Definitely need some advice here!
I am a mom of three children (almost 4, 21 months, and 8 months). My 21 month old DD seems to just randomly start smacking my almost 4 year old DS. And he replies with what we say to hurt, "Don't hit! Hitting hurts!" and tries to leave the situation. It seems that they both have a tendency to antagonize each other and we've tried to separate them, find a cure for their boredom, but DH and I are going nuts here trying to figure out what to do. I know it's just a phase, but I don't like her randomly attacking her brother and it upsets him very much.
One example is I went upstairs to talk to DH the other day and DS1 and DD where at the bottom of the stairs (gated off). As soon as I'm out of her line of vision, I hear her start smacking DS1 and he says, "Stop hitting me! Hitting hurts!" And yells up the stairs, "Mom/Dad, help me, Sissy is hitting me again!" I immediately went downstairs and said, "DD, hitting hurts! We do not hit!"
If she hits or bites DH or I, we will look at her and firmly say, "don't hit, hitting hurts" or "hands are not for hitting," and she just breaks down into tears! We don't yell at her, we don't put her in any sort of time out, etc. I really need a better solution for this for all of my children.
She is a very strong-willed, mature, and sensitive little girl all at once. She never attacks the baby. She has lots of toys to keep her happy. I just don't know what to do or what the root of the problem is because I give her as much attention as possible. She seems to get enough sleep (from 8pm to 8am with a nap during the day).
