We are having SERIOUS bedtime routine issues with her lately. She changed daycare at the beginning of December because our regular provider dared (!) to get pregnant and have a beautiful baby girl before Christmas. Martine is the kind of mother that I always hope I'll be - patient, firm, consistent, crafty-creative, and one look from her and my daughter knows she's not allowed to poke someone's eyes out just for fun - and yet, I'm pretty sure I fall short in most of those areas because I am tired from the commute to and from work and the little energy I have left at the end of the day is needed for that night's temper tantrum and laundry.
Since being at the new place, our petite bébé has become aggressive. She bites. She kicks. She pinches. She slaps. She screams. She scratches. She sticks her tongue out often enough that I have several Ally McBeal moments where I imagine yanking it out just so that it will stop the "Boo-boo, na na na" sarcasm. She has temper tantrums that go on for hours. Trust me, you don't want to meet up with her in a dark alley 'cause she'll kick your ass.
After being bitch-slapped by a 3 year old over and over again, you do lose your cool. We have tried time-outs. We have tried distracting her with something else. We have tried ignoring the behaviour. We have tried ignoring her. Nothing seems to work except when it's gone on for more than 30 minutes and I YELL at her that that's ENOUGH. Mummy is MAD. You are a NAUGHTY GIRL. When you can say sorry for hitting Mummy, you can come out. Plunk her down on her bed and leave her in her room, close the door behind me, and then I hold her door shut, using both hands on the handle because now she's so PISSED that she's on the other side of it kicking and punching at the door. This goes on for over an hour and then she finally falls asleep, exhausted.
Any suggestions, short of shipping her off to a boarding school in Switzerland, you'd like to suggest?
