Okay so I have a niece who is 3.5 years old exactly. She lives with us. I have a 4 month old baby MA. She used to love him so much but lately (for last 2 weeks) she has started to really bully him.
She hits him, pinches him, pulls his arms n legs, snatches his hat off his head and bounces him real hard (in a jerky way) in his bouncer. I don’t know wat to do.
Me hubby n her parents have tried everything. We have tried ignoring, explaining to her nicely, explaining to her in more firm tone, distraction, diverting her attention, everything! She just doesn’t listen.
Please advise.
Re: 3 year old bullying baby
May be she feels she is not getting enough attention/love because of the baby. Even if you guys think she does, it may not be enough for her.
My son was and is very loving towards his siter but now and then he feels jealous, gets mad at her, scolds her and at times hit her. Initially he would never get mad at her but now he kind of understands that she gets away with stuff or she is picked up more and he wants the same attention.
Keep explaining and telling your niece that he is a baby and needs more attention but since the niece is older and able to understand a bit more, she needs attention too.
A friends niece started stuttering when her cousin was born. Lots of attention and care helped that girl. Kids react differently to different situations.
Re: 3 year old bullying baby
At 3.5 old should understand that hitting, pinching and pulling and pushing is wrong. If she does that she should get a time out. Give her consequences.
At the same time give her encouragement when she does something good with the baby. Tell her she’s the big sister and big sister get to have this and that so she’s proud of that fact.
Girls love being the leader. So she can talk to the baby. You can tell her to teach the baby something. At the end of the day, she’s a child too and make sure you are not too harsh with her.