Discipline for My 15 Month Old

I will be watching this...I have the same problem with my 18 month old. I have tried time outs but he doesn't seem to get it. He laughs when I speak sternly...like I am playing a game with him. At this point I guess I have to stick with the time outs and hope they start being effective...I am hoping to learn some new ideas here though!

Hi L.,

As a mother of ten, now 25 down to 5, I'd say 15 months is pretty young....rather than wear yourselves out...I'd think it okay to simply push in chairs or remove whatever he is trying to climb on for a few more months. He'll understand better as he's older. Mine sure did. Some of it's just normal "baby-proofing" a home.

What do you think of that?

B. in Eau Claire, WI
877.835.9523...call any time - I love helping other mothers.

We thought that our eight month old was imitating mom and dad by trying to give us kisses. He would grab our faces or hair, pull us close to him and plant a big, wet sloppy one on us. However, this "kissing" eventually turned to biting as he is currently experiementing with his new chompers. I read that the best response is to say "no" (in an un-dramatic fashion), distance him a bit and redirect him. We've just started this process within the past week and the biting is becoming less frequent and I'm not losing quite as much hair.

Strange to think that we have to start parenting/dicipling our son at such an early age.

Interesting because my pediatrician told me that at that age they still cannot control themselves and their actions. They don't have the impulsivity control, yet. Believe me, I know how you feel! My son is 14 months and has earned the name "The Destroyer" because he's always into/doing something! Hang in there.

Well since they are to little to sit in time out, I would set up a play pen, or use his crib as a time out area....set a time for a min, and then tell him sternly, "No Climb, not ok!"
My almost three yr old is still climbing, we just keep child proofing, as she climbs on something, that gets moved to the basement....as for the things that I cannot move, figure out how to make it safer, she goes on time-outs..
Hope that works!
-M.

I also have a 15 month old so I understand what you are dealing with. I have moved the more dangerous objects into storage and redirect him when it is something I can't remove (like the kitchen chairs). When the stove is on I warn him by saying HOT HOT! he repeats me and stays away. He did burn his finger once and now is quite careful when I say hot. I try not to use no very often, so it has more meaning when I use it. I do say No when he bites and then I set him in the corner or in my room for 15 sec. He hates being left out of the action so timeout will be effective one he makes the connection the biting or pinching mean a time out. Best of luck finding out what works for you. Remember that he is young and might not understand that he did some thing wrong.
A.

At his age the best is to redirect him in a different direction or set him down and say no and give a brief description why more to prepare him for the future I do daycare and have a time out stool (just a plain step stool) that can go anywhere I want set him on it for a mn or 2 then have him do something else yelling, screaming dosn't help and i have found the getting in their face will scare them more than anything and you do not want him scared of you at this age.

I agree with Shannon. I wonder if your pediatrician actually has any children of his own. The only thing I've been able to do with my boys is to redirect. I avoid the word "no" unless it is an activity that could lead to severe injury or death. Otherwise I remove my son from the situation and then tell him that I don't want him to fall and hurt himself. But I have also watched from a close distance when my son is doing something that could result in a short fall because he has to learn on his own what he is capable of doing and experience the consequences if he's overdoing it. Saying "no" all the time usually just results in a child that also says "no" all the time and doesn't respond to the word.

Good luck and hang in there. Pretty soon he'll be through his terrible twos and into his troublesome threes. (ha ha)

He's not to young to try timeouts!

When my daughter was around 1yr. If she getting into something that was hot or sharp I would be a actress and grab her attention and go NO NO OWIE OWIE that's HOT, owie it will burn you. And she would look at me like I was crazy and after a few times she got he point.

I grabbed my daughters chin to get eye contact and scolded her at IKEA like you said the doctor told you to do and another woman said "Oh no no she did not just do that to a child" Well it worked PERFECT for me my 5 yr.old immediately straightened out her behavior and it's not abusive or mean. Ignore people and find whatever works for you.

What about trying to redirect him to something else? If he is climbing on something he shouldn't you could just pick him up, calmly say "no" and get him interested in something else.

You didn't mention what he was doing that was dangerous. Is it dangerous if you are supervising him? I found with my son that if I let him explore (as long as I was right there with him) the novelty wore off and it no longer became an issue. Doing this reduced the number of times I was telling him "no" so that when I really needed him to stop doing something it was far more effective when I did have to say NO.

It's hard to remember sometimes that our kids aren't out to make us crazy - they just see every waking moment as a new learning experience.

Have fun with his curiosity and good luck!

First off, get a new pediatrician! You should sit Will down and talk to him face to face. Tell him that what he is doing in dangerous and he might hurt himself. Tell him you don't want him to hurt himself; it will only make him cry and you sad. Then suggest another alternative to what he is doing. If he is climbing on stuff that you don't want him to climb on, get him something that you are okay with him climbing on.

Have a place in the house, like they show on Nanny 911, that is a dicipline area. Yes, we have a 'naughty step'. It really works. When our daughter acts up we put her there. Sometimes just the suggestion of putting her on the 'naughty step' straightens her up.

All kids love to climb on things. It's fun! Good luck!