When do I say no to baby!?

[usersouthcoast]

Sorry, probably not an overly obvious thread title, but spurred on from a thread in chat about parenting and guiding your children to behave a certain way.... what age do you start?

For instance - my baby is only 6 months old, and is grabby of me and other children, hair pulling etc. Do I say "no" or "gently" now in the hope he starts to understand? Or am I by far too soon?

Sorry if I'm being completely ridiculous.. first time parent!

Start saying no now. They will understand you long before they can speak. A gentle ‘no’ and removing their hand each time. Consistency is key (so don’t let them pull your hair and smile and laugh and say ‘ooo that hurt’ in a sing song voice, you have to be consistent with your correction each time). Your baby is only getting stronger and one day it really really will hurt!

Oh it hurts now!
Thank you very much for replying, I shall start!

I think starting to use 'no' now is fine, but honestly distraction is your best 'discipline' tool and it will be for some years to come!

You sound like a very caring parent.

@everycowandagain thank you!! That's so kind xx

Start now. A simple and firm “no” and then removing their hand is something they can understand. You don’t have to be horrifically strict, but a simple word and a frown is enough at that age. You should mostly focus on postives - as you have already suggested. Demonstrate “gentle” stroking with a doll, get him to do it too and give masses of praise when he does it right. At this age he will understand tone and facial expressions and will want to please you.

Im on the same boat at the moment. Yesterday, DS (9months) bit my nipple... i have never breastfed him!! Hes a biter (no shock to be honest, we teach them to bite when teething and teething can last until age 3) so ive started to say "no, biting hurts" and then move on. I plan to be as consistant as i can.

I started saying ‘no’ to dd as soon as she was doing things she shouldn’t be.
She’s 13 months now and totally understands ‘no’ but often chooses to ignore me.
I use ‘gentle’ a lot. Usually if she’s a bit grabby of other children or when she’s going to stoke my parents dogs.

whenever I removed my dd's hands I'd say no thank you, gentle hands and stroke her hands.

What t0he PP said about your face matching your words is really important. DH was complaining that our toddler DS never took him seriously when he was told off for hurting him. I pointed out that DH always laughed and said 'no' (or whatever) in a high pitched voice. Since DH has stopped laughing and uses a deeper, more serious voice DS responds far better.