I don't expect that my toddler son will be a perfect angel all the time. He has his moments where he just won't behave. It's frustrating, but it's part of being a parent.
However, this begs the question: How do you discipline a toddler?
My DS doesn't understand that he's being punished. He doesn't make the connection between what he did wrong and how we (my wife and I) react to it. For example, if we give him a time out, he'll just sit there and laugh and move around, thinking it's a game.
Today when he and I were playing outside he kept running into the street, which is a huge no-no. I gave him 3 chances, and then we'd go inside. He used up those 3 chances pretty fast and we went inside. Yet it didn't bother him in the least.
The only punishment that has any effect on him is taking things away. He likes cups of ice. He'll chew on the ice, suck on it and play around with it. No big deal. But he also likes to dump the ice out on the floor, which is also a no-no. I give him a chance not to do it anymore and let him keep his ice. Then he does it again and I take it away. He then goes quickly into full temper tantrum mode.
However, most the stuff he does cannot be taken away. So how do you punish a toddler that doesn't respond to punishment.
I don't know. If someone figures it out, please tell me.
But I do know that it's important to be consistant. Hopefully as he gets older he'll begin to make the connection between being bad and being punished.
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