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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
Toddler moms - help me
I'm about to lose my mind!!
Gabe is 21 months old today and it's like a few days ago he flipped a switch and entered the terrible twos or something. I know exactly what's going on - I've been really busy lately with the house showings and cleaning, so he is crying out for attention.
He has screaming fits. He is hitting the baby. He will hit me. He refuses to eat. He throws his toys is defiance.
I guess I haven't really had huge discipline issues yet, and don't know how to handle it. If I give him attention after he acts like that I'm just reinforcing the bad behavior right? But if I don't give him attention it just spirals out of control.
Is he too young for timeout?
I'm about to leave him on a doorstep. Someone help.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Toddler moms - help me
i swear by super nanny. ?and i don't think he's too young for a timeout. ?i believe she says one minute per year, so in his case, just about 2 minutes. ?in a neutral spot (stairs, stoop of fire place, corner of a room). ?just make sure no toys, no talking to him only to explain that it's a timeout. ?if he gets up, put him right back in the spot. ?and you explain everything when the time is up.
?
granted, i'm not a toddler mom. ??
We do timeouts with dd and have been since she was about your son's age, a few mos. ago. It works really well, and now she will put herself in timeout when I give her "the look", lol.
Sounds like he needs some more attention and that he's still adjusting to having to share mommy. I'm going through the same thing with dd. I'm trying to find a good balance b/w giving my dd all the attention she needs and paying attention to ds too.
He's not too young at all. We started time outs around 1 year old. Sit him in the corner and tell him he's in timeout for X behavior....keep him there for 2 minutes and then make him say sorry to you or the baby, etc.
Timeouts definitely work. Now we just give Alex a warning and she usually stops.
OK, timeouts it is.
I think I'm going to set the playyard (the octagon fence thing) up in our living room and put him in there when he acts up.
Thanks ladies.
OK, so I've read that they go through cycles where it's a short time in a GOOD place (very sweet, good coordination, learning new things) and then a short time in a BAD place (oppositional, clumsy, tantrums). For Grayson, the cycle is about every 6 weeks but some kids last as long as 6 months in each phase.
I just know that "this too shall pass." I try to give him extra attention and one-on-one time when he's acting out because I know that's what it is. I ignore bad behavior and praise good. And when it's REALLY willfully ugly, we do a brief (1-2 min) time out. In his crib or in the pack n play since he doesn't know how to sit in a chair in time out.
Hugs to you! It's not easy!
This is what we do. The same thing happened with Caden when he was about Gabe's age. We went from having a lovely, placid little boy to a hot tempered, screaming little man! I know this sounds silly but with every month that's passed he's actually getting better. I thought it would just keep getting worse but he's quite clever & knows that his actions will have consequences. All I have to do now is give him a look or even say the word 'timeout' & he usually stops. I know that the reason why he was acting out was b/c he couldn't communicate properly with me. He gets more words every week & his tantrums have died down since his speech improved. I don't have to guess as much as to what he wants or what's upsetting him. Hang in there...just put your foot down now so he knows when he's crossed the line!
Thanks again ladies.
I need to put my foot down and you guys have given me the kick in the butt I needed to get started!