15 Mo Old Terror

[caligirl]

oh boy......what would you do about this one........
15 months old. TINY little guy, he is in the 1% for his weight.....very slight built, very small. Sweet and happy as can be. He loves the kids, loves to play, is pretty darn smart for his age...for the most part.....however, he has become a little monster. He is the smallest one here......yet he is the ornery one. First it started (at about 12 months of age) with hair pulling.....BIG yanks of the head, actually pulling out hair..which he still does, although not as much.....now he is grabbing and pinching faces...he just runs up to one of the kids and grabs their face, scratching or pinching....and he is at the age where all he really understands is that he gets a reaction, like pushing a button...I can tell honestly, by the look on his face when I tell him NO NO that he has not got a clue what he did wrong. He's playing. That's how he places......very physical.....he will push, pinch, pull, knock kids down, grab them, or their clothes, wrestle......all day long.....ALL DAY ALL DAY ALL Day......I have put him in time out, separated him from the group (which only causes him to cry and wail the entire time he is not with them)....apparently he does this when he is out with his parents and sees other children too......... so, what would you all suggest I do to stop this?? Part of me wishes that one of the bigger kids would give him a taste of his own medicine, but I know that isn't right........ I am so tired of hearing the kids yell his name all day (and it doesnt matter if I am sitting right next to him, or he is on my lap, he STILL reaches for the first kid he can reach and he grabs at them)

[BumbleBee]

The first thing that came to my mind is that someone is wrestling with him outside of daycare. Maybe not mom/dad but perhaps an uncle, cousin, grandparent. I only say this because many kids his age do not realize the difference between "play wrestling" and hurting someone. How long has he been with you? If he went to another place for care perhaps older/bigger kids were rough with him.

I would keep removing him from the group when he does these things. Try practicing "nice touches" with him to. You may already be doing this which is great! If not maybe give it a try.

Good luck to you!

[cheerfuldom]

Keep removing him from the group and let him cry. I had to do this a lot with my own daughter from 18 months to 2.5 years old. She's the worst pest, so physical, and so unfocused when I correct her. A big help is getting a lot of physical play outdoors. Now that she is 3, she isnt hurting others but still very physical with rolling, climbing, jumping, etc. She is getting a trampoline for her birthday!

[shelby]

The first thing that came to my mind is that someone is wrestling with him outside of daycare. Maybe not mom/dad but perhaps an uncle, cousin, grandparent. I only say this because many kids his age do not realize the difference between "play wrestling" and hurting someone. How long has he been with you? If he went to another place for care perhaps older/bigger kids were rough with him.

I would keep removing him from the group when he does these things. Try practicing "nice touches" with him to. You may already be doing this which is great! If not maybe give it a try.

Good luck to you!

I thought the same... someone is rough housing with him at home. keep doing what your doing.... I have had to put a child in a pack and play in my living room once cause he would just though a fit and hit others with the toys. When he was in the pack and play he would sit there and play until his heart was content, even shared his toys with the others but never though them... It was weird... but he seemed to like his space.

[daycare]

I agree with both PP..

YOu need to talk to the parents about this ASAP...If they are playing wrestle play or fight play at home, it needs to stop right now. You need to let them know that he is doing it at your house and he is hurting the other children. He is way too little to understand when it is or is not ok to rough play like that. You need the parents on the same page as you. Give them a time frame to turn the behavior aound. Like 30days. Come back 30 days later and if you have seen a huge improvement, then allow the child to stay and keep working with him. If no progress, i would say you need to term. Don't put the other kids at risk of getting seriously hurt.

I would also continue to remove him from the group when he does something wrong. Simply say no and remove him. If he cries, he cries. Give him a second to calm down and then once he calms, tell him NO___________________. When you let him come back, tell him gentle hands and play nice....

[caligirl]

I've had him since he was just a few months old, so it's not anything he got from another daycare... He has no other kids that he plays with so he isn't getting this behavior from other places.........the mom said she is trying and trying to get him to be 'gentle' taking his hand, as I do here, and showing him how to be gentle. He does the same thing to mom and dad. I asked her if they 'wrestle play' with him and she said no, because he is so tiny, they are always afraid they would hurt him. And they are very gentle with him, like he is a little fragile thing. So, I am hoping,that with all of us working on this problem, he will eventually get it. Hopefully SOON. He isn't trying to be mean, you can tell that by watching him. It's his way of playing. So I need to teach him that isn't the way we play.......TGIF!!!

[countrymom]

I have a hitter, a really bad hitter. She gets removed and sent to the corner (its a large mat) but its working. She stays there till she is done crying, but she knows I mean business. She's a good kid but the hitting is crazy and no one can figure out why. the parents are working on it too.