Problems with my 18 month old daughter!!?

Question

Hello all, I have a 18 month old daughter,and that the moment she's being a bit of a cow so to speak.(And worst).

We have a dog aswell.We brought him about a month ago.

She has always been a bit of a handful.

But now she's got worst.. She's ok with the dog being around, she can be a bit nasty to the dog,which i tell her off. But it's been the past few days, she doesn't listen to me, she's been doing things that she knows she's not aloud to do. We give her a smack on the hand, when she does something that is really bad.

I can't do the naught step because thats were she likes to sit.

I don't have a place in the house where i can put her,and my husband thinks that won't teach them anything.

She isn't really a toy child.She has toys down stairs but the rest are up stairs. She loves playing in the garden alot.

Can you help me and give some advice please.

And why do you think she is like this??

Do you think buying her a playhouse for the garden would keep out of trouble???

Answer 1

18 month old children really pick up on a lot more than you might think.

She coild just feel threathened by the dog, like it's taking her place. OR her way of petting the dog could be a bit harsh for the dog.

My little cousin 'pets' my dogs but actually her petting is smacking it on the face (not on purpose).

We've have to take her hand and physically pet the dog to show her right.

Also, try and give her a dog stuffed animal and show your daughter she can have her own dog but she'll have to be nice to it.

She loves the garden? That's great! Let her get messy with it. IF it keeps her out of trouble and in her 'element' so to speak, then go for it. You can find plenty of gardening tool toys for children.

Children really don't understand right from wrong as clear at the age of 18 months and that really has a lot to do with the parenting techniques.

Not sure if she still sits in a high-chair, but next time she misbehaves, still her in the high-chair and leave her there. It'll be a change of setting. Don't give her toys to play with, and because it's high up, not so easy to get out of. PLUS if you turn the chair to where it's facing the wall, she wont be able to get your attention as she would like.

Good luck :)

Answer 2

You think you've got trouble now? Wait till she's 18 years old! It may be she's jealous of the attention the new dog is getting.

Answer 3

Maybe you need to spend more time with her.

Answer 4

When my parents said, no they meant it.  I knew it.   No second guessing.

We had a dog too, and the dog isnt the problem.  My sisters have all had dogs when their kids were babies.

You child doesnt have a *healthy* fear of your authority.   She's running all over you. Now to solve this, you want to buy her a playhouse.  Rewarding bad behavior.    

You cant just pretend to be parenting. You are training your child.  Your no means no, and she senses you dont really mean it.  You want her to like you.. more than you want to teach her right from wrong

Answer 5

Stop calling her a cow, stop smacking and shouting at her, get rid of the f*****g dog, and act like a bloody parent. She's eighteen months old for god sake.

P.S. your husband seems as stupid as you!

Answer 6

Don't get too stressed with her.

She is just pushing the bounderies and seeing how far she can push you.

My daughter is 19 months and we had problems with her being rough with our cat.

We got this book called 'Touch and Feel' Kitten. It had this piece of fake fur on the front and we would play, stroking the pretend fur gently.

Now she is very gentle to the cat, and now the cat loves going to my daughter for the attention.

I don't think buying her a playhouse will be much help. Your daughter may think she is getting rewarded for her bad behaviour. I would try a chart where she gets a sticker for being nice to your dog with a reward being the playhouse after a period of time that you and her father can agree on (long enough that she carries on being nice to the dog she has her playhouse).

Good luck.

Answer 7

My daughter became incredibly angry around 18months and used to scream and yell at our cat as well as doing various naughty things.

It is a phase.  18 months is still very young and they don't fully grasp the concept of right and wrong.  This is why you need to say no to your child about a million times for the same thing before they eventually realise they aren't allowed to do something and stop doing it.

She is too young to understand the concept of a naughty step so the best method I found was distraction.  When my daughter did something "naughty" I said No and then caught her attention with something else like a game/book/toy/song etc.

As they get older you can reintroduce the naughty step idea as a form of discipline but while they are under the age of 2 they are just too young to get the idea.

My daughter is 21months now and has grown out of screaming at the cat.  When I see a tantrum beginning I remove her from the situation and distract her.  It works well in most situations and means you're not getting angry and making their tantrum worse.

Good Luck.