how early does GD start?

[mandalamama]

my daughter is only 5 months old, so the discipline is more for me! i've found myself automatically saying "no" or "nono" when she grabs and pulls at my glasses, at the same time i redirect her hands to my clothes, fingers or a toy (hoping she'll eventually figure out that my glasses are just a part of my face, since i need to wear them all the time). but i heard myself say "nono" and i knew no matter how gently i said it, it is NOT a habit i want to start. if i start saying it now, i'll end up saying it later when it really matters. yuck.

so ... what words/phrases are good substitutions in a case like this? or is redirecting her hands the only way to go? i know i have to have self-discipline long before i can ever use GD with my daughter, so i figure this is a good issue to practice on.

[bendmom]

I think it depends on what actions you consider needing gd. Since they don't even know what they are doing, or that it is wrong in the first place, it helps to guide them into another action(redirect). It takes a baby or toddler dozens of times to be told something or do someting before that connection of learned behavior is made in the brain, literally. I just constantly redirect, or even though I know he can't understand what I am saying, I tell him "let go, we don't grab" or something to that effect. If all else fails I put my hair in a pony-tail.

[annettemarie]

I love Dr. Sears's quote- discipline begins at the breast. When my babies were born, if they had a bad latch, rather than endure it I would gently break them off, look them in the eye, and say "Open, baby!" and show them how to open their mouths. That was gentle discipline- taking the time to teach. I could have endured a bad latch for the sake of convenience, but didn't. I think gentle discipline begins in the love and respect we show our children from birth on.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Redirection could work well. When Aya was that age I found that there were things that I could simply distract and redirect with and eventually she gave up :LOL

You could also try, simply replacing the word no with a more descriptive term, which is *great* practice for later.

Try saying something like, “I need these to stay on my face so that I can see.” And, follow that up with a physical direction, like moving her hand to you cheek.

Another idea would be to give her an old pair of glasses to see or to get her a pair of child’s sunglasses to explore.

One of the best things I found was having a collection of things to use depending on my child’s needs and my ability at the time.

I also had a good mental list of my most ideal solutions.

For me it was something like this:

Try to say yes
Give a detailed explanation (at least the first time)
Offer a common preference
Redirect
Distract

I’m sure I’m forgetting something…it’s been a while since we’ve been able to use some of these :LOL

[hunnybumm]

My DS is 15 months and I am just now starting to realize how much I say "nono" without even realizing it.

DS is constantly grabbing my knitting stuff. A number of times as he has grabbed it he has said "nononononono" before throwing it on the ground.

When had a dog for a few days and he would chase the dog around saying "nonono, dog, nono".

It is so much eaiser to say "no" from across the room rather than getting up and giving an explaination or redirectiong his attention.

All I can say is listen to the ladies here because they have some great advice! Definitly start now because it becomes a habit.