What do I do about my toddler????!!!!!

[777]

My daughter was great when she was a toddler. She always listened when I said, "No" and she was able to entertain herself without destroying things. Well, my son is exact oppposite. Everyday and I mean everyday,  he does things to drive me insane. I like to think of him as a very naughty Curious George. He has just poured out an entire bottle of liquid detergent.

----Whenever I try to confide in my mom or mother in law they just laugh and think it's cute. But, it is not!!! No matter how much I take precautions to keep him from things, he gets into trouble.  What do I do??? Is it just a boy thing and maybe he'll outgrow it or am I doomed to have a destroyed home? Any advice on discipline? Timeouts and No-Nos are getting us nowhere.  HELP! (I am also concerned his mischievousness nature is going to get him hurt.)

[JuliaMBrink]

Jun. 30, 2007 at 1:28 PM I have a very mischieveious 3 year old as well.  Of course, no one ever thinks your child could do those things, But they can.  So, for one, I do know that I hear of htis happening more often with boys.  I will tell you that my son is almost 4 and he is outgrowing the destructive phase of things.  here is what we had to do.  WE cleaned out everything in his room and I mean everything, except the bed.  Then, when he was naughty, he was sent to his room. Wouldn't stay of course, so I baby gated him in.  ONce, I got his ATTENTION, then I rewarded the good behavior that he did with praise and I slowly, very slowly began to give him his things back.  Now, he still gets in trouble, but it is working.  The back talk is really bad, but the destructive stuff is gone and I don't have to use the baby gate anymore to keep him in his room.  SO, things are getting better adn he has chores now too.  He does them everyday and he is paid $.25 a day for his chores so he is making about $1.75 a week and then if he earns all the money then he can get an ice cream from the ice cream truck on Friday.  But, I ignore the bad behavior and jsut send him to his room and then reward the positive.  WOrks for us.

[ilovemyboys2]

Jun. 30, 2007 at 1:29 PM I wish that I could be of assistance but by ds is 2 and is doing the same things. I just do what I can to keep things out of his reach and I have cleaned out all of the cabinets with any type of chemical in it. Hopefully mine will soon  be growing out of this stage but I don't plan on it any time soon. My mil and mother are the same way but they also know that he is being difficult.

[painthead]

Jun. 30, 2007 at 1:32 PM

[wife1st]

Jul. 1, 2007 at 2:55 AM I recommend the book 1-2-3 Magic. It's a discipline book for children ages 2-12. I use it on my three year old and it works well for the most part.