Violet is almost 4, but still very much in the terrible 3′s. She’ll go through weeks of wonderful behavior where she is the sweetest, most well-behaved child in the world, followed by a day of horror. These behaviors are rare, thankfully, but I have no idea what to do about them.
Tonight she had one of her episodes. We had spent the day together, had lunch and then went to Bass Pro Shops, where she loves to watch the fish and ducks swim around. We came home and she watched Curious George for a while and then started in. It starts by simply not listening and doing what we ask of her. Then it turns into a game where she will bite, pinch, kick and spit at us. She did this to me today while my husband ran to the store for 10 minutes. She’s done this to her grandma, aunt and teenage cousin, too.
Putting her in time out is ineffective as she won’t stay. If you stand in front of her she’ll just continue the behavior, and if you walk away she walks off. Slapping her hand or swatting her bottom is ineffective, as she starts laughing, as if it’s the biggest joke in the world. Sending her to her room is impossible as once she gets in there she has full access to whatever toys or books she wants, and sometimes will even do things like dump half a bottle of sunscreen on her pillow pet (like tonight).
We take away toys for bad behavior, but she still has plenty. Tonight’s punishment is no TV for 2 days. This includes at grandma’s house where she spends her days.
I’m just struggling to find something that works. When we remove too many things (toys, activities, outside play, TV) then what do we do? Time outs just don’t do anything. I don’t believe in spanking more than her hand or her bottom, and she even finds that a joke.
These episodes are, fortunately, few and far between, but when they occur it’s as if she’s a little girl possessed. When all else fails, I try to ignore her – but that just means she’ll continue her assault on me. So what do you do? What works?
About Katie
I perfected the blood curdling mommy stare long before have a child… my daughter had no chance…lol
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Oh how I wish I had some advice. I didn’t go through that particular situation, but I hope you find something that works!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell´s last [type] ..The Kitchen Table
We take away toys and have found it to be effective.
But instead of taking away one, we take away a whole group. For example, instead of losing one Transformer (the current favorite toy), he loses all of his transformers.
At the very least, feel better knowing that you are not the only one going through this.
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I was a terrible disciplinarian! When the kids new I was upset that was good enough for them. I would usually just send them to their room. never did time outs, I always thought that was absurd.
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Aww that’s rough. Luckily my son is still young enough that time out does work for him, but I know my days of that working are numbered. Hope you find something that works soon!
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Oh my….my son is 4 as well and sometimes has “fits” however we’ve found timeouts to be effective. If not, we take away the ipad or iphone play time and those typically work. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. I hope you find something that works and fast!
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