Knowing what no means??

[sven]

My baby loves scratching and pinching (hairy arms in particular!) we gently tell her "no" and prise her fingers away from whatever she is scratching. Although I don't expect her to respond (only 6 months old), I feel I should still tell her no. But at what age can you realistically expect a child to know what no means?

Sorry, no answers, but my dd, 9 months does it as well, particularly whilst b/feeding, although daddy's hairy chest also attracts her attentions! I've found that even at this age a sharp"no" just elicits a cheeky grin

After a respite of a few months, ds (13mo) has resumed ye olde hair-pulling, putting fingers up nostrils (especially painful, that one) & 'gum grabbing' (placing his fingers in my mouth & trying to grab my gums!). I try not to react, apart from looking stern & saying "no", as saying "Ow!" just elicits laughter. It can be a bit eye-watering at times, though.

When DS cut his first teeth he started biting when feeding, even drew blood once (my eyes water just remembering). I'm afraid I was a bit less calm than I should have been and virtually threw him on the bed. It worked, he stopped. I'm not saying we should punish tiny babies (I felt terrible) but I think what stopped him was not the shock (shocked me more than him) but depriving him of what he wanted (i.e me). It might be worth a firm "no" coupled with putting the baby down and walking away. Even little ones can learn to form an association. Worked with DS and DD.

Ds2 understands No at 19 months and has done for a couple of months or so.

It's one of his favourite words now

It doesn't really matter whether they understand no or not - if they're anything like my ds they'll do it anyway! Eg: at friends house for tea - ds picks up le creuset saucepan lid from pan stack - me: "careful darling, if you drop that on your toe it will really hurt, so put it down". DS - looks me straight in the eye, holds his arm out and, smiling, drops the pan lid. Thankfully friend's v expensive quarry tile floor is still in one piece. Oddly enough so is my son.

sven, my 7 mo is doing all of this and more. We do tell her no, but it hasn't sunk in yet and she just looks puzzled, and then tries again to see if she gets the same response! She also has a new cry, a sort of mmmnnnah! sound, which quite definitely means 'NO!'