Parenting tips that Do Not Work for your child

[NotQuiteCockney]

DS2 is 2.5, and tantrummy. I am really starting to hate the 'offer him a choice of two' thing. If I offer him a choice of two, he will either refuse both of them (but accept something else, if I keep offering things), or, today, he demanded both. So he's wearing two tshirts today.

What tips do your children refuse to go along with?

Seeing other children eat a new food will encourage your picky eater to try new foods...

Not after 9 years, has this worked. It might work if he wasn't the world's most strong-willed child. I am hoping this refusal to bow to peer pressure will stand him in good stead when his mates are trying heroin...

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A hungry child will never starve themselves to death...

...except mine, ds1 would. Ditto the peer pressure!

The good old "He'll eat anything if he's hungry. No child ever starves themselves". Mine don't care whether they eat and will quite happily go all day without eating if I don't remind them that they need food.

Tortoiseshell - snap!

lol!

I always like the one about "allow children to run round without a nappy in the summer to encourage potty training".

Er, no, it encourages them to poo with great ease in unexpected places.

Ignore the unwanted behaviour and it will go.

Er - no - it's still there...

The time out thing where they have a minute for every year of their life.
eg
Go in your room to calm down for 3 minutes dd.

3 minutes later - have you calmed down?

She is now happily playing with toys but says no i want another 3 minutes!!

She gets the upper hand again

teehee anchovy - i had that all last summer!

ooo offering a choice is always a bad road to go down here too!

hiding veg in food never works either... it just means a whole meal goes to waste instead of just veg

i also found this one from the tips section absolutely hysterical.... 'Use bath time as a time to read poetry and stories to your toddler'.....

Agree, PT it's a bit bonkers. I spend bath time stopping DS from trying to climb on the side of the bath so he can jump.....

dd like to throw water all over the room... dp and i have to strip to bath her or our clothes get drenched... hate to think of the state a book of poetry would be in!

"Let him see other children his own age doing it, and he'll do it"

Er, no. DS1 just goes "That's nice, happy for you" and carries on with his way.

lol hatrick ... forgot about that one. dd doesn't even pause... just screams louder!

Incentives.
DS just experiences this as another form of pressure and resists harder.
And will always happily refuse the incentive if it is to do with eating anything.

The naughty step. Its next to impossible to get him to sit on it.

dd1 fine with most stuff but dd2 takes delight in not complying to 'tips'

Hiding veg (won't eat mushy/sauce can't hide veg in a bun!)

Distraction

Naughty step

Sticker charts/pasta jars

i pmsl at that 'you're the boss' thing. if i was dd's employer she'd have been sacked for insubordination a long time ago. it's because i'm her mother that i have to sprint after her while she disrobes, tears off her dirty nappy, trips, lands in it and then races into my bedroom to bodyslam my crisp, white duvet.

shouting

ditto your child will not starve themselves.

3 days before I managed to get him to eat again (if he gets upset around food or upset full stop he won't eat)

Ds is also very stubborn with everything else

At least he is the mini version of dp so I have someone to try out my cunning strategies on

Oh, with you there shimmy - ignoring does NOT work in our house. A stern telling off is the only way to go!

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yeah, pruni, but deosn't stop me doing it de temps en temps (I'm being johnny boden, can you tell?)