laughing when we say no

cmt115

my 20 month old is starting to laugh as we say no to certain things, like he thinks its a game we are playing. 

any suggestions? we've been trying to catch him in whatever act is wrong, hold him firmly and tell him no, while making sure he is looking us in the eye. he'll settle down for a minute but then go right back to the bad activity and laugh about it. any non-hitting/spanking suggestions? 

fanofanne

we dealt with this for a little while with our b/g twins...especially our daughter who i'm sure will make me sprout gray hairs prematurely.  so instead of saying no, i started talking them and telling them why we don't do blah blah blah.  for example, "we don't throw our toys because you can hit brother or mommy".  and i'd act it out.  it's worked for us...now dd will explain to me why we don't do x, y, z in her toddler talk, blabber and it's hard not to laugh.

CottonGirl

We are having the same problem.  When our 19th month old son is doing something he shouldn't, I have to tell him No firmly, and he sometimes laughs.  He really just started having mini tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants, so I think this is just a learning process for him.  When I would pick him up he started swinging his arms and hit me in the face a few times.  I held his arms and said "No, you can hit..." and he would laugh.  He doesn't quiet understand that it's not a game yet.  I think the best thing is to stick to your guns, have a good "No" firm voice and just keep repeating yourself.  Might also help to do what the previous post said about saying "we don't do this because..."  But I think most importantly, the child needs to hear a difference in your voice and actions.  Eventually, I think they'll get it. 

cmt115

true Nicb13 - might be too much attention and he can't distinguish between doing something bad and getting mommy's attention. i like the idea of keeping the same voice too. i try not to yell but i know there is a difference in my voice if im frustrated, of course.

good tips all around. consistency will be the hardest part i think!

Jbunny100

Yeah, my 13 month old laughs every time I tell him to stop it.  I get so angry.  I've tried changing up my voice to a really mean sound and that sometimes works, but other times it almost scares him.  His favorite thing to do is kick me in the stomach which is starting to hurt now that I'm 18 weeks preggo.  I need to try just ignoring his behavior which can be hard to do.  Glad to hear I am not alone with the laughing.

mamaHippo23

I messed up telling him "no" by saying it in a silly voice one time and now he thinks it's hilarious instead of taking it seriously. So now I just try to make it as serious as possible or avoid saying all together and just go straight to the consequence. He's probably too young to really understand no, so it seems to work better to just scoop him up and stick him in timeout so he can see the cause and effect more clearly.