ok today I had my two and half year old niece and my seven year old newphew. I love them to death thier usally preety sweet and funny to be around. But today they were holy terrors. I dont know how many times my newphew saw the coner or I had to give her a time out for one she was takeing off her diaper all the time.for two she hits her brother and for three he wouldnt listen and talked back. I had to physical pick them up and sit them in a chair and tell them please behave what should I do when this happens again.
2006-07-28 17:10:25 · 6 answers · asked by Renee B 5 in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
My son is only 2 so this may or may not be true for an older child as well, but I know that the more he SEES me react to his misbehaving, the more he misbehaves. The other day he was angry at me and came back with blowing his horn as loud as possible while standing in front of me while I was eating. He just stood there glaring at me and “screaming” with his horn. I just stare back at him and smiled. When he doesn’t get a reaction he just gives up. At that point I grab the opportunity to distract him. Almost instantly he forgot about trying to “get at mommy” and started enjoying himself with the new activity. If you give into them wanting a power struggle then they’ll just keep at it. And believe me, it doesn’t matter how stubborn you think you are and how much you can out think and out power a 2 year old… your wrong. Remember that you’re in charge. Don’t give into the power play. And don’t fight every battle. There are just too many of them to fight. I have found that the days my son misbehaves the worst are the days that I’m not at my best. I just have to keep reminding myself to out think him rather then try to over power him, and that I just have to give in on some of the fights… I get him out of the house wearing plaid shorts and a pajama top with mismatched socks, but at least I managed to get him out and get the shopping done. And as long as you don’t totally lose it and hurt the children then you have to understand we all have days we are tired or preoccupied and can’t do our best at parenting, but you do good most of the time and one bad day isn’t going to ruin 100 good days. PS put a "onsie" or hard to remove pants on the little one or even shorts and pants at the same time. We sometimes have that problem too... if it's too frustrating she'll give up after a while.
2006-07-28 17:37:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, I don't think they were "over disciplined".
The key to making children behave is not making empty threats and being consistent.
If a child does something bad, don't say "next time I'll put you in time out" and then don't. That shows them that you aren't really serious and they will test their limits to see how far they can push you.
Also, don't punish them for something they have already done and not been punished for. For example; every time she hits her brother put her in time out. If you let her get away with it sometimes, then she won't understand other times why she is being punished.
It may seem like for a day they might live in time out. That's OK though. Every time they are punished they will learn what they can't get away with. Eventually, they will do less and less to get punished for.
Don't be surprised if out of the blue they start misbehaving again. They are children...they will try their best to test you. If this happens, go right back into the same punishment without threatening.
You are the adult. Children need boundaries.
2006-07-29 00:25:30 · answer #2 · answered by cherrypucker 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tell their mother/father you do not feel comfortable administering that amount of discipline and if the kids cannot behave she needs to find a new babysitter. I do not think that you went overboard at all. But there is a very fine line between the discipline you give and what the parents do. It is not a situation I would want to be in. I have a 4 yr old, and my nephew is 8 yrs old. I have been babysitting him for years, so I know that age combo. And at one time I was in that situation. I found myself being harder on my daughter because I didn't feel comfortable punishing him severely. I had to tell my sister to handle it at home, and she did. I have never had a problem with them like that again. There are still the small spats. But I can handle that. Because your nephew is seven, he is old enough to be told to ignore his sister, and go to a grown up when he is hit.
2006-07-29 00:17:53 · answer #3 · answered by silent*scream 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all the 2 and 1/2 year old is trying to tell you shes ready to be potty trained at that age they do not want to have that diaper on I think time out is good as long as you don't hit them. My nephew is 3 and he can be a holy terror, patience my dear patience
2006-07-29 01:33:35 · answer #4 · answered by Katrina Y 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they are usually pretty well behaved and this was unusual, I would have to wonder if something bad was going on at home. Kids that young don't just start misbehaving all of a sudden like that. I'd watch them closely, sometimes kids act up due to stress and not being able to deal with that.
2006-07-29 00:19:51 · answer #5 · answered by b_friskey 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hate to say this but get used to the diaper thing lol it happens. but it sounds like you handled it very well. More or less the way our parents do (with and occasional backside reminder) Just keep it up and after the time out try to get them to do something constructive even if it is to draw with crayons.
2006-07-29 00:18:40 · answer #6 · answered by sherryterry102 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋