Advice please - she's becoming a real little madam!

Georgia-Mae has never been a quiet little angelic girl but just lately she is a complete little s*d! But she would always do as asked or told before. When a toddler i had a 'naughty corner' which really worked.

It's not just since the birth of Gabriel or even my pregnancy that her behaviour has changed she could be a madam beforehand as well, after starting nursery.

But it really is starting to get out of hand now.
She is constantly running around the house shouting and messing about. Throwing things around. Ignores what we tell her, to the point you physically have to move her to get her to even acknowledge you.

If she doesn't get her own way or something she wants there and then she will scream (and i mean scream). She has started hitting and kicking, and will shout at us to do something, slams doors and just says huh, huh, huh all the time.

Mark is working away at the moment and i am finding it really difficult. I don't know how to break the cycle.

She's also constantly in the fridge raiding for something to eat as she syas she is hungry all of the time!!(usually chocolate or yoghurt or wanting crisps - i MAKE her have fruit instead, and won't give her anything if she hasn't finished breakfast / dinner / tea)

Does anyone have any advice. She literally is not doing anything she is asked or told to do and is just doing as she wants. It's getting on the verge of her running the house.

We've tried taking her on days out but she still behaves like this when we are out.

Mikey has become like this too, maybe it is her age, better able to assert herself and decide whether the punishment is actually that bad before being naughty. We used to pick two of his favourite toys and make him pick which one he wasn't allowed to play with for the rest of the day, it worked for quite a long time but now he just laughs, which drives us mad.

Do you know how her teachers handle her at school when she is naughty? If they are choosing not to punish her she may think if she can get away with it at nursery and then school, then she can do the same at home.

Samuel that is exactly what we get from Georgie, she just laughs or says 'NO YOU DO AS KIDS SAY'

I might have a little chat with her teachers when we go back - however i fear that at school she is an angel. They treat her like one anyway and with her being the only girl, and her class in the afternoon only having 5 children in total i cannot see her playing up. Plus her teacher would tell us if she did.

You are right - maybe it's her age, she is the same age as Mikey

Sounds like she is re-testing her boundaries. Children are always doing this, to see if you will let them away with something you never used to. She has been through alot lately, moved, changed school and has a baby brother, thats alot for a 5year old.

Stick with whatever you used to do, I love the naughty spot rather than the stair because I can make ANYWHERE time out zone that way, I just make him face the wall or away from me (I have done it in the supermarket!!)

You could try a sticker chart and agree with Georgia-Mae on a resonable amount of stickers to aim for and what she will get them for and what her treat will be. Or get some marbles and do a similar thing but also tell her if you get behaviour that you or daddy find unacceptable (not tidying up, back chatting etc) again agreed with Georgia-Mae that she will loose a marble. (I like marbles because they can see that they are loosing something)

You will probably find that she is fine at school because their boundaries remain constant and kids accept that and if there was a problem they would let you know.

My daughter Ali is like this only she is also having probs at school. I chatted about this in another area here. With her I started spending more quality time with her, taking her for walks almost every night, having nice quiet talks with her in her room b4 bedtime etc. it seems to work, she is calming down and she is starting to respond to me and not just tell me no etc. I hope it works out for you..I think it is also the age too...plus girls are way more dramatic. My boys were quiet, Ali is way loud LOL

what you have descibed is casey to tee. (i was begining to think i was overreacting to her behaviour and it wasnt bad but just my deffinition of bad IYKWIM)

casey is good as gold at nursery, they were amazed when i said she was badly behaved. they gave us a sticker reward chat to try.(we made the chart and reward to do with what she likes which is animals) she had to collect 10 stickers at home to get a reward both at home and at nursery. she wanted the stickers because she wanted to go see her aunties horse (at nursery she would be allowed to do her fav activity), but she wasnt willing to do thing for them. so i changed it so that when she was naughty i would take stickers away. but it still didnt have any effect.

i spoke to nursery they agreed we cant force her to do anything. she just wasnt responding to the sticker chart. now i just try to ignore bad behaviour until its really bad, then shell be put on the stairs if that doesnt work, ie shes still bad or doesnt stay on the stair or shouts at me shes put to bed.

one of caseys friends has behaviour problems she uses bobbins (balls) in jars, gets 1 for good behaviour loses 1 for bad. she seems to respond ok to them.

i know these ideas havent worked for me but hopfully they may work for you.

I've always found that the naughty step or area works well. Although it can occasionally be a challenge to keep them there. I don't ever use bed as a threat because then bed is seen as a punishment which can lead to problems at bed time.

I usually try and talk to them when they get like this. Try getting their attention by calling them, but sometimes they seem almost trance like so I have to physically remove them from the situation to talk to them. Once I have them separated I can then talk to them as if they were an adult and explain things. It seems to work.

They've all had a smack before and been shouted at to stop doing things. If my voice gets raised to a certain level they know its time to cool it, as I have quite a deep voice and it can be quite intimidating (or so I'm told).

I must admit i haven't used the naughty corner for a while so will be re-introducing that along with a reward chart!!!!


Alex i used to have naughty corners in the supermarket or wherever we were too si i will be re-starting this and re-adjusting boundaries!!

Thanks for all your help guys it is much appreciated! xx