Reward Charts for a 2 1/2 year old.

JoannandNicholasWedding

Help!!

I have a 2 1/2 year old. His biggest problems are throwing stuff (cars, cups, anything), doing the windshield swipe (where he clears everything off a table, even when you tell him no), kicking when you change his diaper, and listening when I ask him to come here (he will run on the couch and bury his face in it)

 

These may be normal 2 year behavior, but, I need help on what else to do about it..

Taking away the cars, or whatever he threw, does not matter to him, he will just go get another toy, and we are on repeat for the day.

Clearing off a table, is the same thing. You can tell him no that we don't do that, and he still does it.

Time out does not work for him. I have been VERY consistant with it and he laughs at me and it's a battle.

I have told him ten billion plus times that we don't kick, he still does it. I'm pregnant too and due in June, so when he kicks, it's near my belly.

 

I was talking to my sister and she said, maybe that a reward chart will work? If so, what did you guys use as an incentive? I've thought about doing stickers on there. That if he gets the week full, he can get a new surprise?

 

I'm out of ideas and my husband is in Afghanistan, so it's just our son and I until October, with the new baby coming in June, so I'm trying to get this taken care of now.

 

ANY help is greatly appreciated!! I need it. I feel like I need Super Nanny in my house!!

metisca

Hi!  We have used reward charts with good results.  We did stickers.  Now she is motivated enough by just getting a sticker and we don't need to use a prize.  Right now we're doing a chart for going back to sleep if she is woken up by DD2 at night.  She gets a sticker in the morning if she went back to sleep instead of crying for us.  We also did one for potty training with stickers.  We did a sticker for morning, afternoon, and evening - if she got all 3 she'd get a special treat before bed (extra book to read, graham cracker, piggy back ride, etc).

I'd suggest just focusing on one specific behavior at a time.  I know you want to do a lot by June, but maybe all you'll need is a week or two for each behavior.  If you think he'll have a hard time going all day without doing the bad behavior, break it into morning, afternoon, evening with an opportunity for a sticker each time.  Praise him a lot for his good behavior too! 

Good luck : ) 

bim38106

We're planning on starting a sticker reward chart for DD (teeth brushing) pretty soon.

I think that at this age, going a full week before getting a reward might be too long. Thinking back to my teaching days, with K, we would do it almost daily at first (not every time though!) and then space it out more and more. Eventually you can get to a week and then even just the fun of getting the sticker (and maybe putting it up on the chart himself).

I can't tell you what works well for this age yet, since I haven't started it.. but a reward chart is a really great tool!

Someone on one of these boards posted this site and I've already printed a few charts out. Great resource!  

https://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/

JoannandNicholasWedding

 I wasn't going to make him wait a week to get a sticker, he would get one every day if he did it good. Then at the end of the week, he'd get a surprise..

 

Thanks for the charts.

bim38106

JoannandNicholasWedding:

 I wasn't going to make him wait a week to get a sticker, he would get one every day if he did it good. Then at the end of the week, he'd get a surprise..

 

Thanks for the charts.

ya, that's what I meant It depends on the child of course, but you may want to do less stickers for a reward at first, so that he gets a reward earlier then a week. Sometimes they'll lose interest if they have to wait too long at first. So you could do stickers before nap and then at the end of the day at first, and every 3 stickers get a small reward.. then work your way up to 1 sticker a day and 1 reward a week... for example.

lorik0428

We've been using a reward chart for Sarah's potty training.  I found a site that you can download all kinds (besides potty training) and print for free.  Her fave is the Yo Gabba Gabba.  Each time she goes potty (in the toilet) she puts 1 sticker on and if she poops (in the toilet) then she gets to put 2 on.  She loves it!

https://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/

JillAly

Stalking your post- I want to see what people say.  I swear you stole my son!!!  I could have written this post word for word. I'm going to try the reward chart.  My son will probably tear it down or rip up the stickers but it's worth a try!

JoannandNicholasWedding

JillAly:

Stalking your post- I want to see what people say.  I swear you stole my son!!!  I could have written this post word for word. I'm going to try the reward chart.  My son will probably tear it down or rip up the stickers but it's worth a try!

 

It's stressful. I'm so glad that someone else knows what I'm going threw!!!

franciscaz

The Reward Chart was a HORRIBLE fail for us.  I want to try again when he turns 3.  Granted Harmon has Sensory Intergration which makes things more challenging than "normal" tots but I figure you wanted some feedback if it worked or didn't work for us.

What has worked for us are positive consequences.  When he is caught doing something right he is PRAISED for it.  Gets a LOT of postive attention and when he does something wrong that is bad he gets time out.  Quickly the dichotomy is teaching him it is better to be "mom's little helper" than "mom's little hellion". 

june10-06

I love behavior charts (wow i sound lame:). I work with kids with behavior problems and that is usually one of my first recommendations. And we use them constantly at home for our ds. A couple things...they work on positive reinforcement so you'll need to find a behavior that is incompatible with the behaviors that you're trying to stop. The stickers are rewards for doing something specific.They don't work great when you give the reward for not doing something. So sometimes you can reward playing nicely or using gentle touches. But then you'll have to work hard to find him being good and reward it. In the beginning you may have to reward him for just sitting there and then make a big deal about how he was playing nice and give him a sticker. It helps if you label the behavior and be very specific and give lots of praise. 

Also, kids this young need more frequent rewards, esp in the beginning until they get the hang of how it works. The first time we did a chart with ds, we did getting a sticker every time he peed on potty and 3 stickers was a prize. Then after that it was 5 stickers for a prize and so on. We stock up on cheapy prizes at the dollar store and ds loves them. GL!

thumper57

I am also preg and DC will also kick  or hit around my belly.

What I do is I tell him I'm going to go to anther room because he's hurting mama. He HATES  it and throws a fit when I leave him sitting there. 

How are you doing your time outs?  Time out did not work for me until I changed how I do it.  His high chair has been placed in a another  room. He is alone and cannot see anyone (he can hear us though)  when he is placed in time out. .  He comes out of time out a complete angel.

 

JoannandNicholasWedding

june10-06:

I love behavior charts (wow i sound lame:). I work with kids with behavior problems and that is usually one of my first recommendations. And we use them constantly at home for our ds. A couple things...they work on positive reinforcement so you'll need to find a behavior that is incompatible with the behaviors that you're trying to stop. The stickers are rewards for doing something specific.They don't work great when you give the reward for not doing something. So sometimes you can reward playing nicely or using gentle touches. But then you'll have to work hard to find him being good and reward it. In the beginning you may have to reward him for just sitting there and then make a big deal about how he was playing nice and give him a sticker. It helps if you label the behavior and be very specific and give lots of praise. 

Also, kids this young need more frequent rewards, esp in the beginning until they get the hang of how it works. The first time we did a chart with ds, we did getting a sticker every time he peed on potty and 3 stickers was a prize. Then after that it was 5 stickers for a prize and so on. We stock up on cheapy prizes at the dollar store and ds loves them. GL!

Thank you!!! I will try your ideas as well.