I have a 2 and a half year old boy who can be rather rambuncious. When he gets really worked up he "play fights" or tries to with other kids his age. He knows that hitting is not a nice thing to do and that it is bad. We leave when he doesn't listen and he gets "talked to". I know he knows it is bad but he still does it. I can't get him to sit for a time out, does anyone else have any suggestions?
My son recently started hitting and we have started putting him in time-out. He's only 16 months old so we used a playpen. His hitting has gone down dramatically as well as his toy throwing out of anger.
Nanny 911 girl! Actually they have a website and I believe you can purchase books about affective dicipline. I seriously don't know how they do it. I watch their shows all the time, them and the SuperNanny and they can get kids under control within a weeks time. I guess it's just repetiveness and communication with your children. Also, spending more constructive time with your children can help as well. Sometimes their actions are a cry for more one on one attention, or just more play time with the parents. I think that's what mine is doing and I'm going to try the more one on one time and more play time with him. I hope you find something that works for you. Best wishes,G.
To be honest, there is no pretty way of handling that kind of situation. The old scare tactic seems to work rather well. next time grab him by the shirt and sternly tell him "NO! THAT IS NOT NICE! YOU WILL NOT HIT ANY ONE!!" And if that doesn't work a good old fashioned paddle to the butt and sent to his room. My brothers and cousins usually picked up on the first one. And it still works on most adults beleive it or not. Good luck.
You need to keep putting him back in timeout until he stays there (It's only 2 minutes, if he wont do what you say for that long I can only assume your "talking to" wont be effective either) or think of something else like putting his toy in "timeout"- when he hits take his favorite toy he is playing with and put it up high out of his reach but still in his sight and say something like "It's not ok to hit and when you do you're going to lose your toy" Then you can give it back later when he calms down and apologizes. He needs to be respectful of what you say. If he decides now that he's in charge and you can't even put him in timeout than things will only get worse. When he gets up from timeout he is testing you. He wants to see what he can get away with. I have a 2 and a half year old boy also and he is constantly testing the boundries also but you have to stay consistant and firm with loving discipline because your #1 priority is teaching him right from wrong. Good luck!
I read a book that had a plan for getting kids to stay in time out. First, you put them there and immediately tell them they can get up (since they will do it anyway). Gradually, you lengthen the time between when you put them there and when you tell them to get up. The idea is that they become conditioned to hear you say it when they get up so after a while they will wait until you tell them to get up until they do. I've tried it with my son and it worked pretty well. The book is "Making the Terrible Twos Terrific" by John Rosemond and it is a wonderful book that I recommend to everyone.
When my son hits, I have found that the only thing that works for him is a spanking. We also talk alot about what is nice and what is not nice. Hitting, kicking, pushing, etc are not nice. Hugs, saying sorry, sharing, etc are nice. It allows me to set really simple, clear boundaries concerning what is allowed and not allowed. I get to do some positive reinforcement by praising him when he is nice and he knows he will be disciplined when he is not nice.
Well, you are the mom and he needs to listen to you. If he doesn't want to sit down for his 2 minute time-out, you will have to hold him down the whole time until he can sit down by himself. He's acting out and seeing that he can get away with hitting which is what is happening. Show him you are the mommy and you will not let him disrespect you. I wish you the best.
Hi D.,
My son is 3 now and he used to do the same thing when he was 2 and I just kept telling him to stop and thats bad and one thing I learned is that when you tell them its bad they end up doing it even more. So every time he hit he went to time out and it was a lot of work but I think now that hes older he understands it a little bit more. He play fights with his father but he does know the difference. Good luck it wont clear up overnight but eventually it will.
