Comments on: Ask the YoungMommy readers: When to start discipline? http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/ a real look at a 20 something mom Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:42:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=301 By: Nerida http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/comment-page-1/#comment-457 Nerida Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:31:08 +0000 http://theyoungmommylife.com/?p=645#comment-457 You are all right on track. Keep it positive, keep it short, keep it consistent - it all pays dividends in the long run. Keep at it. Courtney, you are right. At 8 months your son is too little to understand what you are trying to teach him. Don't slap, just be quick. Hold one of his hands, sing a song, open you own mouth wide and laugh - often he'll copy you - slip a spoon full of food in and the spoon out again so fast he doesn't even see it coming! Feeding babies is ALWAYS messy. They grab, they spit, they flick - but they also eat, they learn, and it all gets easier in time! He may be keen to try feeding himself. Are you ready to let him? Lay some newspaper on the floor around the high chair and let him go for it!! I've got a great photo of my daughter at 8 or 9 months covered in mashed pumpkin. It's one of my favorites. She's waving the spoon with a big toothless grin - it must have taken ages to clean up, but it was definitely worth it. If you have a chance, come and leave some comments over at http://www.better-living-ideas.com/parenting-advice.html You are all right on track.

Keep it positive, keep it short, keep it consistent – it all pays dividends in the long run. Keep at it.

Courtney, you are right. At 8 months your son is too little to understand what you are trying to teach him. Don’t slap, just be quick. Hold one of his hands, sing a song, open you own mouth wide and laugh – often he’ll copy you – slip a spoon full of food in and the spoon out again so fast he doesn’t even see it coming!

Feeding babies is ALWAYS messy. They grab, they spit, they flick – but they also eat, they learn, and it all gets easier in time!

He may be keen to try feeding himself. Are you ready to let him? Lay some newspaper on the floor around the high chair and let him go for it!! I’ve got a great photo of my daughter at 8 or 9 months covered in mashed pumpkin. It’s one of my favorites. She’s waving the spoon with a big toothless grin – it must have taken ages to clean up, but it was definitely worth it.

If you have a chance, come and leave some comments over at http://www.better-living-ideas.com/parenting-advice.html

]]> By: tmpringl http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/comment-page-1/#comment-463 tmpringl Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:40:05 +0000 http://theyoungmommylife.com/?p=645#comment-463 @Courtney - Yeah, I think you'll have a little while to go before he understands that you're serious. Babies don't get discipline. @Courtney – Yeah, I think you’ll have a little while to go before he understands that you’re serious. Babies don’t get discipline.

]]> By: tmpringl http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/comment-page-1/#comment-462 tmpringl Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:37:59 +0000 http://theyoungmommylife.com/?p=645#comment-462 @Amanda - Being consistent is sooo important and that's the thing I struggle with the most. @Amanda – Being consistent is sooo important and that’s the thing I struggle with the most.

]]> By: Amanda http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/comment-page-1/#comment-461 Amanda Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:31:07 +0000 http://theyoungmommylife.com/?p=645#comment-461 Redirecting and short explanations are good strategies but being consistent and firm are very imortant also. You have to stick with it and you can't give in. Different discipline tehniques work for different children and unfoutunately there is no magic solution but if you discipline consistently, firmly, and lovingly it will work and the sooner you set boundaries for your children the easier it is to discipline as they get older. Redirecting and short explanations are good strategies but being consistent and firm are very imortant also. You have to stick with it and you can’t give in. Different discipline tehniques work for different children and unfoutunately there is no magic solution but if you discipline consistently, firmly, and lovingly it will work and the sooner you set boundaries for your children the easier it is to discipline as they get older.

]]> By: Courtney http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/comment-page-1/#comment-460 Courtney Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:49:22 +0000 http://theyoungmommylife.com/?p=645#comment-460 I've tried the saying "no" and the redirecting thing. It works with some stuff but not everything. But when you're feeding an 8 month old who slaps the spoon out of your hand, after you say "no" and redirect, he then keeps on doing it, as well as laughing and thinking it's funny...then what? I was raised on spankings but I don't feel that's the only way to discipline a child. I want to do things differently than how my mother did with me. However, at this age, you can not reason with him. When I tell him, "no, that's not nice", he doesn't understand that. But after he has knocked the spoonful of food out my hand a few times, my initial instinct is to say "no" as well as pop his hand. He can then associate slapping the food out of mommy's hand = a slap on my hand...let me not do that anymore. Right? Kids need to come with an instruction manual complete with a troubleshooting guide. Anyone up for writing a book: "1st time Single Motherhood for Dummies?" :-/ I’ve tried the saying “no” and the redirecting thing. It works with some stuff but not everything. But when you’re feeding an 8 month old who slaps the spoon out of your hand, after you say “no” and redirect, he then keeps on doing it, as well as laughing and thinking it’s funny…then what?

I was raised on spankings but I don’t feel that’s the only way to discipline a child. I want to do things differently than how my mother did with me. However, at this age, you can not reason with him. When I tell him, “no, that’s not nice”, he doesn’t understand that. But after he has knocked the spoonful of food out my hand a few times, my initial instinct is to say “no” as well as pop his hand. He can then associate slapping the food out of mommy’s hand = a slap on my hand…let me not do that anymore. Right?

Kids need to come with an instruction manual complete with a troubleshooting guide. Anyone up for writing a book: “1st time Single Motherhood for Dummies?” :-/

]]> By: Amy http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/comment-page-1/#comment-459 Amy Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:19:04 +0000 http://theyoungmommylife.com/?p=645#comment-459 With very young children - those who have just started crawling or walking - the best discipline strategy is to say "No" and redirect. So, if Junior is pulling down your Precious Moments statues, say, "No" as you take him into another place, and show him something he CAN play with. Also, it's essential to put up all the delicate stuff now. I started doing time outs with my kids right around 15 - 18 months old. It mainly happened when I said no, redirected them to something appropriate, and then they went right back to doing what I told them not to do before. I only made them sit on the bottom step one minute for every year of age. In the beginning I stood there with them. Now they can do it on their own (at 3.5) and mostly on their own (at nearly 2). I've written at length about how to do time outs correctly at http://prettybabies.blogspot.com/2007/07/wfmw-how-to-do-time-outs-correctly.html . Also, the tag "discipline" has some good stuff, too, if I do say so. :) Amy With very young children – those who have just started crawling or walking – the best discipline strategy is to say “No” and redirect. So, if Junior is pulling down your Precious Moments statues, say, “No” as you take him into another place, and show him something he CAN play with. Also, it’s essential to put up all the delicate stuff now.

I started doing time outs with my kids right around 15 – 18 months old. It mainly happened when I said no, redirected them to something appropriate, and then they went right back to doing what I told them not to do before. I only made them sit on the bottom step one minute for every year of age. In the beginning I stood there with them. Now they can do it on their own (at 3.5) and mostly on their own (at nearly 2). I’ve written at length about how to do time outs correctly at http://prettybabies.blogspot.com/2007/07/wfmw-how-to-do-time-outs-correctly.html .

Also, the tag “discipline” has some good stuff, too, if I do say so. :)

Amy

]]> By: kaye http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2009/03/02/ask-the-youngmommy-readers-when-to-start-discipline/comment-page-1/#comment-458 kaye Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:49:21 +0000 http://theyoungmommylife.com/?p=645#comment-458 I think you've got the right idea. Children learn by what we tell them (ie. our expectations) and by what they see (the examples we set). So the main thing is be consistant. With my rugrats, I started as soon as I felt they understood what I was saying. This meant that baby couldn't string together a sentence, but grasped that pulling things off the coffee table is not acceptable. I think the main thing is to start as you mean to go on. A very simplistic way of illustrating this would be, if you know you want a baby to learn to fall asleep by his/herself, then don't go rocking baby to sleep every night. The next thing you know, you're complaining that baby will only sleep if rocked, and you can't handle it anymore cause baby ain't so little (or light) anymore! PS. I agree that discipline is a positive thing. It should be done out of love and not anger. I think you’ve got the right idea. Children learn by what we tell them (ie. our expectations) and by what they see (the examples we set). So the main thing is be consistant. With my rugrats, I started as soon as I felt they understood what I was saying. This meant that baby couldn’t string together a sentence, but grasped that pulling things off the coffee table is not acceptable. I think the main thing is to start as you mean to go on. A very simplistic way of illustrating this would be, if you know you want a baby to learn to fall asleep by his/herself, then don’t go rocking baby to sleep every night. The next thing you know, you’re complaining that baby will only sleep if rocked, and you can’t handle it anymore cause baby ain’t so little (or light) anymore! PS. I agree that discipline is a positive thing. It should be done out of love and not anger.

]]>