To tell my almost 12 month old “no”

[scarybuttrue]

Is it too early to teach “no”?
There are things I don’t want him to touch, like the telly etc.
I have said no and he laughs, I’m not sure if he understands. Is it too early to start discipline?
He will be one in just over 2 weeks.

What do you mean by "start discipline"?

There is nothing wrong with saying no, you should be setting boundaries. Say "no" and move the thing, or him, away, whichever is easier.

Surely you start saying no whenever it’s needed? My dd got told no and the thing moved when she was 5 months old and reaching for things.

Yep do this.

It’s absolutely terrifying that people are allowed to have children without having the most basic clue about child development and parenting.

Yes he keeps crawling back towards the telly and I say no but he crawls straight back.
I mean discipline as in teaching him right from wrong.

It’s also absolutely terrifying that when a new parent asks for help and advice they are judged and criticised.

Well he’s only just becoming mobile and into everything so until now he’s just sat where I sat him.

Wow you are so judgmental. How do people learn if not by asking others?

I say no or uh-uh! and redirect or remove object....

Fairly standard.
There is no discipline or punishment its keeping them safe.

My 18m old son constantly does this face when we tell him no but he knows what no means and stops... (its not showing but the Pedro pascal massive grinning face meme)

say no

lift him up and distract him

Surely you start saying no from
a few months old.

Agree. Do this. You are allowed to say no to your children. And around age 1 is where they figure out things like pinching mummy to see what happens.

They don’t need harsh discipline, just a simple no, that hurts and don’t let them pinch you (or whatever). You can put them on the floor, stand up so they can’t reach you etc. Do this for whatever they are doing that needs a No. No, you cannot climb on that, remove them. No, you cannot play with that, take it off them and give them something they can play with instead.

Redirecting them works well at this age. By about 18 months to 2 years they will start asserting their autonomy more and if this is the first time they ever hear No you will have a much harder job on your hands. Boundaries are important.

They soon learn which is the goal of discipline - teaching your child acceptable behaviour. It doesn’t have to mean punishing them.

You can tell him no but at that age he will just ignore you. You wouldn’t leave the room and say ‘and don’t move until I get back’ and expect that to happen. To ‘discipline’ a 1 year old sounds a bit heavy handed which is what led to the previous comment I suspect.

Of course not. How else will they learn? He might not understand it just yet but he soon will.

That's what they do.

then in turn you keep repeating 'no' & moving him away. He doesn't automatically understand what word mean, he has to learn that 'no' means he shouldn't do it, THEN he has to decide whether obiding or ignoring is more rewarding!

your job is to make doing as he's told more rewarding, without rewarding the unwanted behaviour

try things like saying 'no' ( in a firm voice) moving him away and asking (in an excited/fun tone) if he wants to 'do a favoured activity like 'play with the blocks'

Not only is it not too early to teach him no, it's essential that you do. You're teaching him that you are the parent and that what you say goes. If you don't teach this, he won't be safe and you will have a nightmare 17+ years ahead of you.

Agreed. It's gone ridiculous on mumsnet.
I've been here for years but would never be an OP again, it's not worth it.

You need to teach him that “No is a complete sentence” 😜

I think at this age, it's change their environment, I would expect them to change or understand too much. More like 16-18months I'd start putting in boundaries but would still be massively changing their environment as well to make my life easier.

Of course it's ok to say no OP - he laughs at the moment because it's just a game to him. I would try a slightly firmer/clearer tone and a stern look - calm and consistent. Yes you will need to be like a broken record and yes you will need to remove him 101 times before he starts to get it.

You might be better to remove him and then distract him with something else - you need to make a more fun game that 'I touch the telly and mummy picks me up and moves me'. Something like stacking wooden blocks to build towers and knocking them down perhaps.

If he carries on doing it you remove him and put him somewhere safe like his playpen. Repeat each time he does it. He’ll soon learn.

You can say no and introduce boundaries now. He won’t understand them. That is why you need to remove him from whatever situation you are saying no to. It’s a pain in the arse but part of having a newly mobile child.

If you are consistent, no and remove from the situation, he will learn what no means quite quickly. He’ll then ignore you because he’s testing boundaries but that’s the next developmental stage. As his language develops you can add context - no, dangerous, no, kind hands etc. As they get bigger you can explain more but it’s always good to start as you mean to carry on. It’s confusing if they are allowed to touch the TV (just as an example) and then suddenly can’t because they’re bigger. So if you don’t want your 4 year old jumping on the couch because he’s too big and you’re worried about him breaking it, then your 15 month old doesn’t jump on the couch even though he’s smaller and not doing any damage. Just as an example - I know you wouldn’t actually let your 15m old just on a couch because it’s quite dangerous.

Remember though that kids aren’t linear. So you will have firmly introduced a rule (or think you have) and they’ll get there’s no jumping on the couch for a bit but then it sort of falls out of their head as they learn other things and you have to remind them of the boundary.

He won’t understand right from wrong - you are a few years away from that but you can do yes and no - and now is a good time to do this.

There’s always at least one arsehole on every thread

I've taught my 6 month old kitten not to climb on the bird cage, so not sure why you havent already started with your human?