DS throws everything. Help!

lindslalala

And I mean every.thing.

Anyone have tips for getting DS (almost 14months) to stop throwing everything in sight? I'm talking food (even the stuff he likes), his milk cup, sippy cup, toys, books, etc. I'm sort of at my wit's end with all the throwing. Telling him "no" does absolutely nothing, diverting his attention elsewhere usually just leads to throwing whatever I distract him with, removing him from the situation results in a breakdown 9 times out of 10. And to make matters worse, he doesn't just gently toss things...he full on chucks them as hard as he can.

We do music class weekly and I am stressed the whole time since he is constantly trying to throw instruments despite my best efforts to stop him, he's even hit other kids a few times   I picked him up from gym daycare this morning and he was off in the corner throwing toys and another child yelled "he's bad!!", it sort of broke my heart a little.

I know this is all probably well within what's developmentally normal, but it's wearing on me and I don't want DS to be known as the "bad kid" wherever we go. I feel like we need to break this habit now before it gets any worse, but I'm at a loss. Any words of wisdom would be great, thanks

namara5532

First off, it doesn't sound like he's 'bad'. He probably more so just found a new skill he's practicing.
DS was throwing dinner because I'd give him more to actually eat. I eventually made the rule that if he throws, meal time is over. He needs a reminder every now and then, but he doesn't do it much now.
With toys, it gets taken away if he doesn't listen when I tell him "no throw". He tantrums, but it's reduced the throwing some. It's a work in progress like most things.
Best of luck!

CheezeFace

I literally LOL'd at the title of your post because: Been There, Done That. I feel so old an wise now with an 18mo.  It was a horrible stage that started right around the same time as your DS.  

I would grab his hands tell him "not for throwing" then show him something he could throw.  Or talk about something he could throw if throwing isn't appropriate at that time.  "we throw balls, but not our sippy".  Some times I would just pick him up but I would always say, "not for throwing".  

I think the most effective thing I did was always try to show him what he could do with the item...give it a hug, press a button, take a drink, etc...The meltdowns would happen but if I showed him how to do something rather than just teach "no" they were shorter.

My favorite thing my BFF said to me when we had to leave a restaurant because DS was being awful was, "he's not bad, he's a baby!" 

It's a phase, it'll pass.  And who, knows, maybe you have a Major Leaguer on your hands!  

 

 

lindslalala

CheezeFace:

I literally LOL'd at the title of your post because: Been There, Done That. I feel so old an wise now with an 18mo.  It was a horrible stage that started right around the same time as your DS.  

I would grab his hands tell him "not for throwing" then show him something he could throw.  Or talk about something he could throw if throwing isn't appropriate at that time.  "we throw balls, but not our sippy".  Some times I would just pick him up but I would always say, "not for throwing".  

I think the most effective thing I did was always try to show him what he could do with the item...give it a hug, press a button, take a drink, etc...The meltdowns would happen but if I showed him how to do something rather than just teach "no" they were shorter.

My favorite thing my BFF said to me when we had to leave a restaurant because DS was being awful was, "he's not bad, he's a baby!" 

It's a phase, it'll pass.  And who, knows, maybe you have a Major Leaguer on your hands!  

 

 

Even though I know it to be true, it's still so nice to hear another mom say their kid has done the same thing so thank you

I'm going to work on showing him how to appropriately use the things he's constantly throwing. I already feel like it's going to be exhausting because the throwing is seriously all day long, but I know I have to be diligent. Meal time is going to be a toughie though. I 100% admit to letting the food throwing get out of control, but it's hard to not to give him more food when I know he's hungry and is just throwing things because he doesn't like them and would prefer fruit. Not sure how I'm going to handle that one.

And DH always says "with an arm like that he better be a quarterback" lol.

jani7

We are going through the same thing now.  No advice really. We've started taking away toys he throws but I'm not sure how much it's helping. 

CheezeFace

lindslalala:

Even though I know it to be true, it's still so nice to hear another mom say their kid has done the same thing so thank you

I'm going to work on showing him how to appropriately use the things he's constantly throwing. I already feel like it's going to be exhausting because the throwing is seriously all day long, but I know I have to be diligent. Meal time is going to be a toughie though. I 100% admit to letting the food throwing get out of control, but it's hard to not to give him more food when I know he's hungry and is just throwing things because he doesn't like them and would prefer fruit. Not sure how I'm going to handle that one.

And DH always says "with an arm like that he better be a quarterback" lol.

Meal time was the worst for us, too.  Especially if he was throwing a fit for fruit.  I completely and totally ignored the food throwing.  Totally.  No reaction one way or the other.  Part of that is a normal developmental phase, some of it was b/c DS wanted fruit.  Keep the fruit out of sight and you may even want to have a few meals without it...sort of out of sight, out of mind.

If DS cleared his tray I just said, "Well, look at that!  You are finished!  All Done!!" (With the sign if you use sign)  then I took him out.  He'd be hungry in 30 minutes again but I think this only took about a week until he figured out he better eat what is in front of him or mommy moves him along.  I'm pretty loosey-goosey about food, though and keep a "buffet" out all the time so I wasn't worried he'd get too hungry.

You are so right:  It's exhausting and you have to be dilligent but it will pass.  Promise.

(Our new phase now is to scream like a banshee every time we enter the grocery store because he likes the echo.)