My two year old won't stop throwings things, how do I get her to stop?

Question

Usually it is because she is angry but sometimes she will just throw things for fun. She'll be standing there and suddenly she just picks it up and launches it at me or her brother.

I have tried slapping her hand or spanking but she just hits me back because she thinks it's a game. So then I have the problem of her throwing and hitting!

As for taking away a privledge, she's two. She doesn't even know what one is!

Take the toy away, sounds logical. Too bad she'll walk around the house until she can find something else to throw: cup, toy, book...I can't put everything in sight up. Not to mention that when she'll decide to throw is completely unpredictable.

Answer 1

When my daughter did things like bite and throw things the doctor suggested having her sit on her bed or a time out spot. He said to tell her gently that when she can be nice she may come back and be with people. That we are hurt when she bites or throws things. My daughter realized she didn't like sitting by herself and wanted to be out with us.
There was never a requirement for her to stay there for a period of time. If she did it again we would just repeat it. She did get them message as early as 22m.

Answer 2

If you can, limit her toys for now to things that are soft and won't hurt or damage if they are thrown. This is just being realistic, not giving in.
Don't smack her hand, she won't be able to make a connection intellectually between throwing something and getting hit. It just won't make sense.
Everything is normal, and everything is a phase. She will stop doing this soon of her own accord. Most phases like this don't last for more than a few weeks.
All you can do is monitor her closely. Keep her very involved with you by getting her to 'help' you with whatever you're doing. If she is busy with you it might not occur to her to fling stuff.
Learn what the 'look' is. Before humans or animals make a decision to do something, there is a particular look. If you watch her throwing things, you will be able to learn from her behaviour what that look is. When you see that she is just about to hurl something, pick her up, swing her around in a big circle, make a happy noise, distract her totally before she flings. It's just a matter of close and careful observation.
It will pass. Don't make a big deal out of it. She'll stop soon.

Answer 3

by 18 months toddlers learn to throw things. This is something they learn and they have full control of it. It is a very normal developmental milestone. Of course, this really make the parents went crazy.

I totally againist physcial punishment to a 2 year old. Slapping the hand will not help her to learn. At 2, your child is not matural enough for reasoning yet. So if you reason with her is not going very far. You can so it is "not nice" whenever she start throwing.

Take away toys only work with children that understand consequence. meaning cause adn effect. This will only work with children after 3 years old or even older. At 2 the concept of "consequence" is not well understood by the toddler.

Two things you can do. Take away the object is the first step. Also, distraction is another way to stop her so focus on throwing. Third, a short time out if things get worse.

Time out for a 2 years old is 2 minutes. Time out does has to be a chair, it can be a room, a rug, in the middle of the room. Tiem requires no emotion. No yelling at her or tell her about why mommy is punishing you. Time out is for social isolation. Toddler hates to be isolated because they lost the security. This way she will understand if she did something wrong, I will get a time out. Time out is also for the parents to step out of the situation so you won't get too upset and start yelling at your child.

At 2, you need to know, your child will REPEATly doing the same thing over and over. You need to be calm. Remember, if your child is smart, she is intelligent enough to test your maximum limits. They will keep doing the things you hate. Also, it is normal for a 2 year old to do that as I have mentioned in another answer. Time will tell and you will see at 3 year old, your child is easier to reason with. Stay clam and enjoy your baby in a positive way.

Remember, physcial punishment or verbal yelling at the child will temporary stop the activity but will definitely create much more problems in the long run.

Answer 4

Using natural and logical consequences will work best. When she throws a toy put it up high where she can see but not reach it. Tell her "When you're ready to play gently with your toy then you can have it back." Give it some time before you give it back to her. If the toy gets damaged, have her throw it into the trash. After having her toys put away a few times and not being able to play with them, she will soon learn it is much more fun to be gentle with them.

Empathize with her when she is angry. "I can tell you are feeling very (angry, frustrated, upset, mad...). What can we do about that? She will learn to better express her feelings instead of throw her toys. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Answer 5

TAKE THE TOY AWAY.... thats the only way she will learn. There is a method to this though. Get a toy box and each toy she throws needs to be placed in that toy box but she needs to be the one to pick it up and put it in there. Make HER pick it up.. even if you have to hold her hand and walk her to the toy then to the toy box. Make sure to explain why she is putting it in that toy box, telling her that she can't have toys she wants to throw. This is the hard part you need to find a way to reward her for not throwing toys which in the end she gets one toy back from the toy box. This will take time but it was the only way to get my son to stop throwing his toys.

Answer 6

first of all, you should never allow your child to hit you. that is definite cause for you to toss her over your lap and hit her butt. you need to nip that in the bud now. as for the throwing, slap her hand and put her in her baby bed, crib, high chair, something adn let her howl it out. you need to make her understand we are not having this. you need to set some limits now and stay strong. you are the mom, you are the boss and you are letting your child run the show. why? are you afraid she'll think you're mean? you need to protect your other child too. if at some point your child doesn't hate you, you are not doing your job properly. you are her parent. not her friend. i wish people could get that straight. adn remember by the time she gets married, it won't hurt anymore.

Answer 7

I had the same problem. My daughter is 22 mos. She is too young for time out and I don't believe in spanking. What worked for us is I would warn her that if she threw one more thing that I would take a favorite item or toy away. I give her 2 warnings on the 3rd thing I take something away. She has to favorite items right now so I just alternate between the two. Good luck. It will pass!

Answer 8

She's two! She doesn't realize that throwing some things could hurt another person. It's up to you to be her conscience, since she's not old enough to have one in this regard.

Say "No!", slap her hands (it doesn't have to hurt; the noise of the slap is more of a deterrent than the pain), and make her spend a couple of minutes on the "naughty chair." She'll learn.

Answer 9

I'm not sure how old she is, but consequences work. Tell her what will happen if she throws (like in a punishment) and be repetitive. don't you give up before her...

Answer 10

Spank her ***!!! Quit trying to be so touchy/feely where disciplining your child is concerned. If you cheat the kid on learning lessons, imagine the kind of adult you are going to put out into the world!!! There are already so many people so worried about offending someone that this country has no standards or rules that make real sense. Don't add to it!!!