Toddlers

JemmaM91

Do you find that your toddlers behave a lot better when other people have been looking after them?

DS is 15 months, and when he's with me he can be quite naughty.
He climbs things he shouldn't, bites me, refuses to eat, refuses to walk holding hands, flings himself backwards on the floor when he doesn't get his own way etc

Today OH looked after him whilst I had my interview (was a group interview so lasted a few hours), also the first time OH has had him on his own since he was a couple months old (not because he didn't want to, just because I'm always around). So obviously I was worrying how he'd cope.

When I finished the interview I met up with OH & DS. I asked how he'd been only to find out that he'd eaten ALL his breakfast (first time ever), eaten his lunch :eek: , has been walking around shops holding hands, hasn't had a temper when daddy said no and he hasn't been biting at all.

I was just wondering if anyone else feels like there toddlers only misbehave for them, makes me feel a little down knowing I look after him day in day out yet he behaves better when he's with anyone else.

Gillyx

Yep thats having a toddler, infuriating but nice to know that they behave when you're not there

They feel most confident with there main care giver so are more apt at pushing boundaries with them than they are with others who aren't usually the main carer.

auditbabe

JemmaM91 wrote: »

Do you find that your toddlers behave a lot better when other people have been looking after them?

DS is 15 months, and when he's with me he can be quite naughty.
He climbs things he shouldn't, bites me, refuses to eat, refuses to walk holding hands, flings himself backwards on the floor when he doesn't get his own way etc

Today OH looked after him whilst I had my interview (was a group interview so lasted a few hours), also the first time OH has had him on his own since he was a couple months old (not because he didn't want to, just because I'm always around). So obviously I was worrying how he'd cope.

When I finished the interview I met up with OH & DS. I asked how he'd been only to find out that he'd eaten ALL his breakfast (first time ever), eaten his lunch :eek: , has been walking around shops holding hands, hasn't had a temper when daddy said no and he hasn't been biting at all.

I was just wondering if anyone else feels like there toddlers only misbehave for them, makes me feel a little down knowing I look after him day in day out yet he behaves better when he's with anyone else.

It's my firm belief than children always try to make you look like a liar. :A Little angles for every one xx

Spendless

Yes, and so you feel that it's not you, teens aren't much different (sorry about that!)

JemmaM91

Spendless wrote: »

Yes, and so you feel that it's not you, teens aren't much different (sorry about that!)

OH no! I think I'm dreading him becoming a teenager! Especially if he's anything like his dad was as one.

fluffnutter

Don't feel down, lovey. This is normal and how it should be. What it shows is that you're bringing up a sweet-natured, well-behaved child who feels so confident in your love for him that he's able to push the boundaries - a normal and healthy part of growing up.

The time to worry is when your child behaves well with you and badly with others - that suggests a devious nature.

Mr_Toad

I looked after our son when my wife had to work the occasional Saturday.

I loved it, he wasn't a minutes trouble did everything he was supposed to and behaved impeccably. We'd potter about in the garage or garden and I could do anything I fancied and he'd be fine.

What really used to wind her up was coming home to find me sat relaxing, reading a book with a coffee while he played quietly with his toys either in the room with me or upstairs in his bedroom.

She used to moan that whenever she sat down and tried to have a minute he was all over her and reading a book or magazine was impossible.

valk_scot

Gillyx wrote: »

They feel most confident with there main care giver so are more apt at pushing boundaries with them than they are with others who aren't usually the main carer.

Yup, that's it exactly.

Counting_Pennies_2

Totally normal.

However, it shows you that he can behave, so I would ramp up the discipline a bit. Put in a few incentives for good behaviour. A trip to the park after walking round the shops if you hold my hand.

A treat after the shopping trip if he sits in the shopping trolley.

A fun splash in the bath after he has eaten his breakfast.

He has let it slip that he knows how to do it so now is the time to insist he does for you.

neverdespairgirl

Yup. I remember a week when my son was about 15 months, and OH was away for work. DS had a tooth coming through, or something, and was a total little nightmare all week. I had to hang on to my mother's words about how sometimes, being a good parent is just about surviving the day without defenestrating the infant.

Then my sister took him out for the afternoon, and he was apparently the World's Most Angelic Toddler, she was cooing and saying she didn't know what all the fuss was about.

Auntie Eleanor went home, and the World's Most Angelic Toddler turned back into the Fiend From Hell again.

fluffnutter

Counting_Pennies wrote: »

However, it shows you that he can behave, so I would ramp up the discipline a bit. Put in a few incentives for good behaviour. A trip to the park after walking round the shops if you hold my hand.

A treat after the shopping trip if he sits in the shopping trolley.

A fun splash in the bath after he has eaten his breakfast.

He has let it slip that he knows how to do it so now is the time to insist he does for you.

You think that 15 month olds need the 'discipline ramping up'? That you need to 'incentivise' their good behaviour? They're just babies!

I don't like badly behaved children as much as the next person, but even so...