[Grace and Granola]

I have never even set foot in the GD forum as my ds is not quite one yet, and I just never felt that I needed to know about discipline yet! But here goes.

I don't know if willful is the right word, but here's what happened....

My ds is 3 days away from being a year old. He is a fun loving guy, but I would call him demanding at times. He is just a very energetic baby that knows what he wants. He is not yet walking, but he has this little walk behind cart that he pushes all over the house. I decided to let him try it outside today to give him some more room to run. He was doing great with it having fun in the grass, and then he discovered the sidewalk. We live in a condo where the sidewalk runs about 100 feet from our door to the parking lot. Anyway...I was nervous about him on the sidewalk, so I chased behind him with a fist full of his shirt in my hand in case he went down...no problems though, he went happily down the concrete way. We got half way down the sidewalk and I said, "ok, let's go back." The boy started to scream, so I just decided to let him go farther. When we got to the very end of the sidewalk just before the parking lot, I suggested again that we turn back. I picked up ds and his cart and turned them around. He proceeded to turn the cart back the other direction...I tried again...he turned again. Every time, he got more upset. Finally, I just picked him and his cart up and started walking back...he was screaming!! I set him down to play again in the grass and he went straight for the sidewalk. I had absolutely no idea what to do with him. I ended up taking him in the house kicking and screaming. We sat on the couch where he continued to cry for the next 15 minutes in my lap. Finally, I just had to turn on some Elmo to distract him from his tragedy!! (Please no flames on the TV, we rarely watch any!)

So....what would you do or have you done in a similar situation? He seems too young to "discipline." What type of discipline would I use on such a small tot. It is so frustrating not being able to communicate clearly with him, but I know that situations like this are going to keep coming up. HELP!

 

[Fuamami]

Sounds like my ds! And I wouldn't despair of communicating. Just stick to your golden rules of distraction and redirection.

I would have tried enthusiastically asking him to run the cart toward the house. Or said in an excited voice, "Okay, let's go toward the grass now! Ready, I'm going to get you!" But my ds loves to be chased.

And then, if I just couldn't talk him out of it, I'd say, "Oh, you really want to go out on the parking lot, don't you! But it's safer to stay on the sidewalk, so I can't let you. Come on, let's go watch TV (or whatever distraction you can think of)"

 

[Sillygoose]

I agree with natensarah. You not-yet-one year old probably won't understand everything (or much) of what you say, but it's good practice for you. What your kid will respond to is your positive enthusiasm, the sound of you suggesting something in your "this is going to be fun!" voice, and the body posture that tells him you expect him to pay attention to you in this moment.

And distraction can be a non-verbal thing too. Waving a special toy, jumping up, doing a dance, these can all distract. You'll know what will work for your son.

Transitions are really hard for babies, toddlers, and little kids. One thing I've done that was suggested to me by a wise momma was singing a song. You choose one song that is always going to be the "we're about to change activities" song (I use the Alphabet Song, cause it's pretty long), and you sing it for a transition. I personally use it for getting my daughter off the swings, for stopping her play so i can change her diaper, and for making her wait for me to finish something I'm doing before I do what she wants (like say, finish putting on makeup before I hand her the toy she's reaching and grunting for).