[MrsBone]

Overall, DS has adjusted pretty well to DD. When DD is napping, he's constantly asking where she is, wants to kiss her, etc. But every time I sit down to hold the baby or nurse her, he wants to crawl up on my lap and smother her with kisses(he doesn't really know how to be gentle yet). he treats her like a plastic doll. He'll hit her, push her, etc and laugh at her when she cries. I know he just doesn't understand that he has to be gentle with her because she's delicate and small, but how can I get him to understand that? I have tried putting him in time out when he's not gentle, but he ends up there all day long and comes back and apologizes several times a day, but continues to do it. Should I stick with time outs or has another approach worked for other mamas?

 

[mckittre]

When he does it, try taking the baby out of reach and paying attention to her somewhere he can't get to. Also try to show him things that are good to do - bring a diaper, touch the baby's head gently, sing a song to baby, whatever...