Hi everyone, I’m really worried about my 3-year-old and don’t know where to turn.
We have a 10-month-old who just started walking, and he should be excited… but instead he’s constantly hurting her. He pushes her over, hits, kicks, spits, sits on her chest, and today he purposely trapped her finger in his toy kitchen and made her bleed. It’s escalating and feels far beyond “normal sibling behavior.”
I never leave them alone together. When he’s at nursery, she’s calm and happy, when he’s home, she cries most of the day, especially if he goes near her. It’s heartbreaking.
He’s also aggressive toward us, he headbutted me yesterday and split my partners lip. We’ve tried different parenting approaches, speaking calmly, redirecting, explaining feelings, nothing seems to stick. Nursery and our health visitor have both brushed it off as “normal,” but this doesn’t feel normal. I’m genuinely scared he could seriously hurt her one day.
I feel completely drained, on edge all the time, and like I’m failing both of my kids. Has anyone experienced something like this? Did it get better? What actually helped?
Thank you for reading, I’m at a total loss