age appropriate social behavior

My son Ryan is an sweetie and takes direction well, holds your hand, comes when you call him, etc. Michael is much more of a "challenge" and I'm not sure what is age appropriate behavior since they're so different, they were 16 months on July 5th.

We just had to leave Gymboree class because he didn't want to follow any directions and wanted to play on equipment that wasn't meant for our class. He was becoming disruptive so we stepped out, but I kept an eye on his brother. As soon as Ryan realized I was gone he didn't want to stay either. He's the same with his OT and PT sessions, his attention span is about 30 seconds and it's hard to get him to do what we need/want him to do.

He was fed, clean and rested before class; plus this is an ongoing problem with Michael. We're starting a mommy-and-me nursery school in two months and I'm worried it's gonna be a disaster unless I can get Michael to follow directions.

Any advice? We already pour on the positive reinforcement when he cooperates but it's not really working. What are age appropriate social and behavioral skills for 16 months old?

Thanks!!

 

At 16 months neither one of my kids were great listeners or followed directions well. I would say that between 18-20 months that both of them started to listen better and have better attention spans. I would just keep up the positive reinforcement when he does the desired behavior, eventually that did get through to my twosome!

 

My kids are 18 months and have just recently started following basic directions. I have never tried taking them to a class, so I'm not sure how they would do in that setting. I would keep up the positive reinforcement and remember that they are still young.

 

i agree - my girls didn't really get good at following directions until closer to 20 months. then it just seemed to click (although, they've now developed selective hearing ). i found at your LOs age, it helped to get down to their level & show them what you wanted them to do by doing it with them. i know it's a lot harder when there's one of you & two of them, but i did get pretty good results. i also have yet to take my children to any classes - we're going to try storytime this friday. prior to now, it just felt like too much disaster potential :laughing: so kudos to you for giving it a go! :good:

 

I think that sounds like totally normal 16-month-old behavior. It's great that Ryan is so cooperative, but I'm sure it makes it that much harder because you have him to compare Michael to! I used to feel the same way about Nate and Jack; Nate was so compliant and sweet, while Jack was needy, clingy, and sometimes wild. Now I can safely say that Nate is mostly my problem child (tantrums, throwing) while Jack is mostly sweet! What I'm getting at is that Michael is being a typical toddler, and your boys may switch at a certain point, or take turns in being "difficult".

HERE is an article I recently read about 16 month old behavior. I hope it's reassuring to you because Michael sounds pretty normal for this age.

 

Are you going to a play gym class? I've been taking my boys to gymborree since they were 8 months old. They are now 17 months. I wouldn't necessarily call that disruptive behavior. It is very typical behavior. Both of mine have a mind of there own playing at the "gym". I can lead them somewhat through some of the activities they have set up but for the most part they just "play". So do the other kids in their class. Some kids barely leave mom's side. Not mine. Luckily mine are not the only ones. In fact it is very expected that they don't pay attention to everything during the class and play all over the gym. We did move up to the next class age group at 14 months because no other kid in the younger class were as mobile as our two. So they seemed very wild compared to the other kids. I always thought they weren't paying attention at all to the games or songs because they were off playing and not participating all the time. But at home they play the games or do the actions.