Ways to discipline 19 month old?

Question

I do not like the idea of hitting my daughter. If she is doing something dangerous (messing around an outlet etc.) then I have lightly swatted her diapered behind. At this age what can you do? Usually I just pull her away from what she is doing tell her no and try to redirect her. What if anything can you do about the tantrums? Ignore? She also is in a screaming phase she screams at the top of her lungs when she gets mad. HELP!!

Outlets are covered she trys to take them off.

Answer 1

hi, my son is two months younger but he is exactly the same! at first i used to smack him on the hand but then he thought it was a game and was smacking me back so we stopped that one lol. yep he pulls those plastic things out, we put duct tape over the ones that we dont use, horizontally and vertically, its not so hard for us to take off but he usually got bored with trying to take it all off coz his attention wandered and was easier to distract him also now when he goes to turn on a switch i say no very firmly and take him away it takes alot of times doing it but being consistent usually gets there just have to be REALLY patient even though it is HARD!! lol i used to ignore his tantrums but theyd go four an hour or more so then i started having a *tantrum* with him, when he was starting one i say right are we having a tantrum yay and lie us both on the ground and kick our arms and legs and pretend to scream ( a not too loud falsetto works nicely lol) sounds silly but now he thinks its a game and doesnt have many real tantrums at all. well good luck with watever u decide to do!!

Answer 2

Wonderful age, and real close to terrific twos if you let your daughter win or you blow off her tantrum your heading for trouble when she hits the two's. You can go to any store and purchase outlet covers for those outlets.that eliminates that problem as for the tantrum is there argueing in front of her where screaming is going on if so that is how she responds to conflict. Get her a stool and put it in a corner where she has nothing around and sit her on it for time out a minute for each year if that doesn't work put her in her room. the more you argue with her the more stressed out you will become and the worse she will get. I believe in spanking I only had to do it one time to my children each time when they where around 2. It happened at the store it always happeneds at the grocery store. They started with there fits and I stopped what I was doing walked them in the bathroom stall spanked there bare bottom one time said enough washed there face and resumed grocery shopping. When it happened again all I had to say was do you want to go to the bathroom again.You have to be consistant with them and at the end they will remember.

Answer 3

Patience and consistancy. Tell her what she can do. Say, 'that's dangerous because......, but you can bounce this ball, roll this car to mommy, color on the newspaper, read a book, etc'

When she throws a tantrum, put her in her crib and leave, treat yourself to something nice, (cookie and soda?). Something that takes just about 5-15 minutes. However long you need to stay calm. Time outs are mostly for you, not the baby. The child doesn't understand 'time-out' yet.

When she screams, make the house more quiet, turn the radio down, the tv down, and lower your voice. Keep your voice calm and tell her that nice voices are soft quiet voices, even shhhh sound helps

Answer 4

Okay pulling her away and telling her no is a good thing and try to also explain to her after that how it is a ouch, you can also lightly tap her hand cause that is what she is using to play with the outlet and tell her no ouch and make sure when you do it you kinds scare her, that means don't let her know that your there watching her and gradually catch her/him off guard and then tap her hand and try to move immediately away so she thinks it was what she was playing with and she/he might move away, if she/he doesn't then move her and try to make her/him play with something that they really love and try to put a child safety outlset cap on it and try to hide it. As for the screaming matches let her/him do it and walk away like you don't hear it and they will stop cause your not picking them up or paying attention to them, If they follow you place her/him in there room and make them sit in there and about 5 minutes later they will forget about what happened and it will be all good.But don't give in by going in there and saying something or helping them ignore them, after there done and finished then you go in there and talk to them about what they did or ask them what they need, if they got in trouble explain to them why they were in trouble it works.

Answer 5

The screaming and tantrums happen here at our home with our two year old. We just ignore that. Spanking does nothing but teach them to hit. They think its normal to hit then. Redirection works great. Just keep consistent with it or it will never work. As for the person that said she spanks her daughter or son in public, watch out or else you might have a police officer at your door one day. It happened to my sister only because she spanked her son on the butt in the parking lot.

Answer 6

Well, not everyone would agree with my methods...but it has worked for my kids and some other kids i know too. If the tantrums get to be way out of hand and she is screaming her head off, i have been known to match my kids scream for scream. It sounds immature, i know, but it usually will shock them enough to get them to stop. Also, it is a nice outlet for me. This is not a good idea to do out in public or if you live in an apartment. Each kid is different. What works for one will not work on another. Best wishes!

Answer 7

I know exactly how you feel!
The best way to discipline your child at that age is

1.Positive Reinforcement: Focus on good behavior instead of bad behavior. Parental attention is one of the most powerful forms of positive reinforcement.

2.Redirecting: (You already do this- keep up the good work!!)

3. Verbal Instruction/Explanation: Helps develop good judgment

4. Time-Outs: Send your child to a neutral "boring" area, such as a corner of the room with no toys or television and ignoring her until she is calm and quiet. One minute of time-out per year of life is a good rule of thumb.



I know it is hard, my son is the same way. He has went through everything from screaming to biting and head butting. The toddler years are the most frustrating for them, because it is hard to communicate what they want.

Good luck!

Answer 8

You could try putting her in her cot. While I sympathise with not wanting to smack her, she can also start to learn that screaming isn't acceptable. I would tell her "no - no screaming!" and put her in the cot. Then when she's quiet, pick her up and start afresh. There's a lot to be said for distracting her, but she also has to learn that "no" means "no".
This is the problem today - we don't know how to discipline the children now that smacking is considered bad. We have to get the balance right - otherwise your child can make your life hell.

Answer 9

Try to be as "matter-of-fact" as possible. Hitting her only tells her that that is an appropriate an acceptable way to express oneself. She will do what you *do* more than what you say. Ignore tantrums as much as possible. Children will take negative attention (yelling, hitting etc) over no attention at all so you will just reinforce the tantrum or other negative behavior if you respond by yelling or hitting. Encourage language expression. Encourage her to express herself with words.

Answer 10

I know that my daughter is very headstrong...so pulling her away from something and trying to redirect DOES NOT WORK!! So, with her I have to pull her away and let her know her consequences: time out, spanking, no snack...etc. Find something that has value to your daughter and say you'll take it away if she keeps doing what she isn't supposed to be doing. Spanking is not a bad thing...beating is. We live in a society where spanking is looked down upon...but it really depends on your child's personality. While spanking might be good for one child, it's not for the next. My daughter started getting spankings when she knew the difference between right and wrong...around 14 months. It takes a while to establish discipline with your children...but you have to EARN it. Show them that you mean what you say, and eventually, you won't have to "threaten" them anymore. We have to EARN our children's respect. It's very important to them that we give them clear boundaries and structure. When she throws a temper tantrum, pick her up and put her in HER room...EVERY TIME she does it! Tell her if she wants to express her emotions, that's fine, but screaming is not ok and she needs to do that in her own space...not in yours. If you don't like her screaming at the top of her lungs, tell her to stop it and again, do what we talked about to begin with. With my daughter, to get her to stop screaming (which we're still workin on, but it's getting better every day) I put my hand over her mouth (not her nose, just her mouth) and tell her when she stops screaming I'll take my hand off...seems kind of harsh...but it's really not...and she gets the point. It doesn't hurt her, it's just uncomfortable. She might not understand everything to begin with, but she'll link everything together visually and when she really starts understanding your words, then everything will come together for her. But, this takes a lot of diligence on your part as the parent...it's a lot of work to begin with, but the outcome makes it worth it. Hope this helps!!