I have a couple things I need to discuss with you ladies.
1. My main concern, ds hits me when he is mad, being told "no," if I'm not being fast enough getting something. He kicks me when I go to change his diaper too. He does not act this way with my dh.
I have tried telling him "No" sternly, I've tried popping his butt or thigh, I've tried removing him from the situation. It makes me so sad when he does this to me. Any advice?
2. He is not saying "Mama," he will say "Dada" though. He doesn't go up to dh and say "dada." If I try to get ds to say mama, he will either not say anything or he will say baba.
He's a very smart boy, but he is not talking. I've asked a couple different peds and they all say something different. One says that by 18 months they like to see at least 10 words. The one we saw the other day, said that some kids don't talk at all right now. He can sing/hum Twinkle Twinkle and the ABC's. He was saying "Please," for a while, but stopped that.
Should I look into an ENT? Is this normal? Anyone in my situation?
Re: Couple things.
DS does not on his own say mama or dada but will repeat it if I ask him to. I probably would give him more time before I saw a specialist.
We're not dealing with the hitting, but I probably wouldn't want to do anything physical back. It just seems like touching him in a disciplinary way to teach him not to touch you in a hurtful way is contradictory.
On the words front, I agree that I'd probably wait and reassess around 18 months rather than being concerned yet.
They can only do the whole "gentle" crap at DC. No time outs allowed. My new strategy with hitting is to ignore it if it's minor, but if he makes serious contact or hits me or the dog with a "weapon" then I hold him tight on my lap with my arms holding his arms down. I talk to him and tell him "hands are not for hitting." "We do not hit____". It's a process.
I think if you keep insisting "No" and redirecting, he will get it.
Jeffrey hits me occasionally too in similar circumstances and also seems to think it is fun to kick during diaper changes. Only with me, not DH or the babysitter. I read an article that said this was not uncommon bc babies feel safest with their moms. I don't know if that is true but it made me feel better!
Jeffrey only says mama and dada, no other words yet. He understands alot more - he can follow instructions and knows what it means to go outside, upstairs, etc. He walks over to the fridge and points when hungry. We have our next appt next Monday - I am pretty sure we will get a referral to speech therapy bc the dr said he wanted 3 new words by that appt. We did go to an ENT last week but checked out fine.
Good luck! I am glad it is not just me dealing with these issues!
There are some really good books out there on managing toddlers. You could try Happiest Toddler on the Block or something similar. There's probably not going to be magic solution other than time and consistency.
No need to go all super mom on me and act like I did something terrible to him. Everyone has their own way to find the right discipline.