Is 6mths too early to know right from wrong?

[Chloe55]

The reason I ask is because my 6mth old is very into hair grabbing, which if he does it to me then I can just untangle my hair from his fingers and that's that but he tries to grab the dog's hair at every opportunity. My dog is very placid and looks at me as much as to say get him off......please. I never leave them unattended and need ds to get used to having the dog around and behaving in the correct manner with him.

So, I have been allowing ds to be near the dog, supervised by me and when he grabs his hair I get down to his level and firmly say no. I did this yesterday and he cried so I actually thought ah, good, he know's that he will get a not good reaction from me for hair pulling.

I was telling dh about my disciplining last night and although he is leaving it up to me as I am with ds all day he said he was far too young to understand why I was being mean to him Am I right to tell him NO at this age or should I just let it go for a little while longer?

Oh, sorry - child isn't 6mo though - is 2.5.

Hope you don't have pets Enid. That is so cruel. Why should the poor dog put up with being mauled if it is too painful for the mum to cope with? I think that treating animals with respect is a very valuable lesson, though not one that a 6 month old could understand. Separate the two as you also run the risk of your baby being bitten.

Cats must be smarter than dogs - my two learned quite quickly to stay out of the way of the kids when they were in the dangerous years. I'd certainly try to stop a baby pulling anyone's hair or fur, but I wouldn't call it disciplining.

It's a wind-up though isn't it? Forgot you get your kicks from watching people react to your comments.

calm down dear its only a website.

Lol I have obviously irritated you somewhere else on mumsnet.

Look, I have three kids. I cannot watch them all every second of the day. I would attempt to keep a six month old baby and a dog seperate, but if that was not possible and the dog was in the room with the kids I would EXPECT the 6 month old to pull its fur. I would HOPE that the dog would put up with it every now and again (as tbh this is what the OP seemed to suggest).

would you try and discipline a 6month old not to touch a particular toy? Because a dog is a big ole teddy bear to pretty much all babies.

A 6 month-old child cannot make a connection between 'I touch the dog'and 'mummy shouts at me in a disapproving way that upsets me' - the 'events' are too separated. If the dog hurt ds he MIGHT avoid in future, but probably not, at this age. So no point in 'disciplining'.

6 months is still a small baby, they aren't expected to take responsibility for their actions - we are expected to look after all thier needs and safeties.

Sorry Enid - I agree with Callisto.

"if the dog is placid then why can't your little boy grab his fur?" seems rather harsh - what's the poor dog done to you??

Children need to understand that it is not okay to hurt another person or animal - whether that is by removing distraction or saying no is up to the individual parent, but what you are saying in effect seems to be - it's okay to hurt the dog. Besides, any placid animal can't decide it's had enough and snap back unexpectedly. Chloe55's dog may be placid but another one may turn unexpectedly.

Can decide it's had enoguh, not can't! Doh - can't type today!

i think i read somewhere that babies may start to understand 'no'at around 9 months,but usually as soon as they understand a word they learn to ignore it and just laugh at u.ive been wearing my hair up for nearly 9 years noe cos of the hair-pulling thing.
my dp had to point out to me that although the baby(8 months) didnt understand no etc yet,he really thinks ds2 age 3 can understand every word i say to him so i should stop letting him get away with evrything.
cats are smarter than dogs,our cat wont even enter the room when ds2 is there,and knows to sit just far enough away from dd2 so she cant be reached.
its easier to train the pet than the child.imo.