attention seeking behavior
We are 4 months in to the 2u2 situation and our toddler (22 mos) is still just running from one thing he knows not to touch to another. He was never good about playing by himself or even playing with toys. He is a very physical boy, but this is just driving us bonkers. We simply can't remove everything in the home and we try to be consistent in our reprimands (redirect and "no"), but this is all too much. The stress is bringing our marriage and family to the brink. (I am a WM and my DH is a SAHD by circumstance, rather than choice.) He just makes a beeline from swinging the pictures on the wall, to opening and closing the dvd player, to DS2's bouncer, to climbing the pnp. We give him plenty of attention - maybe even more since DS2's arrival! He shows a gentle side and is very loving to DS2 but he is very obvious in his desire to defy us.
We've even talked about putting DS1 in daycare even though DH is a SAHD! Can anyone else identify with this behavior?
Re: attention seeking behavior
you need to hardwire your child to want positive attention vs negative attention. offer lots of praise for good behavior/ignore bad.
a lot of what you mention you can avoid battling over by relocating to a different location. dvd players don'
Thanks for the advice but unfortunately we are doing all of the above already. As I said, DS1 gets lots of attention- we "catch" him being good and always give kisses and we also make time for one-on-one activities. Also, we are in a colder