Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Toddler Discipline





Toddler Discipline is always tricky, particularly because each child is different and each DIFFERENT child goes through the "terrible twos" differently. So, what is a parent to do when they have a toddler that doesn't respond to hand smacks or blatantly ignores spoken requests? Who doesn't care if toys are taken away? Who doesn't even mind having "time out" in his crib?

This:


Yes, that is Little Dude in his high chair at dinner. And Yes, he is facing the corner. And amazingly, it is the one punishment that gets through to him-he had decided no temptation is worth time in "THE CORNER".

We are amazed it worked, and actually only tried it because one night at dinner this past week he was just being CRAZY and throwing things, so out of frustration, Bill turned the high chair to the corner. Magic is all I can say.

Now all I have to do is threaten "THE CORNER" and almost every time Little Dude will straighten up. Being in his high chair, we can leave the immediate area of the dinning room and go to the livingroom or kitchen where we can still see him, but he knows we aren't paying attention to him. Also, he is strapped in, so he can't get out of the corner until we say.

Usually, I blame the timer on the stove, and say something like, "Little Dude, you were throwing your food, so you have to sit in the corner until the timer goes off in 5 min. " He cries and gets upset, but usually by the end of the 5 min when the timer goes off he calms down to sniffles, and then I ask something like "Are you going to listen to Mommy now? " and then his little voice, all cute says "Yes" (of course I am jinxing myself by writing that, watch, all day today he will say "No" and then I really will be at a loss.....) But in anycase, you get the idea.


That is what Works for Me!! Head on over to Rocks in my Dryer for more fun WFMW tips!


8 comments:

RainyPM said...

What a great tip, thanks for sharing. What worked for my toddler was time out in an empty playpen, which is essentially the same thing as corner time. Man, how she hated that. :)

Wani said...

This is great! I'm glad I'm not the only one to strap their child down for a "time out"!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

Thank you for sharing this. My daughter is one now and I know that our time is coming. Actually there are times that I know she is already trying to be defiant. Oh my. I appreciate you sharing "the corner" with us.

Kristen said...

I LOVE this idea and I'm going to try it! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

That is just awesome! We will have to try this with the twins maybe it will do the trick.

mindi said...

Great idea - I'll have to try it! But what age is a good age? Mine is a bit young (18 months!)

Anonymous said...

I totally stumbled across "the corner" by accident too! It worked GREAT with my toddler - age 2-3 particularly. She stood in the corner until she was ready to obey/listen - usually really short until she was able to refocus.
I like using a corner as opposed to steps or a special chair with the idea that corners are everywhere we go (thankfully we haven't had to use it outside our home).

Emily said...

Great idea!
I will keep that in mind.

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