Toddler discipline with little baby

[nilatti]

Ok, I swear that my son (26 months) waits until I'm feeding the baby to seriously act up. Mostly, I've found that responding immediately to stuff he's not supposed to do (drawing on the walls) is pretty effective and only takes a few times until he gets the message. Saying, "Don't do that," when I'm too occupied to enforce it does not work. 

Any ideas?

[nilatti]

I should note, my enforcement usually includes taking away what ever he is misusing (a pen, if drawing on the wall) and putting the object in timeout. Not beating or anything.

[dejagerw]

Maybe your older child is jealous of the attention the baby is getting at feeding times and is acting out to get your attention on him. Are you nursing? Did you nurse your older child too? My friend had a 3 year old she nursed till about 18 months. He would get really upset when his sister nursed. Once she asked him if he didn't like when the baby nursed. He said he did not. She asked if he remembers nursing, and he said he did and then started crying. She couldn't believe he remembered it after so long and he was obviously upset that his sister was getting that kind of attention.

Maybe when you feed the baby you can snuggle with him too and read him some books, that way he feels close to you still.
 

[nilatti]

I actually asked him if he remembers nursing (we weaned at 15 months), and he says he doesn't. We sometimes cuddle and read books while I'm nursing, and that's ok. It's more when either he doesn't feel like sitting on the couch or when he's already involved in something and I don't want to disrupt him, that we have problems. It's really hard to tease out what is new-sibling jealousy and what is just being an ornery two-year-old.

[JoyFilled]

I had a foster daughter when I had my first child who did exactly what your son does.  I really think they just know that it is their chance to do something while you are busy.  Has he ever taken the opportunity to do something while you were in the washroom or on the phone or otherwise occupied?  Also, in other times does he seem happy when you are playing with the baby?  Does he seem to like the baby?

[nilatti]

Originally Posted by JoyFilled 

I had a foster daughter when I had my first child who did exactly what your son does.  I really think they just know that it is their chance to do something while you are busy.  Has he ever taken the opportunity to do something while you were in the washroom or on the phone or otherwise occupied?  Also, in other times does he seem happy when you are playing with the baby?  Does he seem to like the baby?

He does do random naughty things when I'm on the phone or kneading bread dough--any time he can tell I'm otherwise occupied. He definitely likes the baby and loves to cuddle with her.