I'm terrified she's going to do it near the fireplace or the TV stand & crack his head or something.

We've put her in time out for it but not consistently. I've tried to explain it to her in different words. I'm frustrated b/c I want them to play & I know I won't be able to stop everything but he's only been walking for 3 weeks & not strong enough to balance her "attacks"!

Any suggestions? Should I punish her consistently or if things are getting too crazy, have her play in her room? I feel like she is old enough to understand what's acceptable & what's not.

RHitch · September 2011

Let me know what you find it. My DS is only 7 months old, but he goes through the war with DD. She doesn't realize what she is doing, but she is too rough with him. Yesterday she was trying to hug and kiss him, but she had her arm wrapped really tight around his neck. I understood the gesture, but he couldn't even breath. He was coughing and she was yelling, "give me a hug Christopher," like he could hug her back. I eventually had to tell her to give mommy a hug instead because Christopher is still learning how to give hugs, and she was choking him.

At this point, I do not punish her for it, unless she is intentionally doing something mean. If it's a matter of her just being rough, I tell her to stop and explain to her why. My method is obviously not working though, because she still does it. All I can do at this point is watch them like a hawk to make sure she is not beating her brother up somewhere.

sweetie645 · September 2011

I have no advice, but I feel your pain!! My kids cannot stay away from one another. Sometimes I swear they have magnets in them that force them to be close to each other. I really don't see this ending any time soon. I usually just yell at them to get away from each other when they start fighting. It's hard to tell who is the instigator sometimes, but when I can, I do use timeouts.

Temp200154562509288 · September 2011

Wish I had an answer, I've been dealing with the same thing the past few weeks and it's driving me crazy

Stacyc625 · September 2011

Feel your pain too-

Things have gotten a little better in our house- since DS turned 10 mo and was a full time walker. He just runs away from her now lol

Jinsy80 · September 2011

Yup, we've got the same problem but they are 4 years old and 9 1/2 months old. Good thing the baby is pretty big. At the rate she's growing, she'll be DD1's size in no time.

PhilsWife07 · September 2011

When you figure it out, please let me know!

smitt2619 · September 2011

We struggle with this a lot at our house too. The boys are 4.5yr and 18m, and we are often telling the older one to not pick up, sit on, push, etc the younger one. Most of it is in just playing around, but it wouldn't take much for it to go too far. He knows he's not allowed to ever pick LO up, although he still will sometimes. We usually only give him time outs if he continues doing if after being reminded to stop. Thee trouble is that often DS2 will laugh and have fun with it, because it is fun until it goes too far. It is a little better now that he's 6 months older then your youngest, and we did "punish" more when he was younger just because it was even more of a safety danger.

sal32 · September 2011

We have this issue too, and I have no answers. You're not alone, though!

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