Discipline at 16 months.

[AgentM]

What should I expect from a 16 month old? He's a really good boy, but how much can I expect for him to listen to me? Since some other children were here a few weeks ago, he has taken to trying to walk around while eating. He's always been really good at sitting for his food. But they had terrible manners and it has really rubbed of on him. Is he too young to understand that if he's not sitting down, he will have his food taken off him and that is the end of that? I don't want to be too harsh on him of he is too young to understand that logic. But yet I don't want to start something that's difficult to stop iykwim?

 

[Tonks]

Do you sit down with him while he's eating? Where does he sit?

Nim is 15 months this month and I would find it too soon for her. For lunches we sit on cushions on the living room floor normally and have a picnic so I sit with her and just say 'sit down' if she tries to get up to move around, and she usually listens to sit down if I'm with her. If not I sit her down gently then praise her lots when she is sitting and she tends to stay there.

 

[Sam's Mum]

I found it hard to get Sam to stay sitting down to eat snacks at 16 months... I always made sure he sat down when I asked him to before I gave him food and after a while he started sitting down as soon as I got food out to give him. He'd quite often get distracted and wander off so I'd just ask him to sit down with me again or go and get him but I didn't take the food from him. By about 18 months he was much better at staying where he was meant to

 

[Me, My Girls & I]

katie's not allowed food unless she's in her high chair, mainly cos of the dog, but also cos of my mum's new carpets but i take quite a hard line with discipline anyway, especially the past couple of days cos she's been doing things she knows are naughty deliberately and quite often its hitting ella over the head...

i personally would take the food off him if he's not sat down and tell him he can have it back when he sits down and stays sat down, i think they understand more than we give them credit for a lot of the time!!

 

[Mervs Mum]

Hebe only eats in a high chair or on a booster at the dining table. No snacks or anything anywhere else. I dont even let her have a drink on the go to walk about with. I'll offer her a drink during the day but I make her sit on the couch next to me to have it. I am a proper Victorian mum at times....

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

Rosie has her breakfast on my lap, her lunch and tea in the highchair and snacks sitting down in the lounge. Her water is always nearby so she can drink when she wants to. At playgroup she sits with the other children at a table and eats her snack

 

[nancy]

I don't think it's too much for him to comprehend that he needs to sit down with his food. They really become little people by the age of 1 year and they know far more about the world than we realise. Just because they don't speak it doesn't mean they don't understand. Reward good behaviour first and try putting him back where you want him when he moves but I personally would take food away until he's ready to sit down and behave, if he continues to mess about. If he really wants what you've got he'll do as he's asked.
High-chairs and booster seats are great for helping to train them to sit for meals as they have restraints. - If all else fails sit him in it for his meals until he can be trusted to sit.

A little designated table and chair is a great help for an older child if you don't have a family dining table for whatever reason.

 

[AgentM]

Thanks girls. We do have a dining table and he always sits there with us at meal times. I try to sit him down for snacks. I think I'll just be harsh and take away the food if he stands up, as well as saying no and praising good behaviour. It worries me though, as my sisters kids are all over the place, but they don't carry food around. They just eat a mouthful, run off and come back again for the nxt mouthful. This goes on for the whole mealtime. I think I'll keep going for a while, then if he doesn't settle, I'll start to take away his food and he won't get anymore until the next meal or snack time. How does that sound to you?

 

[nancy]

That sounds pretty fair to me...give him a couple of chances because he's a baby and he might forget at first but don't let him take the mickey out of you. My niece is just a little older than your LO and she totally knows what the score is and will run rings around us if we let her.

It never feels nice to bring in discipline but the sooner they know whats what the less of a shock it'll be. I always feel sorry for the kids on Super Nanny, it's such a shock to them to find out that most aspects of their life are going to change overnight. If they were set boundries from the start they wouldn't have to go through all that trauma when the parents finally have enough.

 

[Mrs.P]

I make Eleanor sit down.

I was just saying to Si the other night, what a wicked mother I am. I took her to baby group last Thursday and they open up the hatch for a cuppa and a biscuit or treat for the LO's. Anyway, I make Eleanor sit down on the chair and eat hers. All the other children are still paying or riding cars or running around, but tough I dont have it. If she wants to run around I make her hand over the biscuit.

At home 3 main meals are in her high chair and snacks, she has a little chair next to mine which she sits in, she knows where to go as morning I share my toast with her and she jumps straight in her chair.

Same rules apply though if she wants to play she has to hand the food over.