Disciplined baby

[jeskadesign]

I feel extremely guilty as slapped baby on hand for the first time today. Baby is an extrememly intelligent 8 month old who can't crawl yet, but is incessantly screaming and squealing loudly on purpose ALL THE TIME. Baby screams as loud as possible, waits a few moments then does it again. Baby is not upset or distressed in anyway - thinks it is funny and a game. Got different advice from different people (baby just watns attention - just ignore it etc. Have tried simply saying No, then No with pinching mouth into a fish shape (no pain but unable to squeal), to removing priveledges/time out in cot etc. The only thing that has really worked today was after I said in a calm voice (not angry moment) No and inflicted some pain on the back of his hand with a little slap. He didn't cry but I could tell he was actually thinking about it this time, and waited a lot longer to try again, where I did it again. I felt so bad but it seemed to work.

Is this bad parenting? I was at my wits end after listening to it go on and on for the last day (happens even when playing with toys etc).

help!

Jess

[feeb]

ohh my nearly 10 month old squeels high pitched all the time also, i have yelled and said no etc but not smacked his hand (been tempted)

good luck will be watching thread for ideas

[Nelle]

You'll get lots of different advice on smacking here - many people are gentle parenters, who don't smack. I think probably only you can know if that's good parenting for your bub or not.

You might or might not find some guidelines for smacking that I use helpful.
- Am I angry at all? Am I in control?
- Do I have any other discipline options that work?
- Will my child learn from this? Does this guide them, or just upset them?
- Did the child deliberately disobey, or was it an accident, or something they have no control over?

I'm encouraged that you're thinking about this, however we parent it's always good to do it thoughtfully and with reasons behind the decisions we make.

[jeskadesign]

Your list of considerations is great - I take especial care not to discipline when angry, but I ran out of ideas!

Does anyone know of any other discipline ideas that work for this age group (8-12 months)? I am open to any other ideas at all.

Thanks,

Jess

[amberj]

Oh, that squealing is sooooo hard to deal with. Thankfully my LO has never done it, but a lot of the other kids at mothers group do, and after 2 hours with them, I am about ready to break a blood vessel!

The only thing I have to say is that HOPEFULLY its a phase. My LO growls. Seriously, its a wierd noise- people turn around in the supermarket and look. But he will do it for a few weeks and then stop, then maybe come back to it in some alternate form a month later. And I know a lot of the squealers in my mothers group have eventually stopped doing it. From what I can tell, they seem to go through noise phases- some cute and others downright bamboo-under-your-nails irritating.

I understand your frustration. I would try to wait it out a while before taking disciplinary action. He's probably after a reaction and will get bored of it after a while. But I don't envy you and I'm certainly not judging you!

[~StarBright~]

When my DS squeels- i squeel back at him and we have a squeel convo and he gets it out of his system and doesnt do it anymore- for a while anyway!!

But im not sure that his squeels are quite the same as what you describe... but he does seem to enjoy himself when he does it- so i make a game out of it!

[Michelle71]

When my DS squeels- i squeel back at him and we have a squeel convo and he gets it out of his system and doesnt do it anymore- for a while anyway!!

But im not sure that his squeels are quite the same as what you describe... but he does seem to enjoy himself when he does it- so i make a game out of it!

We do that. DD is 4 months old and has just found her voice so it is practice time

It is just a learning thing for them - to practice talking, seeing reactions, social interaction etc. Discipline is not something they understand at 8 months. Time out is for mummy - the baby will have no concept of why they are in the room. There is no cause / effect interpretation no matted how intelligent they are. And privileges at this age don't exist. They are purely essential living requirements, not things like their mobile phone or internet time.

It is usually a phase and with DS it did go away after about a month. Just try to ignore it. Go to another room or go the complete opposite and turn it into conversation and social interaction time. Another tip is to scream back increasingly quieter. They love to imitate and imitating the quieter noise is great