What would you have done?

Question

Last night all my kids and me were in the kitchen. I was cooking supper, my daughter (11 months) was in her high chair snacking on cherrios, and my other two were coloring, Well when i went to drain the grease off the hamburger meat, my 4 year old son was talking to the baby and i as soon as I turned my back he literally pushed her highchair backwards and she fell. It scared the sh** out of me and after I finally calmed down I spanked my son and took his TV out of his room. I just want to know what you all would have done.

Answer 1

I would have done the same thing, little kids don't think about the consequences of their actions and it is up to you as a parent to make a child realize that there are consequences to everything they do. Just telling him that he could have hurt her doesn't always work, especially if it looked like fun. I applaud you for making a good decision.

Answer 2

i would spank him on the butt too but not hard enough to like seriously hurt him and tv taking out of the room is a good idea also my mom did tht to me when i was little and tell him what is right and wrong

Answer 3

I'm not in to the spanking thing. BUT, I think you absolutly did the right thing. I mean the baby could have had serious damage in her head.

The way you punished him was a way of telling him how very bad he was and how it is a big problem that he's done.

Excellent by taking away his t.v.

Give it back to him in 2 or 3 days, cuz he's only 4.

He'll get it. He'll know how serious the problem was.

And next time, when he wants to do something bad, he'll STOP and Think before he acts.

Answer 4

I would have told him he should never do it again, and taking the tv out of the room is a good idea.

spanking isnt a bad thing nessicarily, but if you feel it is then try to stop.

Answer 5

I wouldn't spank a child because that's just not something i would ever do, but i most definitely would of taken more then his television away his room would of been void of any kind of entertainment. he also would of been doing some serious chores after i finished yelling at him and he apologized to all involved.

Answer 6

I'm not a parent, but i would absolutely never hit my children. explain to him why it was wrong and tell him more things will be taken away if he doesnt anything like it again.

Answer 7

i think you reacted correctly i would have done the same thing well actually i have done the same thing to my son when he did something simular to his younger brother. good pat on the butt nice lil talk and privelages taken away. dont think you overreacted at all. GOOD PARENTING mama

Answer 8

your son is 4. he knows what he done wrong. you were right i say, but taking his tv out may have gone a little to far. Just sit down and talk to your son and let him know what he did wrong. if he does it again then you canc take his tv away.

Answer 9

look, sometimes we spank our childern because of the situacion, and that doesnt mean you are a bad mother.You have to talk to your son, and make sure he understands what thing he can and cant do, taking his tv out of the room its a good punishment, because he needs to know that his accions have concequences, i would have done the same, dont feel bad about it and try to talk more to your son aout it.

Answer 10

the discipline part sounds good.......Did you check the baby to see if she was ok?

Answer 11

I think you did a good job.  I think it is important that you explain to the child WHY you are spanking them otherwise there is no point in the spanking.  Since you explained this, i think you did well.  Can i just ask - why the heck has your 4 year old got a TV in his room?!  He doesn't need it.  He needs his room for sleep and toys and the TV should be downstairs and where you can keep an eye on him.  You don't state how you spanked him or for how long but if it was me i would have done it with my hand on his bare bottom and about 6 spanks.  It may have been more effective to take away his favourite toy instead of his TV but well done anyway.

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Answer 12

Yes he deserved spanking and take away some of his privileges otherwise he'll do it again and again.  Also, he might even do something more severe.  He seems like he's going thru jealousy at this time.  Make sure you let him know you love him just as much while he's goin thru this phase and KEEP your eye on him while he's around with your other kid.  But, yes I definitely would've punished him.,

Answer 13

I would spank mine. Its different once your actually a parent. I think that was good and I do think you should still sit him down and explain to him what he did that was wrong and tell him he should never do something like that because the little baby could get hurt real bad.

Answer 14

i would have told him not to do that anymore because it could lead to s****t behaviors as he grows up, and if he did it again, i would not have spanked him (physical pain never works!) but i would have taken his TV away.

Answer 15

My son once pushed his little sister off of a little plastic slide. He was 4, she was 2.  He didn't mean to injure her, but she ended up with a small crack in her wrist bone that required a cast. Once my son saw the cast, he understood that he had hurt her, and he felt very bad. Lesson learned.  I never saw him do anything physical to her again. Ironically, little sister soon discovered that the cast made a great weapon to hit her brother with, and we had to teach her not to use it that way.  

We felt the same way as you.  There could be no second time for this.  We don't believe in spanking, but our son was confined to his room for a while. We also talked to him about it repeatedly, not just when the incident happened.  Each time, we reinforced the idea that pushing and shoving can lead to bad accidents.  I think it helped.  At least, the behavior never happened again.  

Answer 16

Did he give you any kind of reason? Not that there is a reason good enough to push a little sibling in a highchair but I was curious. I completely understand why you spanked and punished but does he get it? I don't "plan" on spanking my children but you never know. I'm glad that you're little one is ok. Raising kids is one of the most difficult things I've ever done! We might not always know what to do in the moment but you can always fix it if you have a change of heart ;)

Answer 17

I think i would have done the same thing.

Sometimes kids need a spanking, especially in a situation like that where he could have hurt his little sister badly, as long as you tell him why you did it. I don't see anything wrong.

Answer 18

that would have scared me too and i would have done the same thing.

Answer 19

I'm not a parent. I probably wouldn't have hit him... but, I definitely would have taken the TV out of his room. I also probably would've grounded him and taken some of his other toys. What he did was pretty serious.

Answer 20

if he did that **** on purpose, I would of been fine if you had punished him further.

you should still be extremely anger with him, and you should get it through his head that this kind of behavior is completely unacceptable.

You and daddy should both talk (yell at) to him

Answer 21

I wouldn't have hit him, but I would have grounded him for the rest of the night.

Answer 22

I'm not sure what the tv had to do with this (or why a 4 yo needs a TV in their room at all), but I would have spanked him as well. you're right, this is serious and something you don't want a repeated chance on.

She could have been seriously injured, choked or any number of things having that happen.

Answer 23

You did the right thing.  You shouldn't punish your child when you are angry.  The only thing I can think of is you need to talk with the 4 year old about why he was punished and tell him you love him, but he must not hurt the baby.  You also need to tell him how long he will be punished and make it reasonable and enforceable.  By that I mean if he is not to watch television in his room, you need to ensure he doesn't get to watch elsewhere either.  Finally, you need to ensure that he apologizes to the baby, more for his sake than hers.  Have him kiss her and tell her he loves her, he's sorry and he will be a big brother that protects her and never harms her.

Then let him off the hook.  Focusing too much on this situation can create a feeling of rejection by feeling unforgiven.  Show your son that you forgive him and trust him.  Give him an opportunity to make amends by doing something nice for the baby.

Raising children is difficult.  Best of luck to you.

Answer 24

You did the right thing. I would have spanked him too, hard so he'd remember to associate a negative pain with his hurtful action. You can't talk reason to a 4 year old. If you hadn't spanked him, I can almost guarantee that he'd do it (or worse) again. You did exactly what you needed to - nipped that nasty behavior in the bud. If kids don't learn there are consequences they will continue to misbehave, and in this case he could have caused serious brain injury or killed your daughter. NOT something to play with because uninformed idiots think it's not politically correct to spank...  

Answer 25

its god that you did that, you should definitly take something away from him that he likes a lot, so he will kow not to do that again, if you didnt take anything away he might think its okay, you did the right thing. that wouldve been so scary! i hope shes okay :D