Is it possible to discipline 6 month olds

caden

I don't mean punishing, like spanking, or anything. I just mean, do 6 month olds understand "No." Are they capable of being naughty or do they do whatever they do? 

I ask b/c when I feed DS1 solids he thinks it's hilarious to blow the food out of his mouth. He's perfectly capable of eating them. I've tried to give him the stern "mom look" and tell him "no" and he just grins back at me like it's all super funny. Am I wasting my time? Is there a better way to get the point across? 

OrangeSmoke

Unfortunately, I don't think so....

At least not in my house, my boys think the "stern mom look" is hilarious.  I looked in the Baby 411 book, and they said start at 9 months, but only for things that could hurt them.

sigh.....

amanda31H

At 9 months the girls understood the word "no."  It doesn't mean they actually decide to not do what they're doing, but they understood the concept.

caden

Ok thanks. I was wondering if my look wasn't stern enough LOL. I'll just brush up over the next few months

OrangeSmoke

caden:

Ok thanks. I was wondering if my look wasn't stern enough LOL. I'll just brush up over the next few months

I've been practicing too - but apparently I'm just getting funnier and funnier.

 

SpinningJess

The earlier you start to discipline your kids the better.  Discipline is different than punishment....and right now you just need to work on discipline, and training them what is proper behavior. When he spits out the food, just firmly tell him no and place your finger over his lips.  If he keeps doing it, tell him "Ok, we are done" and stop feeding him.  It will take some time and patience but he'll get it!  There are some really great child rearing books out there, I can't for the life of me think of the name of the one I like right now though  haha

amanda31H

I should add that we do a lot of distraction. 

I don't want my kids to hear the word "no" all.day.long, neither do I feel like saying it all.day.long. 

So I started using the word "no" at 6 months, but we use distraction a lot.  If it's a no-don't-play-with-my-laptop, then I hand them a toy that they can play with, etc.  As my mother would say "you can remove the temptation."

BTW Caden- my girls still spit food back at me and find it effing hilarious.  They also do it to each other.  When that happens I usually take a break.  I give them cheerios or something, and don't force the spoon feeding for that  minute or two - distraction.  After a couple minutes, I go back to our reguarly scheduled spoon feeding. 

jboricua

IMO at that age its all about action and reaction they blow the food out u give them the look they think its funny and do it again  just like they throw a toy u pick it up say dont throw it again but they throw it just to see u pick it up... they might understand the word no but theyre not going to stop doing it just like PP i suggest a distraction will work better .. mine started listening more when they were about 1 yr old

ougrad1

No...six months old is six months old.  I really try to reserve the word "no" for emergency situations even with my three year old.

caden

Thanks everyone! I tried all your tricks at this last feeding and after a while he figured it out. First I tried putting my finger on his lips, but he just licked my finger. So then I tried ignoring him until he stopped, and sort of kept the tip of the spoon in his mouth longer than normal. It took maybe 10 min but he eventually stopped. : )