Taming a difficult toddler

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Is it you or your toddler who rules the roost? If you feel you're constantly battling to be in charge, don't worry, you're not alone!

Role reversal

Once your toddler believes she's the boss, it's easy to start accepting it. But, according to Ros Jay, author of Kids & Co: Winning Business Tactics For Every Family (White Ladder Press, £6.99), if you get the roles wrong at this early age it's much harder to correct later on.

Jenny, 29, says her family literally has to tiptoe around 2-year-old Thomas: 'If we give him a cup of juice, he'll throw it across the room because he wants a bottle. If we move his plate a centimetre from the edge of the table, he'll get upset and refuse to eat. We find ourselves automatically avoiding situations that may cause Thomas to "kick off".'

Guilty as charged!

But why are we giving our children so much power? Parenting coach and founder of www.coachingmums.co.uk, Amanda Alexander, believes an overload of information may be responsible. 'Advice can be great, but we sometimes forget that what works for one child may not work for another, and also that we know our own children best,' she says.

Amanda thinks guilt is the other big culprit, 'We spend a lot of time feeling guilty - whether it's about going out to work, not going to work, or a host of other issues - and then try to make up for it.'

By Keris Stainton