Cant sleep
I am lying in bed awake, in desperate need of sleep, thinking about how i let myself down today as a parent.
I lost my cool on my toddler who woulsnt stop kicking and punching the bed, and standing and dropping herself on the mattress near her infant sister. She even bit me today (she thought it was funny), which is very left field for her. She was just overflowing with playfullness and i couldnt bring her down.
I just want her to go to bed without a fight but she just doesnt stop. So i lost my cool i yelled at her, and im so disapointed in just how angry i felt. Im the adult, how can i teach her emotional regulation if i lose it too?
She has no fear of consequences. I can tell her what is going to happen if she does something and she just laughs at me. When i follow through she screams and cries and says she wont jump or kick or hit and then once her time-out is over she goes right back to it. Then my infant starts crying and im flustered and frustrated and barking commands at my toddler "just lay down. Lay down. Stop climbing on me. Stop. Stop. Stop. Your pulling my hair. Lay down." all useless communication. I just feel trapped trying to calm down my infant while my toddler takes advantage.
Consequences include:
Me leaving the room with little sister
Putting her in the pack-n-play so she cant climb out and continue to kick her feet or bounce on the bed
Putting her in time out for 2 minutes.
Her response:
She laughs at me until i follow through then screams and cries until the consequence ends. Then repeats the bad behavior as soon as the consequence is over.
We have a good routine to set her up for success with going to bed. Her general attitude towards sleep is "why" and "i dont like sleeping".