Need advice about fighting

[Skysue]

Sorry that you can't do time outs? Sounds a bit weird to me? Can you get rid of the agency! LOL

What about taking away privileges? i.e. if they fight over a toy you tell them if you can't play fair then the toy goes away for the day! I have two 3 year olds as well and they take toys from each other all the time. Tell them if can't give it back by the count of 3 then the toy will go away for the day. If one child does this more often then restrict them from a reward.

Good luck!

Sue

P.S time away for agression should be in a different room have them listen to soothing music or something? Then have a chat about the agression and why we don't hit etc...

I currently have 4 children in my dayhome, including my own. A 3yo girl, 3yo boy(mine), 18 month old girl, and a 9 month old girl (mine).

I am having such a hard time getting the children to play together without breaking into a fight (I'm speaking of the older two). They do fine when I am actively involved and constantly redirect them and prevent issues from escalating. But it seems like as soon as they are in free play, there is constant crying and yelling and "I HAD IT FIRST!". And then there's the pushing and hitting and throwing things. Do you experience this or am I not doing my job correctly?? Any advice on how to deal with situations like that, and mostly, how to prevent them from happening?

Oh, just a FYI, the agency I am with has a policy of no time-outs. What they suggest is time away, which is where if a child isn't playing together well, I give the child a couple of options for a different activity away from the other children. When the child is ready to join the rest of the children again, I ease them into it and then let them play together again. But it seems to not be working for me. As soon as I suggest a different activity, they start crying and getting stubborn and don't want to do anything else. And if that child, for example, hit someone else it seems like just redirecting them to a different activity doesn't really deal with the problem?

Anyway, any advice is welcome.