Defiant 15 month old

[CGK8814]

Hi there. Can anybody help please. My 15 month old boy is so so naughty and just will not behave or listen. He is so defiant and deliberately does things I tell him not too. His current thing to do is hitting the tv. I tell him no I move him away and he looks me straight in the eye and runs back to doing it again. I spend hours a day doing this. He throws things across the room. He hits his 8 year old sister if she cuddles me. When he’s finished eating the food gets thrown everywhere. I take him out every day in the hope it will wear him out and it does not work. He is on the go constantly. He has zero attention span. He will not play with one thing nicely. He won’t sit and read a book. He won’t sit nicely with me and watch a film. I’m literally so stressed out and I’ve run out of options. Please help. Any advice welcome.

Hi op,

I had the same problems at 15 months and still same at 19 months. Nothings changed. It's like speaking to a brick wall but I guess they have a memory of a fish and forget or they are testing because I can tell from the cheeky grin when he is about to do something that I told him not to 10 seconds ago. I have no advice. I keep on talking to him and explaining why we don't do things like that. I hate meal times, I hate feeding him, I hate picking food off the floor where he deliberately throws once he is bored. I guess it's normal until they stop doing it. Sorry I'm so unhelpful but I have been dealing with this for months now and today was particularly hard as I started my period and I was in extra pain and exhausted. I just wanted to bump your thread in case someone with more experience sees it and comes along with great advice.

Good luck x

First thing is, it's normal. Not sure that will make you feel any better though.

A lot of what you describe is testing boundaries (normal but annoying). Distraction and prevention are always best. So if the best way to get your attention is to bash the telly then he'll bash it. See if you can engage him in something else.

With the food - moment he starts throwing it, take it away. You might want to let him get down from the table at that point too. He can learn to sit nicely when he's older.

Remember at this age they have little understanding and no impulse control. So he may understand the word no but that doesnt mean he can act on it for more than a second or two when the next overwhelming urge hits. It's a very trying age.

Hi OP my 15 mo is exactly the same. To be honest I'm really fed up. He is just horrible and it's really getting me down. Don't know how to discipline him as he doesn't understand. Would rather be in work than at home with him at the moment. I hope it's a phase because I can not cope. X

Thanks for your replies. It’s honestly so exhausting. Nothing seems to work. Try wearing him out still full of energy. Try distracting him he’s straight back at what he shouldn’t be. It’s almost like he’s doing it deliberately. No idea what to do next with him.

@CGK8814 must be a boy thing 🙄 just glad he's my first so it can only get better right? 🤣 x

Hopefully so 🤣 I have an 8 yr old girl too and she was an absolute angel compared to her brother!