1y old twins stealing toys from eachother

[matches]

Hi all,

I am kind of at a loss about what I should do about my twin boys stealing toys from each other. No matter what one baby is playing with the other will want it right away and take right away, followed by crying that nearly brings the house down. I know this normal and to be expected, however I have read that it is still a little early to discipline (would love comments on this, because I have conflicting info and have my own opinion). I usually just go and try to interest both of them in two different toys all together but, I am a little concerned about any negative sibling tensions that could be forming, if that's even possible at one year of age.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[charmarty]

My girls do this too!It can be very difficult to deal with,and your right,it does bring the house down!It brings on tantrums soooo easily here.I dont have much advice for you now,I will be interested to hear what others have to say.
Ill tell you where we are at now though.When this happens there is uaually alot of cying!So for eg if T takes a toy from J,I try to go to T and tell her J is playing with it,and we need to give it back.T will scream bc she will not give the toy back(on some occasions it has happened though!)I gently take the toy away and give it back to J.Then I tell T she can have the toy when J is finished with it.She will usually cry for the entire time until she gets they toy.In the meantime,I gently remind J that T really wants to play with the toy too,and to give it to T when she is finished.She does not too long afterwards,and when she does,I make a HUGE deal of it!AWW good girl!Thats was so nice!And tell T see,she gave you the toy,wasnt that nice?You waited nicely and she gave you the toy.Kisses all aorund..........


Now what has really ben cracking me up lately is when they both have the EXACT SAME TOY!It doesnt matter,one of them will decide what the other has is way better!So what we started to do in this situation is say J can you switch with T please?Usually it is followed by a swicch peese!switch peese!And they will switch,and no more fighting!Most of the time I dont even have to get involved bc they will ask themselves and work it out between them.And of coarse let them knoe how happy you are with the way they treated eachother!Its funny too bc they do this when nursing,switch peese switch peese and they do!Usually rolling up over mommy!Ah too funny,the grass is always greener........


HTH

[seanjoshmom]

OMG, I think we all have the same kids!!! I just bought two of the same toy for this very reason--and they each want the one the other is playing with--though they're the same!!! Sometimes what works well for us is for me to say to the one who wants the toy, "___ is playing with it now. He will share it with you soon." I try to distract him with another toy, then in a minute, I say to the one with the desired toy "Can you give it to ___ now?" Sometimes there is a delay, but usually they hand it right over. then we go through the same thing. If that doesn't work, I try to give him a little more time, until he is losing interest in the coveted toy so the other boy can then get it without a fuss.

[breathingmom]

Your post made me smile because my twin dd's just turned five and I can clearly remember them wanting the same toy and feeling like they were headed for a horrible relationship.

I think at the age of one the best thing to try to do is to try to try to distract them. I know the dynamics are different with two, however, I do think that they will outgrow this stage (especially when they learn to talk).

In the long run I think it will be beneficial that they are showing interest in the same things. I bet they will be best of buddies down the road. Hang in there, it does get easier!!!!

~Jill