Lissa

Oliver has just started screaming whenever he wants something. Am I supposed to answer him? For example, if I don't make dinner fast enough, he screams and has a fit!

Also, what do I do when he keeps going for something that he isn't supposed to touch? I've been telling him "no" and taking him away from the item, but he keeps doing it. Any advice? Is it too early for time out? He's driving me NUTS.

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Angeline

its too early for time out or "quiet time". This is effective for those 2 or above 2 years old, I have wrote an article on this. You can get some idea from here.

seriously, he is alittle too young to understand what should or should not be done, even after punishment.

when he screams...go to him and say, "mummy don't like screaming children, please play with this...." pass him a new thing, need not be toy, it can be a bunch of keys or anything under the sun that creates some sound, and he have never played with before.

sometimes his screaming may just be an attention getter, then you need to ignore it. back to basics, you need to understand your child's behaviour. If he continues after 10mins, then go to him and distract him with other objects that can entertain him.

Never say "don't" to a child, read my article on "why 'don't' never works on a young child"

just remove whatever thing you do not wish him to touch away from his sight. Out of sight is out of mind.

Hope this helps....

http://allaboutyourchild.com

Lissa

Great info! Thanks a lot!

I still don't understand from reading your blog what exactly I'm supposed to do. He's too young to understand "time out" so what should I do then? I can't really move a television out of his sight.

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Kaytee

well I disagree that he is too young for time outs. MOdified ones though. We started Nichole on time outs when she was a baby, in a sense.

When she bit during nursing I would tell her no, you do not bte mommy and set her down and walk away for a minute. It lasted 3 days and she hasn't bit me since. She was 8 months old or so.

At about a year old we did time outs as well. they did work. I didn't do it for a whole minute though, usually say she was getting in the dishwasher when I am trying to unload. I would say "do not climb in the dishwasher" she would climb back, I would tell her again "do not..." she would do it again, on that 3rd time I would pick her up tell her again that we don't do that and why "you can get hurt" or whatever then I would set her down on the other side of the room and go back to what I was doing. She took to it very well and rarely would try again.. that day at least lol.

When Nichole whine for something (22 months old so whining is everyday) I tell her please stop whining and tell me what you want, if she is unable to verbalize it I tell her to show me and she gets up and shows me what she wants.

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Jules

Well I wish I had some good advice for you on the screaming, but my LO has been a screamer for about 4 months and so far I haven't been able to break it. GRrrr, my ears hurt, LOL. When I am cooking dinner I do find that if I put her in her highchair where she can see me I can give her a cracker or a bowl and a spoon and she will hang out a little more contently. She can see me and talk to me, but she isn't under my feet in the kitchen. So maybe that will help. We have always called late afternoon/early evening (around 4 or 5 pm) the witching hour. Seems like that is the time of the day when they are hungry and tired and don't know what to do with themselves. After dinner things are usually better, before is just a bad time of the day for LO's it seems.

And as for getting into stuff I use baby gates. You can also get a guard for the front of the TV if he is pushing buttons and such. check babies r us or someplace similar. Sometimes I will put my DD in her Highchair w/ a toy if she keeps getting into the same thing. It doesn't have to be long, but if I am trying to get something done and she keeps getting into something I can put her upthere w/ something to play with and after a few minutes they usually forget what they were getting into and you can let them loose again. It is kind of like a time out, w/o the punishment aspect, if that makes any sense.

Take it from a mom of 3, you just have to figure out what you can live with. Not saying that the kids should run wild, just what battles do you want to fight and which do you just let go of.

fallon

I totally agree with this...time outs worked for dd when she was that age to and it works well for the 19 month old I watch 5 days a wk

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Lissa

Good ideas. I will look for a VCR guard but still wondering about the TV. It is a very expensive TV and I don't want him to break it. He is 13 months old. Not sure if he understands time out. I notice that he listens more to his dad's tone of voice than mine when I say "no". I think he thinks I'm playing with him.

He also has a biting problem too. He doesn't bite out of anger but just playful, but still it hurts!!

What happened to my sweet little angel?

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hannah's mommy

1) Ignore him when he screams. I know it hurts your ears, but if he knows he can get a reaction when he screams he will keep doing it.

2) Distraction. "No, Oliver, we don't play with the TV. Let's help Mommy pick up toys instead." I don't think time-out is necessary for a toddler.

Lissa

Thanks.

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Lissa

What do you think I should do about the biting?

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