18 Month Old Bullying and Not Sharing... Please Help!

First of all...welcome to toddler-hood! This is completely normal for kids that age. The only thing you can do is to continue to redirect him and explain that he has to share. If he hits or pushes, get down on his level and tell him "no hitting" or "no pushing". You may even need to start a small timout for him when he exhibits the more violent behavior like hitting. Just sit him down and turn on a timer for 1 minute and tell him he can't get up until he hears it beep. He may not stay there, but you should probably start giving that a try. If you have to, you can sit him on your lap facing away from you and from the action (maybe have him stare at a wall) and keep him there until time is up. It's tough at this age because they are just learning how to interact with other kids (until now...they have mostly kept to themselves), but they still have the super selfish streak in them and think the world revolves solely around them. It's up to us to teach them differently.

One other thing you can do since you mentioned that your son doesn't have a lot of opportunities to spend time with other kids his own age is to teach him how to share by playing a game with him. Sit facing each other and get a ball or other toy that he likes. Practice giving it back and forth to each other and when he hands it over, praise him for sharing with you. Then, ask him if he would like a turn and hand it back. This way, he will start to understand what sharing is and that by giving up a toy, it doesn't mean he won't get to play with it again. Good luck. This can be a trying age, but it gets better in a few months when they can start communicating more.

Well... using his words to "ask" for the toy he wants should be the first thing you encourage...

My daughter's school says "it's .... work" when you finish your work you can see if ... is finished or not"... it takes time... but it works.

also,... a "naughty spot" is an option - Super Nanny style.

and/or you could try to get an activity that all 3 of you could do and work on sharing and cooperation that way...

J.

Hi R., Sound like he feels unsure around your brother, He shares you he doesn't want to share you or anything else fighting over toys is kid of kie straking out his territory.
Try supervising playtime very closely Catch your son being good even if its 30sec.Praise him "I like your castle" whatever..encourage him to use words in any way say "my turn"
don't scold him for not sharing or being nice instead say "I love you I won't let anyone hurt you and I won't let you hurt anyone else..redirect bad behavior don't be afraid to be fair but, always allow your son to know he is your number one,
everything he is doing is really age approprate so I wouldn't label him a bully.
My sister and my nephew are very close in age many challenges ..they are now 17 and 18 and they are friends..
good luck

Any time my 24-mo. son does something with his hands that is not acceptable, I sit him in my lap, holding his hands in front of him so that he cannot use them. I tell him that he cannot use his hands b/c he [hit/took away/whatever]. He can be a real screamer, but after the first few times, he started to understand and accept his consequence. He isn't capable of understanding WHY something is wrong, so I don't lecture him, but forced sitting still is torture for him (and most 18-36 mo.), so it's pretty effective. Every time he tries to wiggle out or move his hands, I repeat why he is restrained, and other than that I don't really talk to him. Now that he is a bit older, I also tell him to say "Yes, ma'am" (in his baby way, it's simply a nod ;)) after I remind him why he's "stuck". I like the idea that he is learning respect for me and others at the same time, and I don't feel like it's an attention-giving consequence, either.
May God bless you and your family! :)

R.,
Sharing is not a priority for an 18 month old. The world very nearly still evolves around him, so it is ok that he isnt sharing all the time. You may be more sensitive to the fact that he is not sharing with your brother. It is your child so it is bothering you alot because you are so close to them both. Let them be little and work out your feelings without trying to force anything onto the toddlers in your life.

Practice sharing with him. I once heard that maybe trying to have more than one similar toy could help, but I found that it doesnt help because the point that the other child has it makes it more enticing.

Making their time together more physical and less material so that they do not have to fight for anything. Park days are good right now since the whether cooperates, when it cools too much, turn on some baby tunes and let them have a run of one of the rooms in the house, preferably one that has no toys.

Let them play with recyled boxes as building block or newpaper plastic bottle bowling-stuff that they and you will feel more comfortable if pieces didnt stay together.

Try to have fun,
M.
M.

Hes only 18 monthes old you need to look at what your expecting out of him, its not age approprate. Children dont learn to "share" untill the age of 4 they just don't have the cognative ablity. Also haven't you heard of the toddlers credo, whats mine is mine, whats yours is mine, what I had an hour ago is mine, etc. At this age they don't have the social skills or ablities, they parrall play they don't play together. My sugestion is have plenty of toys for every one maybe even duplicates and use modeling and redirection. If your child is doing something you don't like just redirect him to something else a new toy, activity, food, color, what ever, and get his attention off the negitive behavior. I would just be sure your not expecting things that are out of his development. HTH