My patience are shot!!!!

Melissa - posted on 09/28/2010

Oh and whoever said to exercise him is 100% correct!

Melissa - posted on 09/28/2010

My son will be 4 in December...and here are a few little goodies I use to make sure he is in line. Pick ONE central time out spot in the house. Andy's is the corner. Whenever he acts up, its straight to the corner for 3 minutes. No exceptions! And if he gets up when he is not supposed to, then he goes back to the corner with a swat on his rear end. If you are consistent with it, he will learn really quickly that he has rules. Also make your rules very clear to him! Get down on his level and talk to him. I put my face right in Andy's face and tell him clearly what needs to happen. I barely EVER have to discipline him because he already knows what my standards for him are. Its a wonderful thing.

Lyndsay - posted on 09/20/2010

First thing that sticks out to me here, you said he "hits you back"? If you are hitting him first, do you really expect him not to? I am not against the occasional spanking for a serious misdemeanour, but I think that regular smacking is unnecessary and just encourages aggression in children.

Okay, next thing. My son just turned 3 and I am in the same boat! He has recently started blowing raspberries (spitting all over everything) and screaming in a really high pitched, annoying way. He will run and jump and climb all over my house, ignore me when I tell him to get down, and kick and scream all the way to time out..

So I'm going to tell you what I did yesterday, at my wit's end, which seems to be working! My son was having one of those days where he was just absolutely bonkers, he was bouncing off the walls (literally), tearing apart my house and being a real pain in the ass. He was sent to his bedroom for time-out where he was jumping off his shelving unit onto a pile of pillows... obviously this isn't safe, and I was cooking dinner at the time, so I brought him out to the dining room and confined him to a small area on the carpet. Afterwards he started going nuts again, he wouldn't stay on his little spot and went right back to terrorizing... WELL, eventually, I decided to send him to bed early (sometimes he acts like this when he is overtired.. if he hasn't napped at daycare or something), so I took EVERYTHING out of his room. I mean EVERYTHING. All of his toys, his dresser, his shelving unit. I left him his bed, one dinky car, and a glow-in-the-dark moon that he ripped off the wall. MAN, was he pissed! So today, I allowed him to earn back his toys through good behaviour. Slowly, one thing at a time. He was a perfect little angel all day long... and most of his stuff is still in my hallway for tomorrow.

Jeanie - posted on 09/14/2010

I have 3 grown kids... You need to spend time with the little guy. Run him ragged. He probably has a lot of energy. Lots of us are caught up in the electronic age, and we are not spending as much time being physical. My suggestion, before you get him doped up, is take him out and have him run or do some kind of vigorous activity when he is acting up. You might want to invest in an trampoline :) My stepson is very active. On a week night you will find us cooking dinner together, playing whiffle ball, basketball, football, riding bikes, and going to the park. All that is after school :) He loves the attention, and goes right to sleep after a bath :)

Hannah - posted on 09/13/2010

hi, my daughter was 3 in may. i was going through the same thing, she was really driving me insane,, i did the same things you mentioned. first time she did something bad, like throw something, id tell her not to, 2nd, say it firmly then if she did it a 3rd time she would lose the object for a certain time, she hates time out and that works. she knows never to get to 3 times, i think she gets she will lose a toy or treat and seems to of worked.. thankfully i have a wonderful child now with minimal tantrums,, good luck hun xx

Laura - posted on 09/11/2010

Two's and three's are tough times when kids are growing. Your son's behavior isn't all that unusual for his age. You are on the right track about the need to be consistant in how you deal with his behavior--don't stop! When he throws things, take them away for a period of time as a consequence. Hitting (biting, kicking, etc) are never appropriate behaviors and need to be dealt with everytime. Your responses to his behavior seem to be on the right track. If consistant consequences for his behavior aren't helping, then there may be more to his behavior because most toddlers will respond to these basic techniques.

I would suggest taking him to your family doctor/pediatrician for an exam to determine if his behavioral problems might be psychological, such as autism, ADHD, etc. This will give you information to help you determine what your next step should be: If he checks out okay, then you can discuss other behavior modification techniques that might be more effective. If he does test positive for something, you will be able to work with mental health professionals that can help teach you how deal with his behaviors.

No matter what the outcome, patience is your best tool in dealing with difficult behavior. I know that's sometimes tough, as a parent, to use, but it's still true. Patience and calmness on your part will actually help you in the long run, so start practicing...it does get easier the more you do it! Good luck!