My child won't listen

[Eloise97]

Morning everyone :)

My little boy is 2 and he won't listen to me at all!! Every time I tell him not to touch something he goes right back to it.

I tell him off and he laughs which riles me up even more and I have to walk out of the room before losing my temper completely.

Any advice??

[WalkingOnStarshine]

Sounds normal to me, exactly the same as my 2 year old. I just focus on the fact that he will grow out of it eventually.

[Mmsnet101]

They haven't developed to realise cause and effect properly yet, so try to frame it as being usual toddler rather than purposefully naughty.

Distraction is your friend.

[missyB1]

It might be normal (and yes to some extent it is), but that doesn’t mean you have to tolerate it.
A stern “no touching that!” Then remove him or the object he’s touching. Quickly distract him with something else. Ignore any laughing or smiling- don’t even comment on it. He’s looking for a reaction and pushing boundaries to get one. Be consistent and he will eventually get the message.

[johnd2]

Try to avoid telling him what not to do, as in his eyes you are just playing a game.
If you can as pp says, tell him what to do instead, then he is more likely to be able to focus on that.
It's a bit like if someone put you in a room and wrote please don't touch this on something interesting, you will go straight to have a look and see why it's special.
Eg if he's running towards the road you can say let's see if we can walk one foot on the middle of each slab without stepping on the cracks and play it like a game.
Good luck!