23 1/2 month old and kicking/hitting!!!

[Julymom]

My DD loves to play a game with me every time I change her diaper, or put clothes on her. She lies in the crib and kicks at me,both legs, or just thrashes so it's very hard to get it done. I say Stop kicking, or that hurts Mommy, and she just laughs. I really don't like to spank her for this, but it does make her stop for about 10 seconds. She also hits me, and when I look angry and tell her to stop, again, laughing and continued hitting. My latest tactic with the diaper and clothes is not to react. I don't talk to her, or give her any kind of response...but it still seems to encourage her. What can I do,short of physically pinning her down??

[cay8099]

This does seem to be a let's see what reaction we can get out of mommy game. I think you are doing the right thing by not giving her a reaction. How long have you been trying this? It can take weeks to months to see results. Good luck.

[jaxon1015]

I agree. My son is 20 months old and does the same thing(99% of the time is first thing in the morning when he gets up-he gets dressed before even leaving his room). First time, I tell him to Stop, be nice...he'll continue. Second time, I tell him that Mommy will put him back in his crib if he's not nice. He'll say no, but will still continue. Third time, I'll ignore him and if he still continues, then he goes into the crib for about 30 seconds, or until he agrees to be nice to Mommy (whose currently PG and exhausted!). After about a few weeks of trial and error, he's been stopping at the point of me telling him that I'll put him in his crib.

All kids, up until the age of 5 (some 18, 19, 40)...need the repetition to learn. Keep up with what you are doing now, eventually she'll understand that her behavior is not ok and that she needs to listen.
Good luck.

[mommy of 4 kids]

ok just ingnore her when she try's and i think she is playing little games with you to see what reaction i can get out of mommy it's a game does she also do it with your husband cuase if she listens to daddy then have him change her diaper and get her dresses into her day clothes and PJ's and also time-out for her in her crib is also another way of getting her to listen to you if she keeps after you took her out of her crib then put her back into her crib for about another minute 1 to 2 minutes should go over well with her if she keeps it up even after time-out and you don't want to waste your time and energy with putting her back in forth between her changing table and crib then just ingnore it it should pass it all normal behavior for her to play games with you.