20mo throws EVERYTHING

[thannyflaps]

Hey all,

My 20 month old DS has been going through a phase the past couple of weeks (feels like an eternity) or throwing anything and EVERYTHING.

He will literally look me in the eyes and throw whatever it is he has in any direction he fancies.

I'm sure this is part of his development but I would love some guidance or advice on what the hell it is that is making him do it? Is it for the response? He still doesn't understand No so it is tricky to know how to control and manage it

Thanks!
Thanny (flaps)

[Jannt86]

It's such a hard age! My 2YO is a total windup merchant and does things all the time just to wind me up and she definitely DOES understand 'no' but she just ignores it half the time They're not really old enough to understand consequence either though so personally I just don't see the point in doing much at this age other than removing anything that they're misbehaving with or removing them from the situation and modelling how we want them to behave (eg; we stroke the cat nicely instead of tugging on his tail ) When they are a nearer age 3 I think they're much more likely to have the forward planning and executive function to understand natural consequences and you can start putting them in place (eg you threw that toy in the house so we're going to have to pack it away for a few days now and then let's see if you can play nicely with it) Until then though I've personally kindof decided we're stuck in limboland and to combat all behaviour with love as soppy as that might sound. There'll be others that disagree I'm sure (I know my sister in law does and she's constantly putting her barely turned 1 year old on the naughty step ) but I just don't think kids at this age really understand punishment or even consequences and they need love and security more than they need those until they're really at an age where they can be expected to modify their behaviour. Good luck. Xx

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Totally agree with PP. Just wondering what happens when he throws things? Is he getting any kind of reaction from you? Another thing to try is huge praise for anything else he does which isn’t throwing.