How do you discipline a 16 month old??

Well.. someone finally flipped the switch and turned my normally angelic child into a biting, hitting, hair pulling, temper tantrum throwing devil boy, and I have no idea what to do about it. I asked my pediatrician and they suggested doing 1 min time outs, but I'm questioning whether he is old enough to understand. I try to ignore the tantrums... I don't know if I should tell him firmly "no" and then ignore, and just ignore all together, which is what I'm doing. Changing his diaper is like I'm wrestling a wild boar... I change him standing up but when its messy I have no choice. I've tried bribing with food, things to play with, and nothing helps he just throws everything (including himself off the changing table ). Everything is a battle... from getting him dressed, to getting him in the booster, to getting him in his car seat. I don't know what to do and fear Im creating a Nanny 911 situation. I try to redirect him but he remembers, for ex if I take away the remote, and will not give it up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Oh and yes he is teething... hes getting his eye teeth, his disposition completely changed. I'm hoping he gets somewhat more human after they cut, but who knows.

Re: How do you discipline a 16 month old??

I wish I had advice for you, but unfortunately all I have to add is that you are not alone. I could have written this WORD FOR WORD about my 17 month old DS. On top of all of that, he has turned into a bully, constantly taking toys from other kids and making them cry. Good luck to us both!

Re: How do you discipline a 16 month old??

Ds has been like this for a while. I don't see time outs working.
i usually say no, and take away whatever he used to hit me and wlak away form him. he sometimes just goes on to play with something else, sometimes starts crying. when he cries, i get down in front of him and calmly say why i walked away and that we do not do that. (not sure if he gets it, but i do it anyway) then i hug him and give him something else to play with. it usually works
as for the changing table, i noticed he hates toys or anything his age. i usually give him his baby lotion. that gets him to lie down. he then asks me to open it, and while i'm changing his diaper, he puts lotion on himself. (he touches the open end to his hands and belly, but since he doesn't know how it works usually nothing comes out. he then rubs it in while i finish) diaper changes have become speed competitions. i have his diaper on in under two minutes or it's over.
same thing with bath time. i have two washcloths, i give one to him and he "washes" himself by dunking it in the water and pressing it into the spots i point out.
i've noticed that the more i let him do the "grown-up" things the better it is.
i have no suggestions for the biting and hitting though.

Re: How do you discipline a 16 month old??

DS is 18mo and started doing some of the same stuff at 16mo. For hitting and biting we started doing time outs. I'm due w/our second in a month and I just didn't want him doing it to the baby, wanted to nip it in the bud, KWIM? We tell him no the first time and if he does it again he goes into his crib for one min. Once I go to get him, I tell him he has to show me how he does nice (I gently stroke his hand down my face) and then he comes out. After about the second or third time he knew right away what he was in for. As soon as I walked in the room he would put his hand out and say "nice" and stroke it down my face.
So far it has worked, I haven't had to put him in a time out for a couple of weeks now.
The other stuff, ugh. Time outs haven't worked for that, so I stopped. I've been just trying to ignore it or diffuse the situation but I'm having the same troubles as you are. Hang in there!

Re: How do you discipline a 16 month old??

Thanks for everyones advice. And I'm glad to know I'mnot the only one Misery loves company!! I loved for suggestion for biting, so I'm going to try that.
I did try lotion for diaper changes, but its a no go.
As for getting him dressed, is anyone having this problem as well? Is this a sign of a sensory issue?

Re: How do you discipline a 16 month old??

And I forgot to add that I needed to stop saying "no" because that becomes his word of the month at 12 months!

Re: How do you discipline a 16 month old??

I started time outs with DS around 15 months. It took a while, but he got it Now I can tell him to go to TO and he does the walk of shame there