Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

My DD is 2 1/2 and has been so bad lately i dont know what to do. Whats hard is that we have an almost 5 month old at home and it is difficult to disipline her because she will cry forever and then eventually wake him if he is napping (and he NEEDS sleep or he is miserable).

What is the best technique do you think for getting them to listen? I need a solution to my growing problem. She really has been testing us like crazy.

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

Time outs with a timer.

Plain and simple, you have to get tough!

If her behavior is unacceptable tell her she will get 2 mintues, if she continues giver her the 2 minutes. If she gets up or comes out of her time out are, tell her the 2 mintues starts over.

The first day is the toughest just remember to always follow through.

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

Time outs is what we do.

Although, my husband prefers to just say "no Claire" over and over

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

Thankfully, lately we haven't had to do it too much, but first we tell her to stop whatever it is and why she needs to stop. Then if she does it again she goes to her room (I don't usually say time out, we just say "you're going to your room if you don't stop.") We put her into her room, close the door. Sometimes she tries to open it, so I have to hold the handle. After 2 minutes, I go in, get down to her level and explain why she was in trouble and I tell her that I love her, but she needs to stop xyz... It's so hard. This is a really tough age. I really don't know what I would do to discipline her if I needed her to be quiet. I'd be in trouble with that one.

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

time out chair works best for us...but luckily, lately - just a strict warning is working. (she turned 3 in June)

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

- Turn the TV off
- Angry eyes (believe or not, it that still works for me).

Last resort: "ETHAN JEFFREY you need to stop NOW"

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

We found out with our 3 year old that time outs just do not work. He couldn't care less about them, even when he is in them. We have been trying to follow methods described in a book called Positive Discipline and it's too early to tell if it's working but I can tell you one thing, it is much nicer not having all the screaming going on around here! The book is great and has lots of good ideas. I highly recommend it!

Re: Mom of 2-3 year olds....please tell me how you dicipline your child...

It depends on the issue. We are very firm, and very consistent - so "testing" doesn't go so far - he is seeing less and less reason to test, because the response is always the same.

For example:

He gets told one time to stop doing something.

Then, if he does it again, we tell him that there will be a consequence (we state the behavior and consequence)

So, lets say:

He hits us.
We say - no hitting.
He hits again.
We say: If you do it again, you get a time out.
Then - he either stops, and thats great. If he does it again, we don't say another word - we already told him what he'll get. He silently gets led to time out, where he will stay compliantly. sometime he stands there quietly, sometimes he cries. After about a minute, he comes over to us, says sorry, and we move on.

If he is doing something with a toy (hitting something with a toy and is told to stop) we do the same thing - he gets told no. Then if it continues he gets told that the toy will be taken away. and then if it continues, the toy is taken away - its still the time out model, we just don't direct him anywhere - we remove the item. After about a minute, he says sorry, and receives the item back.

If he doesn't stay in time out, we put him in his high chair and have it face the wall. Or we walk away and ignore him.

We have been disciplining him very early - at an age where most people think he wouldn't get it, but he did, so he understands now when he is getting disciplined. He generally is a good boy and doesn't like us to be angry with him, and he is a little stuck on rules, so that all factors in as well.

The trick is being consistent, and no empty threats. If you are going to Disneyworld, lets say - next month, don't say "No Disneyworld if you don't listen" because unless you cancel the trip, its an empty threat. Same thing goes with anything they would get - unless you really are going to take it away, don't say it.

If you say it, mean it, and do it immediately. That is the money in these situations!