Three Year Old Boys

bethanyguse

I have a little boy who just turned 3 last week and I was wondering if anybody feels the same as I do. I can punish him over and over for the something and literally 30 minutes later he is doing the same thing. He will go up to our TV and turn it on won’t come down until I tell him I will punish him and them he is down in a jiffy!! I don’t know want to do  and I was wondering if any of ya’ll got some advice for me. I’m about to give up on punishing unless you guy have something to tell me. I’m also open to people telling me that I’m doing something wrong, ‘cause, that is what we are here for, to help each other out with “Momin-It”

krandolphboymom

What kind of punishment? My 2.5 yo is definitely fighting with us on the listening front as well. I do time outs which turn into more temper tantrums. So far the most effective is taking away privileges has been the most effective. My son likes laying in my bed watching his tablet before bedtime. I took that away one night and just rocked him, but wow had no idea how much it meant to him. Maybe change the punishment- find something to leverage that he cares about. Good luck!

bethanyguse

Here is what kajialex said about something along the same lines:

kajialex said:

He has been conditioned to respond to your ‘threats’ of punishment. His behavior is contingent on your threats which are also giving him attention. When you are wondering WHY a person is using a behavior, first find out the function. Behavior is communication. Especially for nonverbal or limited verbal people (like toddlers!). So why is he turning the TV up? Is it because he wants your attention and every time he does it you give him attention, consistently, without fail? Then you are actually teaching him that that is the proper way to get your attention. So try ignoring it (it WILL get worse before it gets better) and instead catch him being good and give him attention when he is behaving perfectly. Drop everything and focus on him for a solid few minutes until he bored of your attention and moves on. Good luck!