Anyone else's 21month old throwing things?

Rebekah - posted on 07/11/2011

I have a four year old and a two year old and a one year old... They've all done this. The one year old is starting this phase of throwing things. I keep a basket of wiffle balls and foam balls... They are allowed to throw those only. They throw anything else I take it and put it on time out. My big boy is at such an age that he has a baseball bag with hardballs now and when we go outside or to the park we take that. It's a good skill to have we just have to channel it properly and not get beamed with other harder toys in the process! Cause I've been beamed in the head with a car and that sucks! Oh! I've also taught them to not throw until they know they have my attention... And they say ready! Best of luck! You can do any method that feels the best to you, but sometimes it just isn't worth the fight on this if you can give them however

long they need to play fetch. We would give our dogs at least that much right?! At least that is my opinion...

This is just another one of those gross motor skills

that they are learning. As for the throwing of other items from frustration... I find lots of talking to them walking them through what it is they wanted... Oh you wanted milk not water ok. And then hand them the milk cup and say milk a couple times. If you know the sign demonstrate it. This age is so amazing because they are all there, they just don't always have the way to tell us. This is the best and sometimes the worst learning curve! One phrase you would hear in my house all the time for all my kids even still 'use your words!' I say it even before they have words... Smetimes it helps fill the air and distract them while I am trying to figure out what they mean by something!

Linda - posted on 06/08/2011

My son loves to throw things but mainly he throws balls & since that is what a ball is for i only punish him by a 1 1/2 min time out if he throws it at something or some one. I also take him to his room & tell him he may do as he pleases in his room cause there is nothing dangorus for him to break in there...maybe he will play baseball someday

Roselyne - posted on 06/08/2011

My 23month boy does the same,whether happy or frustrated & he really enjoys it,he normally laughs so loud when throwing! I've tried but cant get him to stop it too & i've noticed many do it about that age. So could it be a phase that they will over come when the time comes?

Roselyne - posted on 06/08/2011

My 23month boy is doing the same,he does it whether his happy or frustrated,he seems to just enjoy it,he normally laughs so loud after throwing! I've failed to stop him too,and i've noticed many do this at about this age. Could it be a phase that

Lissy - posted on 06/06/2011

My 22 month old throws things too. He threw a drink coaster at my Uncle and now my Uncle thinks my son is mean. He began throwing things when I bought him a rubber ball and I taught him to play toss. It took him a bit to realize to let go of the ball in order to toss it to me. Once he learned this he was excited. But, confused ..... he started throwing everything because he had just learned how. He has gotten much better at knowing what to toss and when but we still have the occasion where he is sleepy and I take a Little People to the head. When this happens I grab his hand and tell him no and put the toy away. This does help.

Dawn - posted on 05/07/2011

My son was throwing things as well out of frustration or just for fun. His grandmother brought him a child's punching bag that is on a stand and now instead of throwing things he punches the bag. Try getting him one it might work. All children are different.

Krissy - posted on 05/04/2011

my girl is 22 months and she loves the climb up high throw things and try to bite she is doing it to push buttons the other day she tryed to slap my husband when he told her 'no' for something. the dishwasher gets truend off with ' sop it no more ' said to it and truns it off, just keep reenforcing that it is not alright when he throws the toys take away the whole set from which he threw that item- metal cars are the 'ouch' factor in our house. she knows what she is doing is wrong but its the terribal twos starting and it needs to be steped on now of how far he can go before you say 'no ' and take him away from what is going on. he needs new stimulations and hopefully running him ragged at the park will help distract his bad behaviour.

Kristel - posted on 05/03/2011

My 22 month old son does this and has for a long time. I was worried that something was wrong at first, it seemed like he didn't know how to play right. He still does it at times but not nearly as bad as before. What I ended up doing was putting a lot of his toys away in his closet, especially the small things like Little People, Mega Blocks etc. I basically got it down to a tub full of cars that he loves and then I left out his bigger items like his Cozy Coupe, shopping cart etc. My Mom suggested that he might be overwhelmed with too many toys and I think she may have been right. I let him every once in awhile if he is good pull out a toy from the closet, or if he seems bored I will switch toys around. Between that and now that the weather is getting nicer taking him outside to play has really helped calm him down. Hope that helps! You are NOT alone!!!! LOL :)

Priscilla - posted on 05/02/2011

Think it might be helpful to plan different activities for the child and keep some toys away and get them to keep after they play with the toy.

I entertain my 21 months old with different activities throughout the day and keeping him occupied and busy. And we do teach him, that if he wants somethings, he has to ask using please and sometimes we still cannot understand what he wants so we let him holds our hands and lead us to what he wants.

Christina - posted on 05/02/2011

my son is THE WORST about this..well he was :) like most toddlers he has way too many toys. one day i got so fed up with him throwing things i said ok, you threw it im throwing it away and i put it in the trashcan and got rid of it. now when he starts to raise his hand to throw something i say do you want to throw it away in the trash? he stops immediately! when he treats any of his toys badly i tell him im gonna throw them out or put them in the garage. hope it helps :)

Sy-Ronn - posted on 05/01/2011

also he has a basketball hoop set that we have in his room that he can throw a ball at that helps too

Sy-Ronn - posted on 05/01/2011

My 21 month old is also throwing things. We try asking for the things that he has that seems to help.

Melanie - posted on 05/01/2011

Have you put the TOY or thrown item in time out? I made a big deal out the toy getting into trouble. Kids fighting over the toy? IT went to time out till they could share. Kiddo throwing toy for fun/a fit/frustrations, doesn't matter, ground the toy. Put it away outta sight. EVERY time. He needs to know that he will not get it back for XX amount of time.

Now look into what might be causing the situation. Changes in his routine, schedule, associations will affect his behavior. Did y'all move? have a new baby? change your household dynamics (ie get a job that changed your schedule)? Smaller changes will affect kiddos in unforeseen manners. Move the furniture? get a dog? change his doctor? change his bed time routine? Anything is up for grabs! For kids *any* change is drama and they do not have any way to express it well. Knowing "why" might not fix the problem but it will help to understand and work toward finding a solution that works best.

You could try to explain to him what he should do instead of what not to do. If you tell a kid over and over "don't throw the toy" he is only focusing on the act of throwing the toy. Tell him instead to "Hug Teddy", "cars stay on the floor" "Pillows like to stay on the bed". This puts the preferred action in his head. Repeat what you want him to do each time as nicely as your frustrations will let you.

When kiddo starts to talk more, then he will have more availability to tell you what he is feeling. You will be able to tell him that it is ok to be mad/upset/excited, but throwing is not an ok way to tell you.

Hope this eases your situation a little.

Christina - posted on 04/30/2011

My 21 month old boy is doing the SAME thing! I notice he does it out of frustration, probably because I dont understand what he wants. He will throw everything from his nuk to his sippy cup to toys that are near him...I hope someone on here as some suggestions because I am in the same boat as you are!