Please Tell Me It's Sinking In

My daughter is 21 months old.  She knows that she's not supposed to hit or scratch but she often does it anyways.  It's bad when you're constantly putting your hands up in defense just in case.

 We have limited options for "time out" spots in our small 1 bedroom apartment here in Anchorage, so we've been using her pack-n-play.  Probably not the best idea to make her bed a place of punishment, but I don't really have another option.  The other night, Jared and I were laying on our mattress that is in our living room - glamorous, I know, but sleeping in the same room with a teething, toddler doesn't work.  Marley scratches Jared, we put her in time-out.  A few minutes after getting out, she hits me and then points to her room and says "bed?"  We take her time-out.  So, if she knows a produces b and b isn't fun, then why doesn't she STOP scratching and hitting?  Please tell me that this "consistency" thing is going to sink in and she will soon stop this behavior!

On a side note, she is very good at coming out of time out and giving loves - her version of "I'm sorry".  

One cute story about her... as to not end on a negative note.

The other day we were getting ready to head out of the house.  She was whining, probably because I was busy getting our stuff together and not paying attention to her.  I turned around and said, "Marley, sing me a song."  She smiles, and then starts doing and actions and singing (as best she can) Head, Shoulders Knees & Toes.  So cute.  It mostly sounded like "knee, toe, knee, toe", but it was adorable.  What a cutie pie.

Comments

  1. It is sinking in!! Both my kids do the same thing. Some days Isabelle seemed to like time out like she liked cookies...it's part of the routine. Keep it up. It pays off!! Time out did not stick til she was 2 1/2 Also...sorry this may be too much advice, but we would also make sure that when Isabelle came out of timeout she had a favorite toy or something in front of her, to make a distinction that time out was time away from things she enjoyed as well as a break from the situation. It worked for us. OKAY...last thing. Another thing that I really liked was to make a bunch of large colorful faces with different expressions and then ask...are you happy, are you mad, are you sad, are you scared...etc. Anyway, that's my 4 cents.

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  2. It will sink in, but sadly it takes more time and more repetitions than you would EVER imagine. Our 20year old son hasn't hit, poked or scratched me in about 17 1/2 years. haha
    (but when they learn to not wear you down physically, they learn to wear you down verbally - so good luck!)

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  3. Abby has done things like that in phases over the past few years, generally when a big change has taken place, but when things calmed down again, she'd usually be alright. Also, parentcenter.com has some good ideas for timeouts for two year olds. Good luck. You're doing a great job and before you know it you'll realize that weeks have gone by and she hasn't done it for awhile. Granted, that might be in a year or two... but it will come. :)

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  4. Honestly I have no idea how to deal with that one. I have been extremely lucky in that area. None of my kids have ever hit myself or Todd. I lied I think Trev did a couple of times. And Lexi likes to "act" like she's going to when she's angry (not very often), but she's never actually done it. Good luck.

    The singing story...oh so cute. There really is not much that tops singing babies and children. They make me melt.

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  5. Yikes, we dread the day of having to do discipline with Benson! He's just too cute to discipline. At least Marley's kind of getting the idea of the consequences, even if she doesn't look very sorry yet!

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  6. Lol- I want to see her sing that song! My suggestion is to tie her hands behind her back and pinch her a lot. haha. kidding. She will get over it, but I don't think you will ever stop asking yourself that "a produces b" question. I still wonder all the time about my kids doing things that they know without a doubt are going to get them punished. It's just exercising what little power they have.

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  7. Yep, consistency, takes like a year but it eventually passes. You just have to keep yourself sane til then, that's where my guilty pleasures of junk tv come in after the kids are in bed! :)

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  8. It will sink in. The hard part is you just don't know when :). What a cute girl.

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