How many times a day do you find yourself getting impatient with your two year old?

Question

What can you do to keep from losing your temper with them, and what kind of things do you discipline for?

Answer 1

i know how you feel i have a 2year old son and he just doesnt listen to me. you can try and ignore them or ditstract them when they are about to do something bad i discipline for throwing things at me making mess on purpose and taking his nappy off and weeing everywhwere lol

Answer 2

My daughter is 2 1/2 years old and I usually laugh it off. She's very good so I don't discipline her for things she cannot control. She has taken every toy off the shelf in the last two days and made an entire mess of the house. I probably should have told her no and made her put everything back but instead I laughed. I try to take into consideration what's really important. If she's going to hurt herself or someone else, then yes I hold her back and tell her no and/or discipline her if necessary. I want to enjoy being with her, not worry about how tidy the house is (clean is important but clutter is okay with me). I always thought I was going to me a strict mom and here I am just having fun with her. Once in a while, if I really feel I'm going to lose my temper, I just walk away, take a shower, get a glass of water, or something until I can calm down and look at the situation with a calm perspective.

Answer 3

First of all, don't expect so much from a two year old - they aren't trying to make you angry, they're trying to exercise their power and push the limits (it's a natural human drive to get past obstacles, be they objects or parents). That's something that will come in handy when the child grows up to be an adult, so don't discourage it too much.

Around age two is a good time to start teaching the concept of "helping" - that is, telling the child that "I need your help", whether it be to pick up some toys, or to be quiet when you're on the telephone. Again, don't expect perfection, but when you get anything that is a step in the right direction, be sure and bestow a lot of praise and affection on the child.

Most importantly, don't get into hitting - teaching via causing pain and scaring the child tends to break down the trust between child and parent, and ultimately results in covert behavior to avoid being hit - little or nothing is learned about the _reasons_ for behaving a certain way.

Lastly, one of the most valuable things we did was to take parenting courses that were tailored to toddlers, pre-teens and then teenagers. We used talking and timeouts rather than hollering and hitting, and while that takes a little more time and effort, the end result is a kid that understands the reasons WHY some things are right and others are wrong -- as opposed to "if I get caught, I get punished".

Answer 4

Well mine are 8 now and at two I would be frustrated well.....lets see. They were awake for 12 hrs a day and fought for 11hrs, there are 60 min in an hour....Too many times. Then I did the Positive Parenting Course and life improved 100%. Try a deep breathe(or 100 LOL)and decide what is the best action to take. Mummy haveing a time out is good. Here is a link to the course I did. Best one in the world apparently (not my opinion but many world specialists in child psychology and behaviour)

Answer 5

Two year-olds can be very trying on your patience. "Terrible Twos" Keep in your mind that they're just learning to be their own person. Repetition is probably the best teacher. You can also distract them from bad behavior, which works better than punishment. Think about how much you love this little person and it will help you keep your self-control. In addition to being a parent, you're a teacher, too. In fact, you're the best teacher your child will ever have so try to set an example. If you're having serious problems, it might be best to talk to someone about it before it gets out of hand.

When I had to discipline my child I put my hand on his behind and spanked my own hand. It sounded like I was spanking him. When I showed him what I was doing we had a good laugh. Sometimes humor and absolute silliness works wonders.

Answer 6

Well I have my son (who just turned 3) from 4pm until 10pm everyday while mommy is at work. I get frustrated with him a few times a day. The thing I try to keep in mind is this... he is still learning. He wants to do everything I do so I have to be patient. I try to teach him how to do as much as possible by himself so he doesn't necessarily need help as opposed to wanting help. Now if he starts the temper tantrum, I put him in his room without his favorite car until he settles down. I have found taking things temporarily works the best. You have to make sure to tell them why they are being punished though. That way they understand how to avoid such a fate in the future and you can give a mild threat like, would you like to go to your room? He also knows what a smack on the butt feels like. If the kid is getting out of control I will firmly say, would you like a spanking... his usual reply is, no thank you daddy. And then I tell him something like, then we need to settle down don't we? And he continues playing with a smile. Suprisingly enough, reverse physcology also works well with children of that age. You might give that a whirl. Also try to make things sound like a game. If you pump your voice up like you are extremely excited to do somthing you wish them to do... you will be suprised at how well the respond.

In my opinion you have to give children their boundaries early or it will take the snowball effect getting worse and worse until they are disrespectful adults. You just have to remember yelling at them is not going to work. Hitting them when you are angry is very dangerous. And you are the boss. So find an activity that you can do together, whether that be finger painting, reading, bike riding whatever. A child is like a ball of clay...they are going to be what they are going to be... but you can help guide them into something beautiful.

Answer 7

I have a two year old baby girl of my own!!! Yes it can be tough sometimes, especially when you just came home from work, and you can't rest because she wants to play!!! But, i don't know what magic (if that's what you call it, i like to call it that way) children have that no matter how tired you (me difinitely) are, once you see your daughter/son you just can't get enough of them... Two year olds are really intelligent, and i believe that this is the stage where they test your patience, see if they can be the "Boss", boss meaning once they cry they get your attention at once, and give them anything they like, things like that... You become the looser if you don't handle it correctly.... I try hard to give her atleast 30 minutes of my time everyday, for playtime and stuff like that... And regarding discipline, what my hubby and i does is we talk to her, and tell her that what she did was bad, and asks her to apologize... This works perfectly for us, we talk to her eye to eye, explaining why what she did was wrong, she would end up teary eyed and says Sorry... It works better for us than spanking... Once again, patience is the Key... Good Luck!!!

Answer 8

i work with nine two years olds by myself each day. And i know children act differently when they are away from their parents but i do understand where your coming from.

What i try to do is remember that they are only TWO! and think of how much they know and how clever they are that they know the right buttons to push to make us angry.

We use quiet time as punishment away from toys and the group for two minutes.

i always tell the child, " that thier behaviour is making me sad and other child - explain why they are there and say sorry but now you need to sit here."

With two year olds re-direction works. For example if the child is doing attention seeking behaviour then walk away saying "mmm Mummy's going to play outside on the bike. Oh but (child) is being to silly to come. Should we clean up fix?"

Or if you can see your child is going to do something to annoy you re direct to something they like. I.e if they are running around or jumping on the couch then say, "Mummys going to get the stickers would you like to do that? thats more fun than falling off the couch."

Hoped i've helped.

Answer 9

I get impatient but not over heated.

It helps me when I just think for a second and say, man, this kid is crazy for a two year old. I just run it through my head that she is only two and that I was probably crazier as a child.

Alot of times when I look at it like that it just makes me laugh.

Answer 10

Yes, the terrible two's and three's. At that age kids are trying to assert themselves as individuals, they need re-assuring but also you need to show them tough love as well.
If you laugh while the're throwing a tantrum, they won't take you seriously and also when it comes to decipline if you do what you say you're going to do, do it, don't hesitate otherwise they'll think you're not serious and will walk all over you.
Consistancy is key, so unless you want your two year old running around causing chaos, show them who's boss.
At this age they'll push and push to see if they can get away with as much as possible. Kind of like teenagers but they're two-three feet tall.
Also, talk to them like a cave man, I kid you not, it works because their little brains can have melt downs(hance the tantrums) because they're getting to much info at once they can't really express themselves as good verbally, they do it physically like throwing things across the room or screaming, which can also lead to manipulation as they get older if you don't give them what they want in the store.
So next time when you're little angel wants some thing like a toy and you have taken the toy away and still he screams, just say," you want toy, toy(point at it) you want, want(in a stern voice) that will get their attention, then you can explain to them they're not getting that item because they miss behave. You can say "stop, you stop, crying" "you want toy","you stop crying".
You have to break it down as much as possible, its frustrating at first for you because you can feel like your IQ just dropped but it does help.