How to discipline a 18 month old..

Question

my son is almost 18 months and is always hitting my and him self. he will pull my hair bite me and scratch me. i dont know how to discipline him at this age. i dont want to spank him because i feel that will teach him its okay to hit when your mad. and he doesnt understand the whole time out thing. idk what to do.

Answer 1

if you keep on thinking that he doesn't understand then he will keep on biting and hitting. he is old enough to understand yes and no, timeout is a good way and a swat on the hand isn't going to teach him that hitting is okay it's going to teach him that pulling mommies hair or bitting and hitting isn't okay.

Answer 2

Do a time out chair or step or something like that.  He should sit there for 1 minute.  Keep in mind that yes he is young but as long as you explain right from wrong he will understand it.  I don't get why people think that 1-2 year olds don't understand things, it is beyond me.

Answer 3

That sounds like he is learning this from somewhere. I know this will be hard for you to do, but i would physically put him sitting in the corner for at least one minute. If he gets out bring him right back there over and over until he stays...and ...he will eventually. After you have mastered that he will learn that there will be punishment for his behavior. The key for you is repetition and consistency.

Answer 4

loudly say no and put him down . As far as hitting himself if he keeps doing it then it must not be hurting him then. He's just trying to test you to see If you'll let him get away with suff.

Answer 5

pick him up quickly (not roughly, just sudden) put him down in the corner and say NO. (no biting, no scratching, etc) if he moves from the corner, put him back until times up (1 minute is an eternity to a little one) then you can explain that (biting scratching hitting) causes pain (we say makes ow). when my son was unmoved my this i would act like i was crying, and rub the spot that hurt. my son understood ow, and that he had caused me pain.

he is 2 and doesnt bite,unless you dont move your fingers fast enough when you feed him, doesnt scratch except on accident, if i havent cut his nails, and rarely hits. a 3 y/o hauled off and punched him last week (i yelled at the boy, since his parents didnt care) and then my son smacked him, and ran away. i reprimanded my boy too. its only fair.

Answer 6

Just keep on telling him no hitting or no biting over and over and over and over and over again! Sorry :(

Answer 7

Granted 18 months is young but a sharp swat on the rear is only going to start teaching him that there is punishment when you do what you should not be doing. If you raise this child with the philosophy that you'll be teaching him punishment means he's learning it's ok to hit then i can promise you that you will be raising a child that some day will break your heart. If you ask around almost any one envolved with Juvenile's they will tell you that all that the problem ones needed was disipline or as i've heard so often a good old fashion spanking. I'm not talking about abuse or beating which literally means to beat up but just common sense disipline that some times requires a couple of swats. Like the bible say's as the twig is bent so shall the tree grow. No proper disipline equals eventually no respect........

Answer 8

He can't understand right and wrong yet. Redirect his attention to a interesting toy or activity.

Answer 9

Flog him

Answer 10

Oh he understands right from wrong by now. He knows what he is doing and he knows it is not something you want done.

The best possibly thing for you is to be consistent with what you expect from him and never let your guard down. They are smarter than we think at that age.

Read this story below from a mother...

I have to disagree with the second paragraph of this article. I have personally witnessed my 18 month old look directly at me, get a crooked smile on his face, then proceed to do exactly what I told him not to while still watching me for my reaction. I have also witnessed him grab control of his emotions while crying or whining. He will sit there and tell himself over and over "enough, stop crying" until he does it. I didn't have to say one word to him. Maybe he's advanced for his age, but I seriously doubt it. He just a normal kid. I know he doesn't have control of his emotions, but he is definitely working on it. As far as time outs, Liam does get time outs. He sits on the bench (without being restrained) and either whines or cries, says he's sorry (which I do not think he understands yet) and listens to us when we explain why he's in trouble. I don't think he understands ALL of why he's in trouble, but I'm thinking consistency is best. Liam's mom