16 mos old bully/mean girl

So I've been noticing mean behavior in my 16 mos old, and I need suggestions as to how to stop her. I know it's semi normal at this age to not know sharing, but this child literally wants anything another child has. We went over to my friends house who has a 13 mos old DD and literally her daughter was frightened of DD bc DD would push her, and grab things out of her hand and run away...today at gymboree she was trying to pull off a girls hand from a foam thing she was standing on bc DD wanted to stand there she then tried to lightly, not hard to hit the girl...I have NOOOO idea where she got this from, she is not around any older kids at all, and not mention not around kids her age that much either except for Gymboree...I tell her no, and she gets it...when she does something she KNOWS she's not supposed she looks at me slyly with a smirk...or gives the child/innocent victim a look of "ha ha surprise"....usually when I tell her NO she'll stop, but sometimes she'll keep doing it...any help would be appreciated..I swear she's not going to have any friends and be known as the mean girl..thankfully the mothers usually laugh it off, but I don't want this to be an ongoing thing for her...

Message edited 5/5/2010 5:25:09 PM.

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

I have a mean boy! Ronan can be so mean sometimes. I do think its just the age, asserting their independence but sometimes I am frightened!

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

Saturday we went to my godson's communion party at my friend's house. My BFF's youngest son is 6 months younger than DD. Anything he was playing with, she wanted it and grabbed it out of his hand. At one point she knocked him down and I had to hold him so he wouldn't roll backwards.

Today, DD showed her real first signs of aggression. She gave me her toy egg and I guess I didn't do what she wanted me to do and slapped it out of my hand. She then proceed to shriek and scream and then cried. If I tried to give her something else, she slapped it out of my hand again. Then she started to throw things. I just scooped her up and told her that we do not hit and of course, she started to hit me. I put her in her crib and told her that we do not hit in this house and I closed the door and left her in there. She calmed down a bit.

I'm going to have my hands full with this one

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

Posted by Jencee73

Saturday we went to my godson's communion party at my friend's house. My BFF's youngest son is 6 months younger than DD. Anything he was playing with, she wanted it and grabbed it out of his hand. At one point she knocked him down and I had to hold him so he wouldn't roll backwards.

Today, DD showed her real first signs of aggression. She gave me her toy egg and I guess I didn't do what she wanted me to do and slapped it out of my hand. She then proceed to shriek and scream and then cried. If I tried to give her something else, she slapped it out of my hand again. Then she started to throw things. I just scooped her up and told her that we do not hit and of course, she started to hit me. I put her in her crib and told her that we do not hit in this house and I closed the door and left her in there. She calmed down a bit.

I'm going to have my hands full with this one

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

I think many kids go through this phase. She is testing your boundaries. My advice is too not make a big deal of it in front of her since any attention, even bad attention, reinforces the behavior. Take the item away from her and say we share and then distract her with something else. Also show her how to touch things and people gently.


My son is almost 19 months old and bit me the other day because I wouldn't let him jump and play on top of my coffee table lol.

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

I think it's definitely a normal behavior for this age so don't be too worried. I would just physically remove her from each and every situation where she is overly aggressive and she will eventually get the point that the behavior is wrong.

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

thanks ladies, I really felt that she was learning bad behavior from somewhere, bc all the other kids in her class seem so well behaved and then we have my DD who's the class bully

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

Definitely normal behavior for her age. My DD is a few days younger than yours and she wants everything that other kids have, whether it's a ball at the little gym or whatever. I usually say, "no, we have to share" and go get her something else to take her mind off of it. She has absolutely no concept of sharing yet, but they are still young. I think you're doing the right thing, and don't worry she will have plenty of friends!

Re: 16 mos old bully/mean girl

DS was like that at around the same age. I talked to anyone who would listen (wasn't on LIF yet) and all my girlfriends with kids older than DS said it was a phase and it would disappear as quickly as it appeared and it did. I let him know there were consequences (mainly removing him in some way)though. Basically like a modified time out. It took maybe a month or 2, but it did go away.