My 2.5 year old is becoming a mischievous little monkey. She doesn't seem to 'get' the idea of consequences yet, and I'm trying to find new ways to guide her behaviour. Until recently, we've simply used 'redirection' to deal with unwanted behaviours (i.e. just ignored what she was doing and get her interested in something else), but I think she's old enough to start learning more.
I use natural consequences where possible, and also do lots of things like "No, I won't open the crayon box until you've picked up the cup that you knocked on the floor," etc., but if there's nothing she specifically wants at the time, I don't have an immediate consequence for her.
I've made a board with pictures of both girls, and they each have a cut out kite that can move up and down the board, depending on how they're behaving. My oldest LOVES this kind of thing, and sees the kite moving down as enough of a consequence to make her improve her behaviour. It's not working with the youngest, though. She just doesn't care where the kite is.
One thing we thought about trying was taking away her musical dog at night, (she listens to it as she goes to sleep), but we're leaning away from this idea because there's too much of a delay, and because we're too tired to deal with the inevitable hour-long bedtime screaming that would probably happen if we did.
Any suggestions of what might work?
I use natural consequences where possible, and also do lots of things like "No, I won't open the crayon box until you've picked up the cup that you knocked on the floor," etc., but if there's nothing she specifically wants at the time, I don't have an immediate consequence for her.
I've made a board with pictures of both girls, and they each have a cut out kite that can move up and down the board, depending on how they're behaving. My oldest LOVES this kind of thing, and sees the kite moving down as enough of a consequence to make her improve her behaviour. It's not working with the youngest, though. She just doesn't care where the kite is.
One thing we thought about trying was taking away her musical dog at night, (she listens to it as she goes to sleep), but we're leaning away from this idea because there's too much of a delay, and because we're too tired to deal with the inevitable hour-long bedtime screaming that would probably happen if we did.
Any suggestions of what might work?