How can I get him to stop pouring our cups??

[Still_Learning]

DS is 28 months and every single time he sees a cup without a lid, he grabs it and pours it out. He thinks it especially fun to pour it on kitty.

I see that this is a fun thing to do and he's 2, so who can blame him, right?

We've tried just not providing the opportunity, but it's hard to ppolice our drinking cups 100% of the time.

I've talked to him about it MANY MANY times, but he just laughs.

So how do I get him to stop?

[mama2mygirl]

I can see how hard this would be but, I'm so sorry, I just laughed at the picture of you little guy dumping water of the kitty with pure glee! I don't have great advice. I think it is just the age. I'd just keep trying to make it so he doesn't have cups to dump out. Hang in there--these stages do pass. Believe it our not, now that my dd just turned four, I'm a tiny bit nostalgic about her phase as a runner. At two/ early three she would just take off! People in our little town would cry out, "There she goes!" And sometimes catch her for me. It's funny now but at the time I was so tired.

[mamaduck]

I would set up some sort of "pouring station" for him, where it would be okay for him to experiment with pouring water until it is out of his system. A deep dishpan, or one of those long plastic under-the-bed bins, with a small pitcher and some plastic cups would be ideal. Probably on the kitchen floor. You would need to show him how to keep the cups over/in the dishpan. But I suspect he could understand that guideline, and would be happy for the opportunity to pour. Its worth a try, anyway!

[Lynnseedoil]

I like the "pouring station" idea.

You could also use lidded containers for your own drinks or just put your drinks up high where he can't reach them.

[Strong Mama]

Move the cups so that he cant reach them??? I donno. My son does this too, and I just clean it up and move on, hoping he wont do it again!

[skueppers]

My daughter just doesn't have access to drinking cups without lids on them. We keep our own drinks at the table while we're eating together, and then empty them out and put the glasses in the kitchen when we're done. If we're drinking a beverage somewhere else, we either keep it in our hands until we finish, make sure it's somewhere where she can't reach it, or keep a close watch on her to make sure she doesn't get at it.

I suppose that sounds like it's sort of a pain, but that's just what evolved naturally for us.

[tribalmax]

We use Nalgene bottles for DH and I -- and DD (2.5) never rarely gets a cup without a lid. Nalgene actually makes some toddler water bottles. They are pretty cool IMO.

I also second the pouring station idea. If your son were to pour water outside the pouring station, you could direct him to it. Put oral syringes, turkey basters, squirting toys, cups, funnels etc. in it so that it is LOTS of fun. The whole idea of GD is to provide a "yes" environment. By giving him a place where he can do this behavior, you are decreasing (notice I didn't say eliminating -- drenching the cat has its own rewards!) the instances that he will do it outside of the station.

Just know that this too will pass. This is a developmentally appropriate behavior. Just think what he is learning!

[pixiexto]

Our youngest DD is *infatuated* with water. To try to totally prevent or change this would be... well, fighting the Universe, 100-fold

We do a combination of accepting it as a reasonable/valuable stage and setting up a more appropriate, less impacting place for her to have her fun. For us, the kitchen sink works best

Now, if I could keep her from fetching herself her own cup of water out of the dog dish.....

[tribalmax]

Originally Posted by pixiexto

Now, if I could keep her from fetching herself her own cup of water out of the dog dish.....

Our poor dog hasn't had water inside the house in over a year now. He has to drink outside in the garage and after DD goes to bed. I just got so tired of cleaning up the dog water. It was a temptation she could not resist.

[Still_Learning]

Thank you so much everyone

It really helps just knowing DS is maongst such good company

I'm going to buy some covered cups for DH and I so that we can have drinks without having to police them so much.

We're are setting up the pouring station right away!! SOunds like a blast