So how do we all feel about time outs? I felt pretty good about them. Until today.
Owen, a very rambuncious now 2 year old, and I were playing, tickling, hugging,etc. He began to bite my leg. I told him STOP, that hurts mommy. (he laughed) I was able to distract him into something else. Then the booger bites me again. Again, STOP, or you are going to have a TIME OUT. (laughter)
About a nanosecond later, he just came up to me and bit me again. I plopped his butt on the couch, said TIME OUT, and walked away. And...here comes the screaming waterworks that instantly became velcro on my leg. I put him back on the couch, and walked away. To that end, he sat and screeched, cried and put on a good show. After 1 minute, I went over, hugged him, told him I loved him, and that had to happen because he hurts when he bites.
And to just ignore him when he is screaming and not understanding why he is being punished? Oh, just rip my beating heart out of my chest. That might hurt a little less.
I am a mother to a 28 month old son, haplessly trying to do the right thing. Along with colorful characters as a supporting cast, this should be fun!! Join me in my journey to create a social, happy, well spoken and inquisitive child!!
3 comments:
you have heard me say this from the first year we met until now. and it seems it spans from houseplants to "no, no, bad kitty (kissy noises)" to your baby boy. you have to be cruel to be kind. i hate that it's seemingly trite, but at it's root, it's true. but think about it. you just taught him a very important lesson that has steps leading to understanding and more lessons. so you didn't fail mommy. ((((HUGS))) after all, it's not like he's a ferret you can scruff and tell "NO BITE!" lol chin up buckaroo! love you!
shades of creature double feature. grrrrr!
That wasn't cruel at all. Biting HURTS. Time out is fine if he will stay in it. SOME kids won't "stay". Also, for the record, the conventional rule of thumb is one minute for each year of life - so he should've had two minutes. You'll toughen up to the boo-hoo-baby routine once you've got lasting bite marks or he bites something more sensitive than your leg. (Think nail bed.)
Another good alternative I found was to time out myself and lock MOMMY in a room for 35 minutes. Boy, they hate that.
Hang tight.
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