My mother in law is raising a 4 year old girl and has been since she was 3 weeks old. It's probable that the mother of this child did drugs during the pregnancy. This little girl can be the sweetest thing and she loves to be hugged on and loves on everyone. But she goes through these stages where she turns into a complete devil. She says the most hurtful things to others, even to strangers, and embarrasses us all in public. She has gotten pretty much everything she's ever wanted and is pretty spoiled but my in laws have always disiplined her. Spankings don't work because they don't seem to hurt her. They've tried taking away her toys and making her earn them back with good behavior and even reasoning with her. All this seems to work for a week or so and then it loses total effectiveness. She is at her wits end and no one else has any advice. Please give me some tips to help her out! Thank you.
2006-09-15 06:54:25 · 5 answers · asked by Phaylynn 5 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
Get a chart and put it on the refridgerator. Everytime she says something mean, hurtful, or rude--give her a mark. At the end of the day count up the marks and take her into the bathroom and put soap in her mouth. Every mark she has is one minute she has to hold the soap in her mouth. If she has 4 marks for example, that's 4 minutes.
Take all her toys away for now. Put them in a box/basket in another room. Tell her if she can be nice, polite, and well behaved for one hour--then she can have one toy back. Do that every hour from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed. If she acts up even once during that hour, then no toy. If she's good the entire hour without any mistakes then she can have one back.
Also, give her a bigger goal to get to each week. Tell her if her behavior the entire week is acceptable to you, then you will take her out to lunch or for ice cream. If her behavior that week isn't up to your standards--then she doesn't get to go out for ice cream and she'll have to try again the next week.
2006-09-15 06:59:44 · answer #1 · answered by BeeFree 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If it works to take the toys away, then why is she giving them back? The child will figure out that all she has to do is be good to get her toys back, and once she gets what she wants she will be back to her old self...Take away any priviliges that she has, and be firm about earning them back. As soon as the child acts up, even a little, take them away and don't give in...also, have you taken her to the doctor? Maybe there is something physical...
2006-09-15 07:09:11 · answer #2 · answered by BoMbS_aWaY 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is normal!!! I know not all kids are the same...but trust me, it IS a stage. All she is doing is testing her limits. She is trying to find out what she can and can't do, and what are the consequences. Remember, just because you tell a toddler once that something is bad, doesn't mean that they will remember that 10 minutes later. They need reinforcement on these issues. The don't call it the terrible two's because it only happens in the two's...but because it usually starts in the two's. This lasts until usually the ages of 4-5.
She's and Angel...until she hits her teens!
2006-09-15 07:02:36 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Perfect for Super Nanny!
2006-09-15 06:58:31 · answer #4 · answered by wldctpete 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call the Dr. Phil show.
2006-09-15 06:57:12 · answer #5 · answered by Tyranus 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋