Disciplinary actions for a twenty to month old. Almost at the terrible twos!?

Question

Ok so my son is almost at those terrible twos in about a month but even now he is so out of hand. He hits on myself and his dad,he's a biter, screams his lungs out and just does stuff until he gets his way. I will yell at him and sit him down in timeout but he will torture you until you give in and let him get up. I have a four month old also and I am so afraid as he gets older he will start being mean to his brother as well. Nothing I do seems to faze him. He is such a brat lol. Anyone else ever have this problem? If so what did you do to get through it and how did you discipline the child for his or hers actions?

Answer 1

The main thing is that you can not give in. No matter how much they scream, cry, throw a tantrum etc. you just can not give in. I know it's hard and it can even be pretty annoying but when you give in all you are showing him is that he is the boss and that he can get away with it next time too. He has to know that YOU are the boss. Put him in timeout and make him stay there until he's quiet, don't talk to him, don't respond to him, ignore him and act like he's not even there, don't let him know it bothers you, let him have his tantrum once he realizes that it doesn't effect you he'll get tired of it and stop. Put him in his bedroom and close the door and let him have his tantrum if you have to but just do not give into him.

Answer 2

I have a 18 month old and I spank her. Not very hard just 3 whacks with my hand on her butt. Now all I have to do is say do you want a spanking? She says no and stops what she is doing. You have to start now or you will regret it later. There is a huge difference between spankings and beatings. People that dont get a handle on their kids at a young age end up with little a******s running around. Dont give into their tantrums. Good luck!!!! Your kid is not the boss. My kid realizes that when I tell her something that is how its going to be no questions, and if she doesnt listen there are consequences.

Answer 3

sit him in timeout and stick to what you say. when you do it and give into him and let him up while being bad still it just teaches him he can get away with it and he will keep doing it. he needs to learn that what you say goes and what he did was wrong. and when he stands up from his timeout make him say sorry to whoever he did something to (or to you for being bad) and make sure you tell him why he was in timeout.

Answer 4

Set up a pack 'n play, or gate an area of a hallway off. Put him in there for time outs and let him scream. When he finds he gets sent away and gets no attention for being obnoxious, he'll stop the behavior. Right now, he's learned that if he screams enough you'll just give in.  

Answer 5

You need to lead by calm example. Yelling at a two-year-old is foolish and will simply teach the lad to yell even more.  Try rewarding good behavior.  And your name calling is immature (he's a brat).  Grow up.

Answer 6

well my parents, the just spanked me. i remember, it really got me AND my sis to shutup. but well im asian, and thats kinda what asian parents do to get their kids to shutup and keep them straight just spank them. i know some say thats cruel, but as long as you don't really HURT the kid (like leaving bruises, red marks, bleeding, etc.) your fine. it's very hard to reason with a two yr old, so don't bother, put them in their place. although you cant do that in public, in that case bribe them, tell them before hand if they behave they can get chocolate or watch tv or something. they will def. understand that.

Answer 7

Well, my kids never went through the terrible twos that I'd been expecting.  

I found the really important thing is to listen to them.  Especially at that age where they know what they want to get across to you, but can't always explain it verbally.  It sounds like he's bored and misunderstood.  

If my girls did become overly vocal or attempt to punch me, it was only out of frustration and I found doing things like picking them up and holding them upside down really quickly worked.  They'd be so surprised that they'd start laughing and would forget all about whatever they were thinking about.  Or say "Oh my god, is that chocolate on the roof?" and they'll look up and get a neck tickle (works every time).... which will make them forget why they were whinging.

OK, I'm not the best disciplinarian, but I think at that age they're not purposefully being evil.  Diverting their attention suddenly and quickly has always worked for us.  Anything that makes them laugh and shocks them out of their anger.

Answer 8

I had the same problem with my son, and still do. But I found that instead of time outs sending him to his room work better. He has TV and toys in his room but he hates being in his room alone and not where everyone else is. I think trying everything is the key, just work until something works for you.

Answer 9

My cousin does the exact same thing....I have a baby on the way so I read tons of parenting magazines....something that caught my eye was to put them im time out and not show them attention.  Hes two so two min of time out...if he gets up put him back and start it over till hes done.  Dont give in and keep calm when you put him back....you making a big deal out of it shows him that he got your attention and a reaction out of you!  Simply state hes in time out when you put him there the first time and why hes there and he must sit there for two min and if he doesnt it starts over.  If he gets up...say nothing...just get him and put him back.  Only show attention to good behavior so he knows that to get a reaction out of you or to get attention he must act good!  This is working with my cousin b/c he just laughs when you spank him!