Question
My husband and I have a jealous 16 month old. She is the 4th child. The oldest are (twins) 4.5 yrs and one who is 3.5 yrs. Whenever I am holding one of the other children she begins pulling at me and whining or crying for attention. It's particularly awful when I am brushing their teeth because they lay across my lap and she is tugging and pulling their clothes or swatting their faces in anger. She has full blown crying tantrums over this. Other than when I am holding them she plays with her sisters and adores them all so much. The bigger girls all play well with her and love her and are gentle and kind to her so it's not in retaliation. She is so sweet but she has a horrible temper unlike any of the other children in our family. She has shown signs of this temper from a very young age by laying prone on the floor and crying when she feels she's been wronged. Now it's progressed into screaming and hitting. I know I can't discipline her besides just redirecting and calmly telling her no. I finally put her in her crib when she was acting so awful tonight at toothbrushing time. I left her there until she calmed down and then went to get her after she settled. I cannot let her bully us around and push us to get her way. How do I correct this before it gets out of hand?
