#HELP My almost 2-year-old is quite rough with other kids

Posted in #help.
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If you’ve ever observed two-year-olds, you’ll know that they are curious little creatures, but they can also be quite impulsive, as a mum who contacted our Facebook community can attest.

This mum’s little boy has been displaying some rough behaviour that was worrying her. He wasn’t interested in being gentle or sharing or waiting his turn. The frustrated mum turned to our community of helpful parents for advice on how to encourage him to be more sociable … and less rough.

#HELP! My almost 2-year-old is quite rough with other kids lately. I’ve pulled him up a number of times for snatching, pushing and physically overpowering other kids to get his hands on toys or play equipment at the park … How do you teach kids this age that this behaviour is not acceptable?

Our readers had advice. Here’s what they had to say:  

Keep it simple – and positive

It’s very normal for kids of this age to be physical. Use positive instructions e.g. “we use gentle hands”. They are only just learning how to interact with others and don’t necessarily comprehend how their actions affect others.

Use logical consequences, e.g. if you can’t be gentle then you can’t play on/ with… (this might still be a bit advanced for the age, but from 3 years on is a good way to teach positive behaviours). They are also too young to understand the concept of being sorry. 

It’s hard, but with consistency and showing the right behavior they do learn to be gentle and control their impulses. Oh and distraction is also a good tool. – Emily Simpson

Consequences are powerful

He’s testing the boundaries. Most 2 year-olds do. He will learn and just explain what may happen … I remind mine that other kids will not play with them if they are not nice. They get better and understand as they get older. – Kylie Jorgensen

Take them away from the situation and explain that it is unkind and that they can go back if they play nicely. This is hard for a two year old to understand but they will eventually get it. – Carolyn Sorbie

You can read all the helpful advice given, on the original Facebook post here:

#HELP! My almost 2-year-old is quite rough with other kids lately. I've pulled him up a number of times for snatching,…

Posted by Babyology on Thursday, 13 June 2019

This post is sponsored by Nurofen For Children

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