My son is in his terrible twos... HELP!?

Question

My son is in his terrible twos and is driving me nuts. He refuses to listen to me and thinks making a mess is fun. Any suggestions how to discipline him?

Answer 1

My daughter did this. What I found to work the best was to put a chair in the corner of the room where everyone else is doing things in a nice manner and made her sit there, so she could see the fun that she was missing out on. After a few times in her chair she figured out that it was easier to do as she was told rather than sit there and watch everyone else.

Answer 2

I would pop his hand, and in a firm voice tell him no, of course he is going to push his limits, then pop his hand again and tell him no again. He will eventually quit and start crying. Now if it something that can be put up out of the way then put it up. We did this with our son and he pushed us more than once on quite a few different occasions, but at last he got the point. I believe that him hearing the word NO and being popped on the hand helps him to understand the word NO later when you tell him not to do something else. It will break your heart but I believe it will lessen the physical discipline you will have to do later down the road. Good luck.

Answer 3

He is two, how do you expect him to act. and yes there are ways to discipline him.But it is going to require a lot of work on your part, and you HAVE to stick with it, For example if when you take him out of the home and he starts acting up you tell him no, if he refuses to listen then immediately take him home.However it is much easier if you do this when you have no purpose in mind other than teaching him what is acceptable behaviour when your in a store or at a friends home.He will soon learn that he can not get away with what he was doing. The same works at home. if he is making a big fuss and you put him in his room and tell him he has to stay there for 5 minutes, If he keeps up fussing then he is set on the bed, what you are doing is showing him you are in control, and that is what this is all about, most people will give in to get a minutes peace and quiet, only to discover they have shown their child a perfect way to get their own way

Answer 4

You need to address the problem when it happens. If you wait until later, kids at that age will be confused. They won't remember what it was they did wrong, even if you remind them. What you need to do is remove your child from whatever he is doing that is naughty. Put him in the crib and close the door. It is important to stay consistent! That is how they learn. Do not resort to spanking evertime he acts out. It only teaches them that hitting is okay. Save that for something serious such as running in the street. Make sure you do not spank with anything but the palm of your hand on his butt. Also, try not to let him mimic the negative actions of others around him (if any).

Good Luck.

Answer 5

Don't give in! I think the biggest problem is parents want to be their friends and not their parents. I am the step mom of twin 10 year old that never get disciplined. We have custody of them. Their Mom yells at them and then goes and buys them something. Well these kids have that figured out. Their Dad gets upset and goes in an other room. So these kids almost rule the house. They let me know that I can't hit them or touch them or they will call the cops. My advice to you is show him love and praise when he is good. Let him know he is good. When he is bad...try the time out...but don't talk to him at all! NO MEANS NO! He will miss your contact. Just as my kids learned that mommy will buy us something. What ever you do...they will pick up on if you aren't consistent and stick to it. Tough love is still love. Don't end up with what I have to deal with now. I wish you all the luck in the world.

Answer 6

My children always knew there was a line that could be crossed if they crossed it, catastrophic consequences ensued- i.e. spanking followed by nap.....parents really are too easy on their kids these days, both of my children are very well behaved and we share a warm and loving relationship. Kids need boundaries and respond well to them. FYI with a 10yo son and a 5 yo daughter- neither one has gotten more than 3 spankings in their life......3 firm swats to the tushie gets the message across

Answer 7

Take a deep breath and smile. first except the fact that over half the kids in their terrible 2s act out.

Take action now, Use the Nanny's advise and descipline with a time-out or a nauty spot. Make him sit there, if he gets up you pick him up and replace him. This takes a while, you have to be more strong minded than your child. Keep at it.

And remember, two's are terrible BUT three's are worse.
Brace yourself! And welcome to the wonderful world of parenting :)

Answer 8

well...he;s 2,its fun to make messes.i have a 3 yr old missed terrible 2s went straight to horrible 3s .sing a song make a game out of clean up,just say for no reason at all [when being good] you are being such a god boy,reinforce the positive attention some of the negative will go away.after all he is 2 he learns by watching,and mimicing. good luck

Answer 9

He's terrible because you allow it to happen.

You need give him ONE warning and then punish - each time, every time, no exceptions.

He gets away with that behavior because you've taught him that if he fights you hard enough, you'll give in - so, he fights you. If you teach him that he will LOSE every fight, he will eventually stop trying. All children test their parents to find their limit - if you don't punish, you set no limit and they feel they can act up all they please...which they will.

You're going to have to deal with some uncomfortable and/or loud situations in public, but that's small potatoes compared to the lasting psychological damage you'll do to your kid and your sanity if you don't fix this NOW.

Lucky for you, you still have time to fix him.

Answer 10

I would use time outs but don't make them too long because he has a short attention span. Just be consistent in his punishments and he will get the idea that if he does X then his punishment is this. I know that it doesn't seem like it now but he will grow out of this. Believe me I know your pain. Good Luck!