Discipline Questions

Up until now, we haven't had to discipline much...

But now there is a list of things that we find ourselves saying "NO!" to very often:
-biting
-trying to climb OVER the couch backing (no wall on the other side, just a big fall)
-shaking the table
-hitting
-saying "no" and "hot" about the stove
-ETC.

When they were biting, we'd squeeze their cheeks together and say "No Biting," but they'd just start giggling...and not a conniving giggle, they genuinely thought it was a fun game.

When I was little, my mom and aunt used to hold my hand out and give a little slap on the top...never actually hurt, but it counted as a spanking. Same thing, it doesn't even phase the boys!

They are too young for time out, and I say that only because they won't stay where we put them...I don't even know how to begin disciplining them...


Please help and reply with what has worked for you...They will be one on March 3rd, but it seems that they are older already!

Thanks and Happy Tuesday!

 

Redirection, redirection, and more redirection. At one, my girls were not ready for time out either, and they didn't firmly understand the concept of 'no', so I mostly just redirected them to some other activity. Now at almost 22 months, they completely understand 'no' and 'stop' and will generally stop if we ask them to. I mention this because I think a lot of people worry about how to discipline younger toddlers and from my own experience, you don't really need to (much). Just keep them out of trouble until they can understand and follow directions a bit better, and introduce discipline then. You won't be setting bad habits now by just saying no, explaining why it's not good to climb over the couch, and pulling out Matchbox cars or whatever it is your boys like so that they stop focusing on climbing the couch.

*Edited because my post didn't make a ton of sense!

 

I think you need to realize that at 1, they aren't trying to be "bad", they are babies exploring their environments, with the memory of a knat. In other words, you really can't discipine at this age. Yes, you can slap the hand and say no, but you wonder why 10 min later they are doing the same thing. True discipline requires an understanding of cause/effect, and the ability for that understaning to change behavior.

At one, the best technique is to distract and re-direct--and you will do both 100 times a day. Eventually, the couch will loose its appeal, etc. and they will stop climbing on it.

 

One thing I've done is make their play area as friendly to them as possible. They started having fits to get in the recliner, but couldn't get up there on their own, so I put a little box there. Now they can get up and down as much as they want. This has also helped with them not wanting to get on the couch- they know they can get in the chair on their own.
My two wanted anything and everything on our end tables, so we cleared them off. It's a pain, but for now it's easier to just take the the temptation away.

As for hitting and biting- thankfully we haven't really crossed that bridge yet. When they do start hitting, they are both usually laughing. I have such weird kids!
DS did bite DD's finger once when she put it in his mouth. He has a ton of teeth and can really hurt too. She screamed bloody murder, but hasn't done it again. (I would have stopped it if I realized what she was doing.)

 

We went through biting at around 11 months. They were usually biting me while we were snuggling and goofing off. They would laugh, but I would put them down and walk away after saying "no biting! No biting Mommy! We give kisses". They didn't think it was so funny when I wouldn't pay attention to them for a minute. Then I would reinforce "nice touches" and being "gentle". We did the same thing with hair pulling. It took about 2 weeks, but we're done with biting and they will pet your head and say "gentle" now.