My toddler thinks its fun to run away from me?

Question

My son will run away from me at any chance he gets its not only me its everyone.he turns around and laugh while he dose it and will go into places i cant get him out like under the neighbors trampoline or even in there dog house and the dog will growl at me for trying to get him out he never growls at my son. i know that might sound funny to some of you but it has caused alot of chaos in my life he is now 3 and a half and i have anothewr child that just turned two iam a single mother i have tried insalling locks but he has always managed to get away from me when iam tending to the other child .i dont want to be critized i just would like to know if anyone else has had the same proublem and what can i do to teach him to not run away?

Answer 1

Well, we did this with Clara (4...my brother's little girl) when she wouldn't stop running away from us. Get a man that you can REALLY REALLY REALLY trust....(For us it was my brother, her dad..so we knew she'd be fine).... And get him/her too dress creepy. Get in a van.... (But don't let anyone see or the cops get pissed that you'd do that..) And grab her when she runs away...(Hopefully toward the van)... and then after we grabbed her...we just kept her in the van, then Chris, (Her dad) took of his mask and hugged her.. and one thing you CANNOT FORGET TO SAY!! "See why you should stay with us?" And Clara is 6 now.. but hasn't disobeyed Chris or Ann...lol... it seems horrible, yes.. but it worked and she knows why not to leave now.

Answer 2

Toddler Running Away

Answer 3

I have a 4 year old son and a 2 1/2 year old daughter. Trust me I know what you are going threw. My son is ok he dose not run away from me . but my daughter dose. She is all the time takeing off, in parking lots, down roads, just any where. I tell my son to put his hand on the car when we get out and wait for me to get what we need out . I started that with my daughter and she is doing well. I did not think I would ever get her to stop.

Just keep up the good work and it will get better.

Answer 4

My three yr old tried to run away from home once. I just let him go. He put his rainboots on and marched up the street. He got about three houses away stood there for like 5 minutes and then ran home crying to me. Saying he was sorry he never tried again. I think he just wants to play with you. He has discovered that by running away from you he can get a rise out of you & engage your attention. Being a single mom is tough, and have got to hand to you! If he see's you are not chasing after him, he may not try it again. keep an eye on him, make sure that he is out of harms way, wait untill he comes back and offer some playtime together, something all three of you can do, like crayons & paper, or playdough.

Answer 5

I would recommend putting bolts across the very top of your doors. No matter what he stands on, he won't be able to get out.
Have you tried a sticker chart for every time he DOESN'T run away when you are tending to your youngest?
I think that it is just a phase that every parent has to live through.

As for escaping when you are out with him, have you got any reins? Ignore anyone who says that it is inhumane/cruel etc to use them, it could be saving your childs life! If he insists on running away, he has to wear them.
Praise him for being a 'big boy' when you have times that he doesn't escape, give him all the positive attention that he needs, and try not to focus on the bad stuff.

Answer 6

whats up i understand the way it looks like My son became exceptionally very like this additionally Now he's 4 years previous. I truthfully have an umbrella stroller that i positioned my a million 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous in. whilst weren't going everywhere crowded or purely going to have a walk. My son purely loves conserving directly to the preserve and purely loves walking. Like each and every now and then i could be sitting down with my a million 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous woman on my lap and my 12 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous daughter and my 4 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous son could have relay races and stuff like that My daughter is amazingly careful approximately her little brother and sisters so shes greater careful because of the fact she is nearly a functionality form for them. My daughter could make a commencing factor and a ending factor. And if he went farther my daughter could like chase him.

Answer 7

My kid used to run off from me. I started out chasing her then realized that's what she wanted. Next time she ran off, I stopped where I was, said in a firm voice "Come back" and when she kept running, I said "Bye, I'm going this way" and started walking in a different direction, slowly of course. It took about 3 seconds for her to come running back to me. It took several times for her to stop running off completely but after the first couple, if she started to run I'd just say "I'm going this way" and she's come right along with me. She's now 6 and it still works.

Answer 8

This is tricky. He loves the attention he gets when he runs away from you. You will drop everything to come after him. The only way to make him stop is to pretend to not go after him. Say things like "Oh well, he's gone. We will miss him, but we have to get some things done today. Too bad he will miss out on the fun things we have planned." Walk away, but don't let him endanger himself. In other words, make it look like you aren't coming after him while still watching him out of your peripheral vision. Be patient, and when he comes back on his own, reward him for that with lots of adoration. When he isn't running away from you, be sure to give him lots of cuddles and attention.

Answer 9

I confess, I laughed, but only because I know EXACTLY how you feel. To make things a little more fun, my kids tag-teamed. My three year old would take off running in public, I'd go chase him, and when I caught him and turned around, my 5-year-old had disappeared. It always happened at church, and after a few weeks of going there, the security folks had what was called a "Code Cameron". Everyone knew my oldest child by name and where his favorite running spots were. My husband got an office job with the company that provided security, and they noticed a picture of Cameron up on his desk, and my husband couldn't figure out why all those strangers were saying, "Oh, you know Cameron?"

We offered rewards (bribes) for every week he didn't run off. That made a difference. If your three-year-old is like mine (the runner), "naughty corners" don't work, do they? Does he just leave the corner, or talk back?

The main thing is to let him know that it is NOT funny. Colin thought it was funny when I got mad, but then one time I was really scared to death, and when he saw me about to cry, he saw it a different way. He does still run off, but not nearly as often.

They have the little harness things for kids that age, but it seems like you're saying it happens at home more, and those things are great in theory, but not all that wonderful in practice (my three-year-old apparently mistook it for a bungee cord, pitching himself forward).

What kind of locks did you try installing, and where? A good sturdy chain lock, or a sliding post lock, up so high he couldn't drag a chair up to the door and reach it, might work.

There was one thing that worked for me, in public. The main requirement, though, is that you have to give up ANY problem you have with looking like an idiot. :-) We would line up like a mother duck and her ducklings, and march (yes, lifing up knees, waving arms, the whole bit) around, chanting "THIS WAY! THIS WAY! THIS WAY!" loudly. They followed me. I looked like a moron, but at least I didn't look like a moron who was chasing around a preschooler all over the place. :-) It was apparently funny enough that it surpassed the "funny" running off.

I'm wondering what would happen if you told your son that if he's going to go to the dog house, he'll have to eat dog food*. Not literally, of course, but give him a bowl with a can of Wolf brand chili emptied into it if you give your dog canned dog food, while he sits and watches you and his sibling eat mac'n'cheese or chicken nuggets or whatever his favorite "people" food is. That could backfire, though, if he either wouldn't care either way or if he's tried and kind of liked dog food.

I'm sure you know this, but the more frustrated you seem, the funnier it will be to your son. If he runs into the dog house, it's pretty hilarious to a 3-year-old to watch Momma on her hands and knees, trying to fight with the dog to get at the kid. If you raise your voice or sound like you're losing control of the situation, that will only make him think it's funnier. Using a quiet but VERY firm voice might be a lot more effective than yelling, looking angry, physically running after him (when it's safe - if it's in public and he's putting himself at risk, you need to do whatever you can to catch him immediately). I don't think reasoning with a 3-year-old is all that helpful most of the time, and I know that makes me sound really unenlightened, but if he doesn't get the response he likes (Momma looking frazzled trying to catch up to him), it may stop, or at least slow down.

Also, have you tried the "Okay, bye" routine? Say you know he's in the dog house. Go out there and tell him to come out. When he doesn't, say "Okay, well, I'm gonna go play with (whatever the sibling's name is) inside", then just walk away. You can keep an eye on him, of course, because at 3-years-old, he still needs the supervision, but regardless of what he's doing, my 3-year-old falls for the Okay Bye routine every single time. I say that, and within fifteen seconds, he's run up to me to hold my hand. It just requires that you be pretty good at the bluffing game, because if you threaten to leave, but you don't, he'll catch on to that.

Good luck!

* I've never done this or anything like this, it's just a what-if.

Answer 10

How about making up a game where he is rewarded for following directions. Maybe try sit down for 1 m&m, stand up for another m&m, then for a while just keep them in your pocket for opportunities to reinforce this positive behavior. Then before too long you will just have to say a "key" word for him to behave. Good luck.