How do get my two year old to understand that his sister doesn't like being poked in the eye? :)

Question

He's so curious when it comes to his baby sister. He likes to pat her back to help me burp her and when I play with her he plays with us too. But he seems to have this deep fascination with her eyes! He pokes her in the eye and says "eye, eye", *smiling*. I try telling him that his sister doesn't like being poked in the eye and I redirect his hand to gently touch her arm or pat her head, but he laughs and goes right back to that eye. I don't leave them unattended together and I know he means no harm, but how do I get him to understand that his sister (who is almost 3 months old) doesn't like to be poked in the eye?

My son is two and a half.

Answer 1

Put him in time out!

Answer 2

poke him in the eye and see how he reacts, then tell him that "you see, its horrible, isnt it. Now stop it."

i dont mean to poke him hard or anything, just a little poke, be gentle...and only do it after you see him do it to her again

Answer 3

poke him in the eye and see if he likes it...

Answer 4

This could hurt his sister.. So I think he should get a spanking. Just a quick hard swat on the bottom the next time he does it. I think that may just work

Answer 5

How terrible a person am I that I screamed laughing at the title of your question.

Ahhh kids.  So innocently curious.  Tell him very firmly with zero-tolerence in your voice.  Is she crying when he pokes her?  Or is he touching her eyes?  Not that that's any better, due to germs, but if she's not crying it might be harder for him to equate.  If she is crying, make sure he understands it hurts.  He doesn't WANT to hurt her, and will probably stop shortly thereafter.  

It's likely she's having a jolt reaction to the poke.  This is what he finds funny.  This will be harder to put an end to, but continue being firm with him.

Answer 6

Tell him a bit more firmly that he is not to touch baby sister's eyes. He needs to see that it is not ok and sometimes a firm voice will do that.

Answer 7

I am actually pleasantly surprised to see you haven't spanked him for it and I can't believe people are suggesting that you poke him in the eye!

You're approach is nice, showing him how to be gentle instead of rough however he is seeing it as a game because you aren't being firm enough. You just have to get eye level with him, make good eye contact and in a firm voice tell him "no poking, that hurts your sister." then pick her up and walk away and don't say anything else. He will see that doing this doesn't get him the "playful" attention he is looking for (I say playful attention because that is how he is viewing it right now). It shouldn't take long for him to realize it's not a game.

Answer 8

OMG, my 2 1/2 year old daughter does the same thing to me.  I don't know where she learned this.  She'll stop when I tell her it hurts mommy, but she thinks it's funny too.  If it gets out of control, I would start using time-outs for him.  Maybe if you're a little sterner with him about it, he won't think it's so funny when he gets in trouble for it.

Answer 9

You must be firm and say NO! when dealing with kids, you have to be firm and consistent.  Consistency is key