How to get DS to stop finding it funny

amother

Mon, Apr 07 2014, 6:45 pm

I'm desperately looking for advice on how to handle the situation.

I know that it's normal for toddlers not to listen, to run around, be davka etc. But whenever I try to discipline, DS literally just looks at me and laughs.

Is this normal behavior for an almost 3 year old? To do something wrong and then laugh when he's being disciplined?

B"H he's a fantastic kid, very smart, very caring, loves hugging and kissing his siblings, wanting to help out whenever we have guests. But whenever he does something wrong, whether it's breaking something, taking a toy away from a sibling, hurting someone or whatever else toddlers usually do, it doesn't matter what I try to do to make him realize that what he did was wrong, he just looks at me and laughs. I've tried it all -sitting down and talking quietly, showing love, acting sad, acting angry etc. Time outs don't work either bc he just runs away laughing each time (and yes, I repeatedly silently put him back in and then he runs out again).

I've run out of ideas of how to handle this. I can't ignore it when he hurts someone or breaks something but if I take any sort of action he just sits there and laughs.

amother

Mon, Apr 07 2014, 8:06 pm

OP-

Thanks. I know that I need to work on it with him and ignore the laughing. My question is how do I do that?

How do you explain to a toddler that what they did was wrong when they are too busy laughing to listen? How do you discipline when they regard everything as a joke???

bubbebia

Mon, Apr 07 2014, 9:04 pm

And don't walk away from him when he's in time out. The Nanny, Jo Foster, suggests that timeout should equal the child's age, so for yours it would be about 2 minutes. If he gets up don't say a word but put him right back on that chair. It's 2 minutes from when he sits there. This is normal behavior for a 2 year old. They think everything is funny.