desperate!!

Well as you rightly say, shouting is not going to help – either of you! Your little girl has discovered a very simple way of getting your attention – but it’s not a very good one. You are now going to have to show her that she can get your attention by doing something positive rather than negative. Do you have time each day that you can sit and play with your daughter? If so find a variety of activities so she doesn’t get bored and change them before she starts to throw things around or misuse the toys. Have a good selection of fat chunky crayons and big pieces of paper that she can really scribble on; buy (or make!) some playdough that she can thump and squeeze; sit her on a towel on the kitchen floor with a bowl of water and some beakers, pebbles and small boats. There are also some lovely wooden jigsaw puzzles and shape sorters that you can help her to master. All these activities will give you plenty of opportunity to praise her and tell her what a good girl she is, lots of positive body language and eye contact.

You will also need to make your home a little more child proof for a few months so that she does not have the opportunity to touch things that she shouldn’t. You can buy child locks which are very easy to fit to cupboard doors but it is nice for her to have her own cupboard so if she tries to open your cupboards you can tell her firmly no but she can open her cupboard. Put a variety of (safe) household items in there with a few of her toys so she has something new and exciting to find each day.

Take your daughter out in the fresh air as much as possible. If you can, get her a sand pit for the garden and some little sit on trikes that she can scoot around on. With more exercise and fresh air and stimulation you should find that she will sleep better too!

unfortunatly at her age, their understanding is limited. To you she is being a pain in the bum, to her she is just exploring her surroundings xx shouting will do no good and make you feel worse hon..maybe invest in a playpen-not to use all the time, as its healthy for her to explore..but maybe just to use when you feel your worst. Also ask your health visitor about joining a sleep clinic. They give great tips and useful ideas on getting little ones to sleep better..if they dont have a sleep clinic, she will be able to give advice. I dont envy you..im finding it hard being heavily pregnant with a 4 yr old-cant imagine how shattering it is with a little toddler! good luck hon and hope ive helped a tiny bit xx

Oh my god, my little boy is younger (nearly 8 months) but I know where you are with the sleep thing. It's a nightmare and I get so knackered and some days I just stay in, sort of half asleep and get wound up all day and end up in a terrible mood. It's not directly related to your problem with discipline or whatever, but I find that I feel a bit better (less cooped up or whatever) if I make an effort to get out everyday. I went swimming today and we were all in much better moods than usual. It's especially hard because I've got a 6 year old as well and it's the Easter Hol's! I used to take her to plenty of baby groups and now that little boy is a bit older I'm going to look into them after tohe holidays. Seriously my little girl is kind of like a dog (in the nicest possible way, love her!) but I have to take her for a little run around every day or we go mental and her behaviour is definitely more testing out of frustration and boredness I reckon. Good luck, hope you get some sleep.

hi my little girl is 15months old and is a little terror she isnt walkin yet but dose cruise around the furniture and walls. she touches everthing she shouldnt empties all the cupboards and takes the sky card out of the box and when i tell her off she completely ignores me or laughs at me. i will remove her from whatever shes doing but she just gos straight back to doing it all over again iv even tried shouting at her but she still ignores me so i just find myself shouting louder. i know dosnt help! then to top it all off she dosnt sleep at night either and never has sorry for the rant its just im 24weeks pregnant and tired i need a full nights sleep can anyone help with either situation?