jenifur,
I follow Prof Shichida, Glen Doman and Dr. Sears in parenting
. It's about lots of love and understanding our own children.
What your #1 is doing to you now, could be he wants your attention and you to accompany him. What I will suggest which many might not agree, is to just spend more time with him, carry and pat him and talk to him to tell him that mommy is tired carrying him, ask him to lie on bed and mommy will pat. Give him what he wants. Ask till he said yes. He will be ok already. Gotta take baby steps to "correct" behaviour. I will recommend "The good behaviour book" by Dr William Sears and Martha Sears. It's a very good book, I find.
My #1 will listen to me when I ask him to do things before I gave birth to the gals. Even when going for classes, he is quite independent unless I had not given him enough attention that day or previous day. Now, after giving birth, I was away from him for 5 days. And when home, I cannot carry him, cannot do things with him, cannot play with him. He dun really listen to me now, but still quite a happy boy. Gotta repeat and repeat. It's kinda like detached... He's more attached to his daddy and porpor now
hmm... I do not believe in spanking. Violence will create violence in them
If a child hit or beat other children when he/she goes to school, very likely the parents also beat them at home. They will learn to associate if I dun get what I want, I just beat up the other person, cos that's how I was treated. Furthermore, now is spanking the backside, next time might be even more when get out of control. They will get so called "naughtier" as they grow up. Violence will create even more violence.
According to Shichida, when a kid is difficult, parents should reflect on themselves
. It's true. Whenever I am tired and frustrated, I will have a cranky and naughty #1.
jerejoy,
You should be able to cope. Believe in yourself
You just need to recognise your baby's cries and cues for their need. You will be fine and will be enjoying parenting
My hubby and I enjoyed parenting so much with #1 till he wants 5 kids now. hahaha... Last time, he only wants 1 kid.
From experience from #1, whenever he needed to be carried when he was very young, we will carry him. We did not let him cry out loud. We will attend to him when he stirred. We had a lot of objections that we should just let him cry, else carrying become a habit. However, after a few days of carrying, he do not need to be carried anymore. It was indeed tiring, but I think worth it. Following Shichida, I feel that the most important is not to let baby keep crying and searching for his needs. Baby's cries is communication. If the parents just refuse to acknowledge the cries, it will reach a point of "communication breakdown". The child becomes "closed". And parents will think that it's good, cos the child is quieter now, not realising it's the child gave up in trying to communicate. This might cause parents-child communication problems in future, and also communication problems with others or lack of confidence in the child. These are the last thing I want in my kids
I do not give pacifier to my #1, and will not be giving it to my gals too
Pacifier can hinder speech development. Some parents give the pacifier because they are afraid of their babies sucking their fingers. I read from GD that babies suck fingers cos they are exploring their fingers. But after the exploration stage, it's due to boredom. So, at a later stage, if baby suck fingers, keep them occupied. That stage will pass
Some of the things that I follow are a bit controversial, especially to our parents' generation. You know, one day, my mum was telling me that she listened to the older generations of not carrying me and my sisters when we were young. When she told me these, I can feel that she's kinda regretting after seeing the "results" in my #1. I told her it's the past already. That time, I had lots of objections and nagging, but me and my hubby insisted in our believes and follow the books.
I also do flashcards and Glen Doman program from birth. I follow "How smart is your baby" by GlenDoman and Janet Doman. Lots of objections when I had my #1 too. ...too young... ...too stressful... ...pity my child... etc etc. Cos all these are very "new". I persisted. Results are showing slowly in my #1 now. He's coming to 2 years old now
Now, everyone asking me if I have started all those things that I had done previously with my two gals! hahaha...