Toddler - ignore or discipline ?

DS is 18 months old now.

He is constantly climbing, touching stuff, tipping chairs over, throwing stuff, throwing food, putting food into his mouth then spitting it onto the ground, etc...

I assume this is all normal toddler stuff?

Now, do we discipline/try to get him to stop or ignore it?

For example the other night he picked up his toys and threw it on the ground.
I said - "NO! Bad" and slapped his hand
He laughed and did it again
I said "NO! thats bad" and pulled him over to the side and slapped his hand.
He then laughed and ran over and threw the toy again and said "Bah" and slapped his palm

On another occasion the same thing except I tried a time out.
He threw the toy - I stuck him in the corner - he cried - after a minute I left him out - he ran over and threw the toy again and laughed

My mom told me that we should ignore it and he'll get tired of it and stop.
But tough to ignore when he is throwing his food onto the floor - of course that requires a reaction even if the reaction is to run over and clean up the mess before DD steps on it

So...ignore or try and discipline?

Message edited 8/1/2017 11:14:33 AM.

Toddler - ignore or discipline ?

I pick my battles for my own sanity. I found disciplining a young toddler is really tough. My son just doesn't seem to get it. I don't ignore, but I tell him no and explain is simplest terms why it's "bad." And move on. I reserve time outs when I truly want to make a point i.e., he hits the baby or multiple offesenses. But yeah sometimes the more of a stink you make the worse it gets.

Toddler - ignore or discipline ?

It depends. My son is 20 months now and is actually very well disciplined. Whenever he acts out, it is usually for attention or when hes overtired/cranky.

When he started walking, we never babyproofed our house. So when he was younger, any time he would go to touch something breakable or try and crawl up the stairs, I would say "no, boo boo's" - like to tell him it was dangerous or he would get hurt. At this age now, he knows what he is allowed to do and what is not allowed... if he goes near something that's not allowed, he looks at me as if to look for approval.

As far as the other stuff like throwing toys or hitting or throwing food on the floor, I always discipline him. If he throws food on the floor, I take the food away, tell him "no, you don't do that." Any type of hitting or being fresh towards us, we slap his hand back.

Re: Toddler - ignore or discipline ?

After 3 kids, my theories:

Young kids really don't understand hitting as a punishment and it encourages them to hit their siblings. I went from the occasional spank for the oldest to not at all hitting the youngest.

Repeating something is bad is a good strategy and will work... but it takes a while. It's annoying, but they will "get it" eventually.

Hungry kids don't throw food. Take it away. Get your kids hungry before you give them food. Same for milk/water.

Throwing of toys can be stopped by quietly taking them away too and saying "no throwing".

Time out works... but the age is older than 18 months. I think it's best around 2-3, but I def do it for my 6 year old when he's out of line.

For screaming (and rolling on the floor), ignoring works well. Another thing that works with my youngest (best talker) is to ask "what do you want?". Amazingly, she's able to tell me many times.

Toddler - ignore or discipline ?

At 18 months I still mainly went with the strategy of removing them from the situation and distracting them. I also tried to avoid situations that would cause a tantrum if possible. At that age I seriously tried to avoid picking up dd1 at all in the kitchen bc it always ended up with her crying for something on the counter she couldn't have. They're really too young to understand time outs. I would tell them no bc they do understand that but then try to get their attention onto something else when you know they're going to want to go right back to what they were doing.

Toddler - ignore or discipline ?

Depends on what they did.

Most of the time, I used redirection. If it was something unsafe - like running into the road - I did a time out.

Toddler - ignore or discipline ?

I'm all for discipline and natural consequences but that can be the behavior analyst in me. If he throws food on the floor, take away his plate and tell him why in simple terms "no, we don't throw food on the floor, dinner is done if you are not eating the foodie regards the throwing he toy, take the toy away, firmly state "we don't throw toys," and move him to a quiet corner with a soft book.
Slapping a hand isn't really teaching him that this is wrong, you are just adding something aversive without really giving him a natural consequence, like if you throw food on the floor, you obviously have none left to eat.

Re: Toddler - ignore or discipline ?