My 2 year old laughs when I attempt to tell him off!

[madmacbrock]

Im quite relaxed with disipline as i believe he is just not old enough to understand and also think that constant no's are counter productive. so i dont disipline that often. However when the line gets crossed, hitting or pushing someone else child or bouncing on our very patient but eldery (and rather large) dog. I have to make sure he knows its wrong I dont shout (although I have tried but this makes the laughing worse!) I take him aside come down to him (like your supposed to) and tell him firmly that NO, its unexceptable to hurt others. HE LAUGHS IN MY FACE. every single time proper little giggles like its the funniest thing in the world!. if i put him in his room he still laughs and then just plays in his room. I have even tried just leaving the room (No audience). we get no laughs at that he just carrys on! any advice it is very hard to disipline a hysterical toddler!

If you don't really mean it he'll know. Try and be a bit more authoritarian. He needs to learn right from wrong from you so it's important he takes you seriously.
Either that or you have a really funny telling off face.

No advice unfortunately but watching with interest as nothing gets through to my toddler. Can I swap my screaming toddler for your laughing one please? I think it would be easier on my ears.

Ha, I think i must. I have to admit I have laughed with him but mostly I do mean it and I know its not the same but I have spent most of my life working with a variety of animals and have always been very good at teaching them right and wrong. I just struggle with my son!. That said he does it to his dad as well!

but mostly I do mean it

The word 'mostly' may be the problem here. You need to be consistent. How can he tell how he is supposed to respond when you laugh sometimes but not others?

Removing him from a situation is a good strategy and the point is not to upset or punish him. You're removing him to disrupt the behaviour, distract him and give both of you a chance to calm down. Playing quietly in his bedroom is good.

I would ignore the laughing and just keep removing him from situations where his behaviour is unacceptable. Being taken away is the deterrent that he will learn from.

Maybe if telling off is not your style you could try talking to him about it instead. Something like 'how do think timmy feels when you hit him? Sad or happy?' ' is it nice to feel sad?' That kind of stuff?

My 3 yr old does this too. It used to really really frustrate me to the point where I'd have to leave the room because I thought he wasn't listening to me.

Then I realised he's not doing it to rile me up, he's doing it because he's uncomfortable. He's normally a really good wee boy so when he gets told off for something he's quite sensitive to it, he seems to laugh to stop himself from getting upset. I say this because even on the occasions where I'm down at his level telling him what he's done wrong and he's laughing at me, he still says sorry and stops doing whatever he wasn't supposed to. Ocassionally, I can tell he's laughing because he doesn't quite understand what he's done wrong and is trying to diffuse the situation. On those occasions I just leave it and have a chat with him later once the giggles have subsided.

Long story short, I try to ignore the laughing cos my telling off seems to hit home anyway.