Disciplining 14 month old?

Question

Suggestions on disciplining a 14 month old. He is starting to hit and sometimes after repeatedly saying no touch he does any way. I do not want to hit what about starting time out.

Answer 1

Usually just get eye contact and say "NO" in a firm voice, don't scream it just a firm voice. you will be amazed how fast he will pick these things up. I don't think time out will work at his age, but give it a try. Good parenting is finding what works best for your children.
Good Luck

Answer 2

hitting never accomplishes anything. if your hitting how can you tell them not to hit. I think time outs are a great way to disipline children. i have 4 children myself. 8, 4, 2 and 3 months. at a little over 1 year i would say give it a try. it will take the child sometime to relize what is going on but i think that has worked best for me and people i know. all my children well the older ones i can now say would you like a time out for being fresh and they will say sorry and stop. Just remeber it is 1 minute of time out to every year old the child is. hope i helped

Answer 3

Sometimes, negative reinforcement is the only way. I'm not saying beat your kid, but a smack on the hand or a little bump on the butt. They need to know that what they do can hurt and is not very nice. That if they hit somebody they should expect to get hit back. I am dealing with a similar situation now except, that just beat each other...lol which results in separation and some room time.

Answer 4

At 14 months, he's testing the fences to see how far they stretch and what happens when they do. As far as hitting, children of this age don't fully understand that other people have feelings too. They just don't understand other people feel pain, in the way they do. Usually catching hold of the little hand before it strikes target, or at least just after- holding it very firmly, and saying no loudly- then sit him down a tad hard on that padded behind will get the message across. I've raised 6 now, and I can't say timeout worked at that age. Their attention span is still so short, I'm not sure they really even understand why they are in trouble 5 minutes afterward. So far as touching things goes- well, it's a sign of a good, healthy, curious toddler- checking out the world around him. So in many ways it's good to see. It's up to you to see that you aren't tempting him beyond his ability to resist, though. I don't know what you have down in his reach- but at this point you really shouldn't have anything that precious or dangerous out where he can get to it. Decorating for toddlers means temporarily putting all the cutsey, breakable, valuable things away. You can leave a few things out, things you don't mind getting broken- as training items if you like. A slight, and I do mean slight- swat to the pamper- meant to make noise to startle and not to hurt- along with a strong NO will also usually make the point. I've also been known to grab a small hand before it gets the object, and repeat the no. He isn't going to listen all at once, you will find yourself repeating this many times before he leaves things alone or listens when you say no. I also discovered that some things were just too tempting, for reasons only they knew- and in the end I would just end up removing the item until a much later date. My youngest daughter developed a fascination with a cookoo clock that nothing seemed to discourage. Rather than have it be a daily battle, and risk having the clock ruined- I removed it for a few months- until she had gotten older and better able to resist it.
Sometimes, you can do a bait and switch- offering something they can have in exchange for leaving something else alone. They are really just looking for new things to do, and given their attention spans are short, you can usually change objects pretty easily or divert their attention.
I too, was very hesitant about hitting, but I did come to see the wisdom of a well placed swat to the padding when needed. If you cup your hand, what you get is mostly noise- which startles and doesn't hurt anything. There are times when you can't explain, and they won't understand, and you can't wait for them to get old enough to have a logical conversation to debate the pros and cons. If your child is into something dangerous- it's more important they mind so they can get old enough to have the more in depth explanation.
In spite of the frustration for you, at least you can feel good about something. You have managed to raise a very inquisitive baby, and that's always a good sign. He shows signs of independance a little early maybe- but that's a sign of an intelligent mind at work. Good for you, and good luck keeping up.

Answer 5

Yeah. He is already showing a lack of dicipline and if you don't stop it now he'll be telling you what to do and disobeying you by the time he's two. My children are grown now but when they acted out I would pop them on the back of the hand and say no or what ever reprimand suitable to what they did wrong. I believe in discipline but not abuse and there is a difference. I see children ALL the time disobeying their parents and being disrespectful to them. I'm talking two, three, and four year olds! As he gets older change the discipline method to fit his age.

Answer 6

I would start with time out. I have always used the 1 minute for every year of their age. (1 minute for a 1 year old. ) And tell him why he is getting in to trouble. He may not fully understand at first but he will eventually. He will start to understand that when I do this wrong this happens.... don't worry every kid goes through this! I know mine have!

Answer 7

Just keep saying so and take him away from the situation for a few minutes. He might stop when he starts getting hit back from other kids, but not you. Don't ever send a child to their room for punishment. It makes it seem like bedtime is a punishment.

Answer 8

certainly no hitting right now. Its experimenting time for them. Just call out to him, make sure he is looking at you and then say a firm no by looking him in the eye. He will understand.

Answer 9

firmly say no to hitting, and direct attention to play...they try you out to see if you mean no, tap of the hand usually works...again, divert attention to something they CAN do. Attention span is 1 minute per age of child in years--so timeout may not be effective just yet.

Answer 10

when he touches after you tell him 'no touch' you pick him or the object up and move them away from each other. if he didn't try to touch again, there'd be something wrong with him.

never hit and he's far too young for time-out. you are still supposed to be teaching him. just redirect, give clear expectations, and remove him when he's inappropriate.