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| Appropriate headgear, no? |
It took three weeks or so to fully kick in, but Sprout's jealousy of his sister has finally crossed the threshold past crazy-making. Here are some examples of his acting out to get attention:
- unrolling the entire toilet paper roll & shredding half of it
- throwing every single item of baby clothing onto the floor from a box of hand-me-downs
- saying no to nearly everything
- climbing on the back of the couch & jumping off onto the seat
- throwing toys in the house
- head-butting us
I'm finding it difficult not to lose it & yell multiple times a day because I'm only getting five to six hours of sleep (usually in three or four parts). I just don't have time for cleaning up extra messes in between trying to feed, clothe & keep clean myself, him & his sister. The thing that makes me yell loudest is when he's potentially endangering his sister with the last three of the above list.
I know things will eventually get easier, as he comes to accept that he's no longer an only child, but what can I do
now to deal with this? Any thoughts?
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I don't really have any advice; Tycho isn't showing many signs of jealousy, though occasionally he will be a little over-zealous in his play with Kepler (e.g. throwing his entire body on Kepler to hug him). He does feel a little left out at times, but no real anger has been shown towards Kepler. That's not to say it won't happen; we don't have a "miracle child who is immune to the problems others face".
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, one thing I did hear is that people sometimes try asking the toddler for advice about the baby, such as "should we feed the baby now, Sprout?" or "what do you think she should wear"? This helps the toddler become involved with the baby rather than feeling left out. However, there are certainly no perfect solutions. Good luck!
I was also going to suggest trying to involve him in decisions, and maybe getting him to help out in little ways? And then of course showering him with praise when he does help out ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's what I do with kids in my classes who are acting out for attention.
Seems like getting him to help more is the consensus in the FB comments too... :) Thanks, Chloe!
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