Problems getting my 10 month old to listen when I say no!?

Question

Is this normal for her age? I don't think she takes me seriously when I say no. I keep up the repetition : telling her no firmly and taking her away from whatever she was doing; repeat, repeat, repeat! Any suggestions or personal experiences you can share? Any tips? She seems to think it is funny and wants to keep doing whatever it is I'm telling her not to do. I'm consistent, but it doesn't seem to be getting through to her! Could she just be stubborn(she is a fairly strong-willed little girl, but well behaved and playful the majority of the time)? Thanks for your input!

Answer 1

Its normal for that age and temporary. You're right - she thinks its funny that if she, say, touches the electrical outlet you say "no". She's getting a reaction from you. She likes the outlet. Its all good as far as she's concerned.

She's a little too young to understand any explaining you may try to do, so all you can do right now is tell her "no", see if she gets away from, say, the outlet, and if she doesn't say "no" again; but then pick her up and bring her somewhere else where she'll forget what she was aiming to do in the first place. She'll find something else that catches her interest, she will have seen that "no" equalled being picked up and taken away from the thing, and in a couple of months she'll be a little more responsive to the firm "no's".

Babies of nine and ten months seem to have great senses of humor. They often think its funny to smack their parents' faces as close range. They think pulling hair is funny. They like dropping things and having someone pick them up.

If for now you just try "no" once, but on the second time pick her up and move her to where she gets her mind off the thing; you won't be accomplishing her really responding to "no"; but you'll be accomplishing her understanding that "no" means she won't be doing the thing any longer. This is the age where teaching her what "no" means will be the foundation for her understanding it in another couple of months.

Most babies are strong willed and a little stubborn about this type of stuff.

One other thing:

When you take her away from something (the outlet, the cat food, the DVD player) say something simple like, "Oh! That will burn you!" or "Oh, oh.... that's yukky" or "Oh! That could break and hurt you". Use a kind of good-natured, child-aimed, faked "horror" that may even make her laugh a little (even if she's being carted away from the thing).

She may not understand what you're saying, although babies understand more than people realize. Even if she has no idea of what "break" means, though, she'll see that you've established that being told "no" isn't a horrible experience. It can be associated with some good naturedness. She'll see that even if she doesn't know what you're telling her completely, that you value her enough to try to give her a simple explanation so she'll understand. Your little good natured reaction will cause her to kind of stop and think, "Hey - there's some issue with my touching the cat food; but I don't quite get what it is yet." If you just take her away and say "no" you can get some results with a kind of Pavlov's dog type of approach; but if you add the little explanation and good humor it will cause her "brain to sit up and take notice" and do whatever it will do with what has just gone on.
She'll no longer be Pavlov's dog. She'll be required to try to think a little and figure out a little; and as a result, her brain development related to self-control will be getting a little boost.

By the time she's two she will have hurt "burn" or "cut" or "break" or "yukky" so many times she'll be a more understanding and reasonable two-year-old when she wants to do something, and you explain to her why she can't.

Answer 2

First of all, a crate should never be used as punishment- What happens when you need to keep the dog in their for his safety, to keep your house from getting destroyed, and so on? The crate is meant as a happy personal space- Not a place for time outs. Next- If you're having so many issues with both child and puppy it may be time to consider re-homing the pup. Puppies take a lot of time, care, and attention. If your getting this stressed out over something so simple you may not be the proper household for a dog. Training is a must and you need the patience, time, and sometimes funds to do it. To fix the problem the simplest solution is to lock the dog in a crate while your son is eating (though this is generally not good for a long term solution). You could also have your son eat at the table and put a baby gate up to keep your pup out of the kitchen (again an annoyance for a long term). You'll likely want to work on the "leave it" command, and the "bed" command. A trainer should be spoken to and he or she should be able to help you further. I would not advise telling the dog “no” when he approaches your son with his food as he could very well begin to associate that being around the child itself is a bad deed. Also as a note: avoiding giving human food for any reason to keep your dog from thinking it's okay as you're already having issues. As for the trash issue, that's even simpler- Get a trash can with a lid, or put it garbage up where you're pup can not reach it (such as a cabinet under the sink or some such place). I would also like to note there's no such word as "Foods"

Answer 3

We had to do the same- repeat, repeat and more repeat! :) Yes it can get tiring, but it pays off! My son is now 14 months, and he listens soooooooooooo well to me saying No no... sometimes he will touch something after I say no, but he knows what it means now, and does a pretty good job with listening. Baby's are just curious at the world, and want to know what everything feels like. So try not to yell, just say No no, in a nice way, and try to be as patient as possible. Distract her with something else- that always works for me too. They always say when you take one thing away, give them something else to keep their minds busy.

Goodluck! My son even does so well at other ppl's homes that we don't have to really tell him no not to get into things! :)

P.S. My son knows the word No no so well, he tells our cat No no when she's misbehaving lol it's really cute :)

Answer 4

"A lot of parents have this problem. I had this problem and didn't know what to do about it. I would say "NO",I would move him to something else, I would give him an angry look and all he would do is laugh and go for it again. Finally I said Lord help me before I go crazy on him and here is what I got. When your child does something or touches something you don't want them to, go over to where they are at, sit on the floor and grab them and hold them on your lap in front of the thing (object) and restrain them on your lap for a couple of minutes (this lets them know you have authority and you are in charge) and explain to them why you are doing it. He or She will get angry and cry and try to get out of your lap, but let them go thru the process. Tell them (talk to them) with a calm voice to settle them down. When they settle down and just sit there for a second, you let them up. Keep doing this ever time they do something you don't want them to do and eventually they understand. My son is only 9 months old and it works. Now I can say don't touch that or get down and he looks at me then listens, then I say "Thank You Very Good" (always let them know when they did good).

Answer 5

10 months is kind of young, and demmand of you. If the kid were 3, "maybe" 2 years old, then possibly it would be a concern. The child is learning. Less than half of her life was being a fetus.

I have kids, and as long as you stick to your rules (like Super Nanny) and be consistent, things will work out fine. The KEY WORDS, "Don't give in".

Answer 6

I have a five year old who still acts like that. LOL It is completly normal behavior. My advice continue what you are doing except add one thing. When you tell her no and take her away from whatever it is, try to give her something to take her attention from what she was doing. Maybe a different toy and take her in a different room. Maybe give her a book. Let her know it's not ok what she is doing and then get her interested in something else. I hope it works.

Answer 7

I have a 10 month old son and it's the same with him. They don't understand at that age. For them, they are just excited to get the attention. They don't understand what you are trying to teach them, they're just happy mommy is looking at them and speaking, so it's not that she thinks it's funny. She's just happy.

Continue with it and she'll learn. I have a 5 year old and I remember it being the same with her. They learn over time, and pretty quickly. It's just a matter of repetition.

Good luck!

Answer 8

at 10 months the key is to repeat if u are doing that try to be a little firm not mean but firm. it seems like she thinks u are playing a game u could also try to put her in her playpen for a little while so she can not go right back to where u told her no

Answer 9

10-16 months they are testing you to make sure that you tell them the same thing all of the time, the best thing is to be consistent, keep doing what you're doing, eventually she'll realize what you're telling her and how she needs to act. Kids love to test you to see if you'll be consistent. I think it's the toughest part of being a parent.

Answer 10

She is just starting to learn the word NO, make sure you remove the object or her from the situation when you use it so she can understand the meaning. It is completly normal most children are 12 to 14 months before they truelly understand the meaning.