Gosh I feel guilty - did I do something drastic ?

Question

My 15 month old son loves throwing his blocks on the kitchen floor. I have patiently picked them up everytime and sometimes he follows me. I am normally very patient with him, but this evening, when I told him to pick up the toys, he simply tried to run away. When I insisted, he promptly picked them up and began throwing them into trash. His tantrums are increasing ( asking to play with the phone, mobile phone, reaching for my books instead of his, pulling my hair, face....etc) I have been dealing with all these with firm no's, firm refusals, distractions and so on.....but this evening, I snapped. I quickly picked up the toys and instantly picked him up and left him in his room for a minute. I obviously shut the door and there was no light in the room, except for street light coming in thru the blinds. After I minute, I ignored what happened and told him, baby is sleepy, lets go to sleep. He got into his bed time fun and slept in 20 min. What's the best way to time him out ?

Most answers are making me feel better already, thanx a ton. The darkness let me hasten to add, wasn't intentional. Obviously, I was so preoccupied wondering if I was doing the right thing or not, that it slipped my mind, I guess.

Answer 1

First of all, I don't think your reaction sounds too drastic. If your son fell asleep that quickly, I doubt he was too disturbed by his "punishment". I have two girls, ages 3 and almost 2, so I can relate- no matter how patient and loving you are, sometimes it's very hard to deal with it all.

Anyway, I have found that the best way is to time out in their room for one to two minutes, followed by a brief explanation (keep it very simple so they are sure to understand the point) of what they did wrong and what they should do next time. Then, be consistent. If you don't want him to throw his toys around anymore, don't allow it to happen anymore. Make sure he cleans it up every time, or he gets a time out. He's still pretty young, but he should catch on fairly quickly.

No matter what, though- don't spank him. He's much too young to understand what's going on. To him, you're just violating his trust in you and hurting him.

Answer 2

My daughter is 22 months old and just started doing this also she threw a phone at my head yesterday she pinches and everything. Most of the time I tell her no and take it away and replace it with something else. Honestly I think most of the time its for attention. If I stop what I am doing and play with her she is fine or if I am cooking let her help in some small way. We just introduced the corner and the counting to 3 and these both seem to work well.

Answer 3

He's pretty young to be using time outs! I doubt he would have any ability to understand that concept. I think it would be a waste of time. Are you expecting too much of a fifteen-month-old? Get a book like Dr. Christopher Green's Toddler Taming and make sure your expectations are realistic. If you are worrying about this very insignificant episode, you will probably need a battle plan for the coming years. I wouldn't worry about getting a child so young to pick up his toys. He's a baby.

Answer 4

First of all leaving him in a darkened room alone can be considered emotional abuse. Shutting the door added to it. Invest in a child gate when he begins his tantrums put him in his room with the gate up. This way his security isn't in question, by him. If you want to drown out his yelling use a pair of headphones and go on about whatever you were planning on doing before interrupted by the tantrum, quietly check on him from time to time. He will learn that the tantrums are no acceptable behavior and the tantrums will if not cease all together will at least lessen in severity. By the way Welcome to the "Terrible Twos" which is the phase your son is in.

Answer 5

He's too young for time out he mentally cannot understand the reasoning behind it. Wait till he's 4 to use this form of punishment. Other than that you have a fiesty toddler on your hand his behaviour is normal and will start improving around the age of 3. Make sure anything danderous is out of his reach. All you can really do is just say no when this happens and a smack on the bottom doesnt hurt. If you feel you are losing it,put yourself in another room for a couple of minutes to cool down. Its normal behaviour for both of you. Good luck.

Answer 6

Your boy is still just a baby. He understands no but I think he's a bit young for time out. Even so, time out is much more preferable to smacking. Time out shows some thought and good patience. Smacking shows a parent that cannot come up with any discipline options rather than violence.

I think if you continue to follow this pattern he may learn naughty behaviour results in his room and that might be enough to encourage good behaviour. One minute is about right. Just keep doing what your doing!!

Answer 7

it is normal to snap occasionally., Remember you are human. But try to remember they don't grasp the concept yet. My 2 year old throws tantrums and i put him in his room for 2 mins. and then go in and talk to him and tell him why he is in trouble. I do this all the time. It seems to work but it won't stop him or any child from acting up. Just try to keep patient and give him time outs where your not in the room. then you can get some of your sanity back. hopefully

Answer 8

what happen to a good old but spanking? that seems like the most effective way to go about things. Otherwise, if you instist on time out, put them in a room, lights on and shut the door. Tell them they can come out when they stop crying. Stay true to that. If the child starts crying when you open the door, then close it again. While they are crying in the room completely ignore them. They only do it for attention and getting their way once the sooner they understand no one is listening the sooner they relize it wont work, and they knock it off.. good luck

Answer 9

before everything don't be anxious you probably did not take in too many energy as well it really is probable sturdy to provide your body a destroy for an afternoon, you'd be stronger than ever the following day yet in case you want to nonetheless do a touch actual interest..... try doing push ups, ab workouts, lunges, and the plank at abode. If there is snow the position you stay initiate shoveling some snow. try employing your arm muscle mass to carry your self up in a chair. Do calf hops..... umm jumping jacks, use your textual content books for weights, wall take a seat..... ummm and theres another stuff too yet im drawing a sparkling. besides have exciting.... and save in concepts don't sense accountable you probably did not devour too a lot as well you burn energy in only your popular events

Answer 10

I think the best way for time outs for his age is what we did with our son at that age. We bought a booster seat(the kind you can strap to a kitchen chair. When he did something he wasn't supposed to do we would talk to him and then buckle him into the booster in the corner and set the timer for 2 minutes. Eventually he got the picture, and his tantrums were at a minimum.

Good Luck!