Taking toys away- when to give them back?

[hairymcleary]

DS (2.4) has recently started throwing his toys... literally. After this mornings effort, when he threw a hard back book at the TV, I decided to start taking whatever he threw off him and putting it on a high shelf.
He consequently spent the rest of the day flinging things to see if I was going to follow through on this!
Just wondering how long the toys should remain on the shelf for- we've got quite a collection up there tonight. I think I'm going to take them down, so we can have a fresh start in the morning, but I don't know what to say to him when he asks for them during the day. Any suggestions?

Hi Hairy, we do this with our DD (4yrs) When she is naughty or playing up at the dinner table we remove a toy. She is told which one we will take and then we put it away. We usually do not give it back until the next day/meal and only if behaviour has improved. If she asks for the toy she is told it was taken away because of her behaviour and if she is good she will get it back. Works really well in our house. Hope this helps

I've just started doing this with my DS - nearly 3 as he's getting to be delibrately destructive with toys. When questioned will openly tell you he's trying to break it. I take them away for the rest of the day. It is improving things as he is starting to understand what will happen. I do always give him a warning first so has a chance to stop. Good luck - I sometimes think you need nerves of steel for this parenting malarky!