Tag: discipline and toddlers

How To Respond to Your Child’s Aggressive or Defiant Acts To Get Results That Last

Throwing toys.  Screaming “NO!!!!!”  Dumping a plate of food on the floor while they look right at you in defiance. Kids can go from cute to aggressive in the blink of an eye. Is it annoying?  Sure.  Is it dangerous?  Not all the time.  Should you completely ignore it?  Not unless you’d like to see…… Continue reading How To Respond to Your Child’s Aggressive or Defiant Acts To Get Results That Last

How Long Term Medical Care Affects Infant and Toddler Development

  The good news:  more and more extremely premature and medically complex babies are surviving.  The bad news: there is a cost to the extended and complex treatment that saves their lives and helps them to thrive.  This post is an effort to put out in the open what pediatric therapists know only too well…… Continue reading How Long Term Medical Care Affects Infant and Toddler Development

Does Your Special Needs Child Have a “Two-tude”? Its Not Just the Age; Its Cumulative Frustration Minus Skills

  I spend a lot of my work week with toddlers, and they can be a challenge.  One minute sunny, the next screaming because their cookie broke.  Special needs toddlers can have a ‘tude as well, but many professionals sweep it under the rug.  They tell parents that this is normal, and that they should…… Continue reading Does Your Special Needs Child Have a “Two-tude”? Its Not Just the Age; Its Cumulative Frustration Minus Skills

How To Stop Your Toddler From Hitting You

  When your sweet little baby turns into a toddler that smacks you, you may be so shocked that you don’t know how to react.  The second time you get hit, or pinched, or even bitten in anger, you might feel a level of rage come up that is both surprising and horrifying.  Well, I…… Continue reading How To Stop Your Toddler From Hitting You

Stop All The Whining With The Fast Food Rule

Whining is a “fingernails on a chalkboard” experience for most adults.  We often give in to a whining child, just to avoid hearing that noise.  Or we explode and scare them (and ourselves) with the anger that whining can trigger.  What can you do? What would you say if I told you that I use…… Continue reading Stop All The Whining With The Fast Food Rule

How Early Can You Use The Happiest Toddler Approach?

Something happens to babies between 12 and 18 months.  The adorable little child that could be easily distracted from grabbing your earrings, ate anything you offered, and smiled when you praised him is replaced by someone whose favorite word is “NO!!”, delivered at astonishing volume for a person who weighs in at only 23 pounds.…… Continue reading How Early Can You Use The Happiest Toddler Approach?

Stretch Your Toddler’s Patience The Easy Way, Starting Today!

I spent some time yesterday with the mother of a spirited toddler who pointed out that even though she saw that The Happiest Toddler on the Block technique of patience stretching works, she found it hard to be cheerful and upbeat after hours of her son’s whining and hanging on her legs.  At the end…… Continue reading Stretch Your Toddler’s Patience The Easy Way, Starting Today!

Teach Toddlers Not to Hit Without Saying A Word

Toddlers hit.  Some toddlers hit out of anger, some out of frustration, and some to get your attention. I never allow an out-of-control toddler to intentionally try to injure me and not say something.  But some toddlers hit me and I don’t say a word…but I immediately DO something. Adults can make it very clear…… Continue reading Teach Toddlers Not to Hit Without Saying A Word

Toddler Cooperation Blossoms When You Give Things Away for Free

Toddlers are tough negotiators.  They also remember the feeling they got during their last negotiation with you.  Here is one way to improve a toddler’s attitude: make easy trades that they will fondly remember. Most toddlers balk at simple requests.  Sometimes they resist the specific request, sometimes it is just that their default setting is…… Continue reading Toddler Cooperation Blossoms When You Give Things Away for Free

Taming Toddler Tantrums Using Sympathetic Reframing

  The most challenging aspect of using The Happiest Toddler on the Block might be the need to use just enough emotion and emphasis when stating their issues back to them (the Fast Food Rule), but then modeling a cool, calm and rational state in your reply when you are tired and frustrated by a…… Continue reading Taming Toddler Tantrums Using Sympathetic Reframing

Discipline and Toddlers 2.0: Using Kind Ignoring with Defiance and Mild Aggression

I have had a lot of interest in my first blog post on “What to say if you don’t say “no?”.   Parents have  tried my suggestion, and sometimes their child responds by following the directions.  And sometimes their child smiles and hits them.  What do you do next?  Most parents would try out my…… Continue reading Discipline and Toddlers 2.0: Using Kind Ignoring with Defiance and Mild Aggression

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