WHY WHY WHY WHY

[jessicasmummy]

Why when i say no to jess, she just shakes herhead and laughs?!

WILL SHE EVER LISTEN TO ME?

She''s 11 months btw!

my 2.8 yr old still does that, im afraid

Laughter is a mitigated fear/anxiety response... she is laughing because she could be "afraid" of your disapproval, but she knows she doesn't have to be afraid, iyswim. That's not naughtiness! It's just disappating the initial anxiety she has... she's making it into a fun game, she doesn't know that the "no" is that important to you.

Because she's still only a baby, and to a baby the world is a lovely, funny place, and mummy is a lovely, funny creature.

Give her time; she'll get there.

Mine does that as well. She'll say 'yeah', when it's something she wants. But what do I expect from a girl whose first words were 'I want that.'

Ah, JS, she's only a baby! Give her a chance!

i know... it really winds me up because ill say no and sit her down, and then she's straight back up doing ti again!!! I CANT WIN!!!

we have finally put the fireguard up because she was pulling herself up on it all the time and REFUSES to listen when i say no!

why can she not understand no but can understand clap hands/kiss for mum/dummy please.... grrrr!

listen .. yes

actually do what you want her to do .. no

She can understand no, jm - she is just too little at the moment to understand the importance of it. She will understand your tone of voice though; you have to say no as if you really mean it, and re-inforce it by removing her from the fireguard. Even then she's still really young and doesn't yet understand that not everthing is fun.

Honestly, she'll get there.

It's a reaction ! They don't really associate the positive and negative intonations with their own actions yet so direct action, as WWB said, along with the no might have more effect. ds drove me mad at that stage so we joined several "classes" and tried to get out more. You also have to learn to pick your battles and create clear boundaries otherwise you will be saying no all the time and it will lose its impact.

my son, who's a year old now, does this sometimes too, i'll scold him and he'll laugh at me.

will she listen? yes, eventually. just continue to be firm and no matter how cute her laughter is, just remember YOU ARE IN CONTROL. you are the authority figure. and continue on scolding her as you need it.

hang in there.. its rough. i know, especially when they repeatedly do something that warrants a 'no!'..