PLease recommend a book dealing w/ toddler behavior

I have one angel child and I have one devil child. My devil child throws tantrums, screams, kicks and whines and screams at my leg ALL.DAY.LONG. I am SOOOO not exaggerating. This has litterally been going on since he was 8 months old and now, after almost 10 months, I need to seriously put a stop to this maddness before I go INSANE. Meanwhile, my little angel child is playing quietly in a corner getting ignored because I am stuck dealing with the other one all day. Are there any good resources out there like books to help deal with this? Or do I need professional helP??

 

I am dealing with the exact same thing! One of my girls has a wicked temper and the other is a sweetie.
I just ordered Happiest Toddler on the Block from my library, I have heard good things about this book especially when dealing with tantrums.

 

At that age, we were still in the redirecting mode. But a good read that I would recommend for you now is 1-2-3 Magic by Thomas Phelan. We started right around two and it works very well if you are consistent with it. :hug:

 

I read "Happiest Toddler on the Block". I haven't tried out all the techniques but it seemed to have some good ideas.

Good luck!

 

Another book I recommend (given to me by Babytimes2 from here) is Ready or Not Here We Go-the Toddler Years by Elizabeth Lyons. She does explain the discipline/behavior issues that we twin parents face at ages 1-4.

 

I don't know if you're familiar with the "What to Expect .. " books, but I've found them very helpful and informative. I had "what to expect when you're expecting", and then I bought "What to expect during the first year" and the other day I bought a copy of "What to expect the Toddler Years " and they seem to cover everything. My daughter refused to get in the tub for 2 days in a row and the book actually has a column about toddlers refusing to take a bath. It's a good book. Last week I also ordered a copy of "The Happiest Toddler on the block " from an online bookstore. I've heard good reviews on it.

 

I'm with the 1-2-3 Magic crowd. I've read it and I'm starting to work on my mannerisms so that way they're up to snuf before I get the kidlets involved in it.

 

I read Magic 1-2-3. I'm going to buy Happiest Toddler today. I have one devil and one angel. I finally put together one of the pack-n-plays and put it in the guest room with no sheet, no toys, just plastic uncomfortable PNP. We tell her it's the "naughty spot". She spends 3 minutes in there about 10 times some days and other days never. It's helped in a few ways...one, I tell her "That's a 1" when she's doing something naughty (screaming, throwing food, tantrums, kicking me) and she is starting to get it and stop when I say that. When she's being really precocious I get all the way to "that's a 3" very quickly. I say "Lulu, you do not (insert bad behavior)" and I put her in the naughty spot and close the door. I leave her there for 3 minutes. When I come back she says "sorry mama" and rubs my arm and gives me hugs and we go right back to good times. I think she's going to be really tough. She pushes it most days. But, I am seeing some progress. I also go overboard to praise her and clap when she makes the right choice. If she looks like she's going to throw her food and I say "Lulu, please don't throw your food" and she sets it back on her tray I clap and make a big deal, Greta claps and Lulu thinks she's a superstar. I think the combo of the two has really helped, but I'm always taking it day-by-day because she seems to change and add a new challenge at least daily :wacko: If I survive her, it will be a miracle.

One quick cute story. The other night she threw a pea on the floor and looked right at me and held up her index finger and said "dats a one mama"... little booger. I said "Yes, that's a 1" and she didn't do it again.

I think it's so hard to discipline or direct a child who is thrilled to get any reaction, positive or negative. Putting her in a spot where nobody can see her and she's not getting a reaction seems to work for now. I make sure not to do too much talking. I just move swiftly and stay consistent.

Didn't mean to write a novel... hope some of it helps.

ETA: I don't count if she hits me or her sister or any of us. Any physical aggression goes right to the naughty spot and doesn't get a count-down.