Here are some helpful hints on how to "discipline" a young baby. In my opinion, they simply are not old enough for punishment yet (or ever actually, if you agree with Alfie Kohn... I will definitely post more about that in the future).
- Try to create a child-friendly environment in which it's difficult for Henry to get into trouble. He can open drawers all he wants because anything dangerous is out of reach.
- Ignore any behaviour that is annoying but not harmful. If he wants to pull all of my clothes out the drawer or chuck all his food off the high chair tray, fine. I certainly don't want to draw any attention to it!
- Distraction and redirection. If Henry has something that he shouldn't (which is rare, because of #1), instead of grabbing it from him and causing him to cry, I interest him in something else (like building a tower of blocks). If he's somewhere that he shouldn't be, I simply pick him up and move him. Sometimes he can get very persistent and keep crawling back, but I just keep redirecting him (reading him a book helps).
- Give freedom to explore! I keep doors to some rooms closed that are unsafe (like the office and the laundry room), but otherwise he is free to explore the house.
6 comments:
I read the title of your post, and honestly, I was APALLED. The very thought of trying to discipline a 10-month-old is... really, hard to even imagine. I think the things you're doing (better baby proofing, ignoring "bad" behaviors, etc) are the best approach.
I usually do not leave a comment, but you really impress me, also I have a few questions like to ask, what's your contact details?
-Johnson
my contact details can be found in the "about me" tab on top
I think this is a great post.
I hope you'll re-write this blog next year, one year after you've been ignoring his 'annoying' behaviors and he can walk where ever he wants.
Yeah. Good luck with that.
Hi Serena, absolutely I will be adding multiple follow up posts about discipline over the year(s). I totally agree with you that what is true for a 10-month-old certainly isn't true for a 20-month-old (or possibly even a 12-month-old!). The point is that I believe any sort of discipline should keep the child's age in mind. thanks for your comment :)
Post a Comment