Best way to teach a 14 mo old not to throw things

[lkmiscnet]

Our 14 mo old is throwing his toys (e.g. wood blocks, etc) and we want to teach him to be gentle with things. We are not sure how best to go about this.

We have tried saying "No throwing, be gentle" and putting the toys down gently to show him. We have also used his own hands and showed him how to place things down gently. He doesn't appear to be grasping the concept.

Is 14 mo old too young to learn this type of behavior modification? I'm sure he's just acting like a typical toddler...

[jwpsgurl]

I have found that with my kids, they get it easier if I tell them what I want them to do instead of telling what I don't want them to do. So I would either tell them "you can throw outside", or simply "be gentle" and help them put the toy down nicely. It still takes about a thousand times of me telling and showing them before they get it!

[nukuspot]

We have the same problem with 15mo dd. Especially with throwing food. If you find an answer I would love to hear. Reasoning with her doesn't work. Clapping hands and growling when she does it (From happiest toddler on the block) doesn't work. Taking said item away doesn't work (she still will throw it next time.) I just assumed she was too young for correction but it's so frustrating.

[verde]

At 14 mos of age the only way to stop them from throwing things is to keep those things out of their reach. At 14 mos they are exploring their world and you cannot reason with them. No easy answer to this. But they will grow out of it eventually.

[mckittre]

I don't think he's too young to learn (with some repetition). But you're not giving him a very interesting alternative. Try to give him positive things to do instead that are more fun than just setting his toys down gently.

I might tell/show him what he is supposed to do with those toys he's throwing, e.g. "Blocks are for stacking! See how we can build a tower with the blocks!"
Also, give him something he can throw, like a foam ball or other soft toy - throwing things is fun and it's perfectly reasonable he wants to do it. "Blocks aren't for throwing! This ball is for throwing! Why don't we play catch with the ball?"

Some things are just unreasonably tempting, and take more repetition than others, but I find that strategy works quite well for my son, and has for awhile (he's 17 months now). He may just be unusually compliant, though.

[teachma]

Originally Posted by mckittre

I might tell/show him what he is supposed to do with those toys he's throwing, e.g. "Blocks are for stacking! See how we can build a tower with the blocks!"
Also, give him something he can throw, like a foam ball or other soft toy - throwing things is fun and it's perfectly reasonable he wants to do it. "Blocks aren't for throwing! This ball is for throwing! Why don't we play catch with the ball?"

Yes, I was going to suggest exactly this. It is working perfectly with my 15- month old (but never would've worked with my now-ten year old as a toddler).

[healthy momma]

Originally Posted by mckittre

I might tell/show him what he is supposed to do with those toys he's throwing, e.g. "Blocks are for stacking! See how we can build a tower with the blocks!" Also, give him something he can throw, like a foam ball or other soft toy - throwing things is fun and it's perfectly reasonable he wants to do it. "Blocks aren't for throwing! This ball is for throwing! Why don't we play catch with the ball?"

I'll "third" this poster's comments. This is EXACTLY what we have done with DS since around that age and he is now 26 months. Although he occasionally throws things that aren't appropriate just a quick reminder in the same fashion works very well. And believe me, he is an active little boy who LOVES to throw things.

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by jwpsgurl

I have found that with my kids, they get it easier if I tell them what I want them to do instead of telling what I don't want them to do. So I would either tell them "you can throw outside", or simply "be gentle" and help them put the toy down nicely. It still takes about a thousand times of me telling and showing them before they get it!

Kind of along this idea... we don't have problems with throwing toys (ironic because I really don't care if he throws toys) but he does like to throw food (and I hate that)... I give him options. I might say, "Can you please put that in your mouth" or if I think he doesn't want it, "If you don't want that you can put it right here on the side of the plate," and it's pretty effective (maybe 75%) and the other 25% we try to keep in check by only having a couple of pieces of food on his plate at a time. Maybe a similar concept would work with toys -- limit the number of blocks out to just a couple, and when he looks like he's about to throw one, ask him to please hand it to you, or please add it to the stack...

ETA: OK I guess that's basically what the other posters said so I should've just said "yeah that"...

[ihugtrees]

My dd will be 14 months soon. I taught her the 'all done' sign. She does it & gives me 10 seconds before she starts throwing the food, but at least she tells me first!

[treeoflife3]

I wish I knew the answer. My little one only throws things AT ME and only in frustration or great excitement. If I try to tell her no or show her what to do instead or anything like that, that just frustrates her MORE and she throws more. right in my face. lovely.

I have a weird red spot (bruise?) on my eye. blargh.

[jillmamma]

DS usedv to throw food and toys a lot at this age. At first I tried just telling him "no throw" and taking the food away. This did not work on the toddler very well, but the dog learned fast that when we said "no throw" she should get up and look for food on the floor. I just rationed out a couple of bites at a time on his tray till he passed that phase. If it helps, now that he is 7.5 he eats with a fork/spoon and does not throw food anymore.

[laughymama]

We would say, "We throw balls! Blocks are for building and stacking!" If he seemed more into throwing, we'd get him balls and show him they were for throwing. Then it kind of grew into a, "We throw balls and soft things! Can you throw this ball?" He still needs reminders but he understands and will quickly redirect himself 60% of the time without more than a verbal reminder from us to a stuffed animal, scarf or ball he can throw.

Sometimes though, it's just a block throwing kind of day.
You win some and you lose some I guess.

[PatchChild]

We've had a rule about throwing only balls and stuffed animals. If he threw anything else we'd ask, is it a ball? Is it a stuffed animal? If not, I'd put it on the table out of reach for a couple of minutes.

We made sure to spend plenty of fun time throwing balls and stuffed animals, so that he had plenty of opportunity to see good throwing.