GRRRRR - when does no mean no???

My 14 month old DD's latest trick is to turn off the tv. It makes a great clicking sound when you turn it off and on, and she seems to love the flash of the picture disappearing and then reappearing. Great for her but other than the fact that it is very annoying when we're trying to watch something, one of these days she's going to blow it up. No matter how many times I say no, distract her with something else or smack her little hand as a last resort she just keeps on going back. She knows very well that she's doing something she shouldn't be doing - very cheeky little grin on her face when she looks me straight in the eye when she does it. When do they start obeying "no", rather than just hearing the word and that making them want to do the behaviour more?

Maybe you could try ignoring it. It sounds like she might just be doing it for your reaction. If there is no reaction to it, she might get bored & find something else?

Maybe when she does it you could get up and just leave the room so she doesn't have an audience. Go into another room and do something really exciting in there. She will soon get the message.

My kids have done this... I just pick them up and say NO We don't turn the Tv on and off or it wil break.. or something along those lines.. you need to give a reason for why you want her to stop.. and no she isn't to young. Eventuall it will sink in.. If she continues to do it then do what the OP said and try ignoring it for a few days.. press record if you really want to watch something but if she turns the Tv off don't turn it back on just don't look in her direction.. It would ake a few days but eventually she will go oh this isn't fun anymore and then move onto something else to annoy you with lol...

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When do they start obeying "no"

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I think that might be in their twenties or thirties LOL!!

I agree with the ignoring advice. The other thing that might work is to give her a remote control for something else or a toy one (a toy phone or old phone can work too) and tell her she can use that for the TV. My 21 mo DS loves pointing an old remote for a long gone video player at the TV and pretending to turn it on/off, change channels etc.

Or even turn it off at the wall when she continues to ignore you then the picture wont catch her eye and it wont blow a fuse.

turn it off at the wall, and tell her she broke it. don't put it back on for a couple of days while she is awak. it will mean you and DH might miss out on something, but make it so that she is aware that it doesn't work. then turn it back on when she's been really good for a while.

it worked with my friends kids - they have a TV that they unplugged cos the kids kept messing with the remotes (took the batteries out first, so one of the kids worked out how to press the buttons on the tv, so it got unplugged) - it might not work for a 14 month old, but it's worth a try

Ooh, I love the idea of turning it off at the wall! My DS does this too Lulu and he's the same age as your little one. Drives us mental, but more than that, we won't be impressed if he breaks the tele! Gonna try to the 'it's broken' thing this weekend. Thanks girls!

Jovie does this as well, we put a gigantic ottoman in front of it and the child lock on the TV and she STILL found the little button on the back, so yep, we turn it off at the wall now and keep it off most of the time, if we want to watch something I am vigilant about blocking off the area so she can't reach it. Now she can climb its going to be another challenge :rolleyes:

Julian does the same thing Lulu and it drives me nuts!! He doesn't understand no either. I pick him up and put him somewhere else a few times after saying no, that will break the TV and after about 4-5 gos he gets over it mostly and then moves on to something else. Very irritating though