Sunday, September 7, 2008
Time out=fun. go figure.
The fact that Gabe isn't walking, makes him seem younger than he really is sometimes... so the little stinker gets away with a lot! Anyone that is around him for more than 2 minutes knows that his favorite thing to do is throw balls...or any handy object for that matter! It's all well and good until it comes to meal time. My kitchen looks like a war zone three times a day! After wiping green beans off the wall and strawberry bites from the drapes one too many times, I decided This has got to stop - it's driving me bonkers!! It's not like Eric and I haven't tried to stop the Gabe Food Catapult, it's just that none of our tactics have made one bit of difference. Since saying "no Gabe" didn't work (duh), we've tried taking his tray away and leaving him in his chair but it obviously doesn't bother him much since upon returning his food to him he always proceeds to take a few polite bites then dump the rest on the floor while he is chewing! Even worse, when he doesn't like something, he chews it for awhile - making it nice and juicy - then spits it into his hand and chucks it. Aaaaaah! So that is when we decided to implement the big Time Out. My friend told me the stairs worked great for her daughter so I tried that first...Gabe thought it was really cool to sit on the stairs - loved every minute! Then I tried the couch... soon he was bouncing around having a wonderful time! Finally I decided to try the good old fashioned chair-in-the-corner. Well... Gabe thought it was wildly exciting and wouldn't let me get him down for at least 10 minutes! At this point I can't help but laugh about our thwarted attempts to teach him some table manners. Maybe he is too young.... more likely he is just stubborn and since he is a solitary kind of guy, time out doesn't bother him one bit. I'm fresh out of ideas since my idea of "punishments" are a riot of laughs for my little Gabe!! What am I going to do?!!! :)
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5 comments:
Well I have really don't have any idea, but when you get some fabulous advice feel free to send it my way! I did ask my doctor about it at Wesley's 1yr appt. and he said you could do time-outs now. It will probably take them a long time to grasp what's going on but hopefully you're leading them in the right direction. They don't really get it until they are like 3 or 4 he said. He also said when do a time-out to put him in a room or playpen by himself for a few minutes and then go get him. He said make sure the room is safe (obviously) and don't use the crib because you don't want them to associate the crib with getting in trouble. I haven't tried it yet, but let me know if something works for you! Wow, sorry to leave such a long comment.
I am looking forward to reading the advice you get . . . ha-ha! This is a very common problem and you have already tried what worked for me (taking the food away and getting him down out of his high chair). Sorry honey, what works for some kids doesn't always work for others. Just keep your patience and loving attitude and make as little of an emotional issue of it as you can. It will get better! XO Mom
Sorry the stair didn't work for ya. It works wonders at our house. But, we never had a serious food throwing problem. Maybe rewards for not throwing food? Maybe he is too young to understand that yet. But, maybe it will work down the road. I am out of ideas too!
Good luck...
Haha! I'm like Mindy..... "Good Luck with that." :)
I just think it's hilarious that he acutally chews up the bite and gets it all juicy and then spits it into his hand and hucks it. How funny! Not so funny for you, I'm sure. And if Eliza were to do that, I would not think it was very funn, I'm afraid! :) I didn't have that problem with Benjamin, but my friend has has a major problem with her little boy doing that... I know it's common. Wish I could help!
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