Listening

I just tell her no, a million times it feels like, and then move her away. It's so hard at this age as I really want to laugh especially now she does this little sarcastic wave and says hiya when she's told not to do something 🤣

@Vicky as soon as I move him away he laughs and goes back to doing what he’s not allowed to do telling him no doesn’t seem to be doing anything

It's hard when they're this age as they don't understand why we're telling them no.

I just keep moving him away or taking the item away (whichever is easiest) after doing that a million times he sometimes gets it 🙄🥲😂

The concept of “no” is very big and confusing at this age. Honestly, even for older toddlers. This behavior is completely normal. It’s always best to focus on telling them what TO do instead of trying to get them to stop/what NOT to do. And redirecting is always best. They’re just not going to understand they can’t do something at this age. So don’t stress yourself out about that. Baby proof as much as you can, prevent them from being able to do the thing you don’t want them to do, redirect, and show them what to do. For example, my daughter is climbing on the couch now and she stands up and thinks it’s funny to try to climb over. If she fell over the back of the couch and landed on her head it would be an ER trip. She thinks it’s funny because I come running over there to stop her. I’m not ever going to be able to get her to stop. The only option is to redirect her and avoid letting her get up there in the first place.

@Mahlia he’s climbing the tv stand and almost knocking to tv over , he’s playing with the living room door so much he’s bent one of the hinges, he’s shaking the baby gate so much he’s actually broken it and he’s shaking the rabbit cage to the point it ends up on its side and the rabbit is shaking because she’s scared she refuses to come out the cage is he’s in the room at this point

Bloody hell 😂 my little girl uses me as a boost if im sat near the coffee table to climb on it. She shakes the baby gate but luckily she's not able to move it. She climbs on the couch but I've been able to show her how to get down without hurting herself.

I know it’s super frustrating at this age. You have to get pretty creative with what you do for now. A lot of objects are blocking things I don’t want my daughter to get into. We have a fireplace that has a brick ledge thing you can climb on and she constantly climbs up there. I have random objects on it now that prevent her from getting up there. You should probably make sure the tv stand and tv are connected to the wall to make sure it doesn’t fall over. Is your son moving the door open and shut over and over again or does that door stay closed? If the door is closed then you might have to put something in front of it. If the door opens and closes, you can get those doorknob baby proof things so only you can open it. Sorry, not really sure of your circumstances are around the door so I’m not sure the advice to give there. You also might have to put something in front of the rabbit cage to prevent your son from easily going up to it.

It's so so hard. Have to distract him with alternative things to do. It's the only way. Mine gives me a cheeky smile and shakes his head as if to say no no no and then carries on doing it. He started banging his stacking cups onto the TV screen which was a red line so I just took the cups, said no firmly and picked him up and took him out of the room. He used to play with the radio alarm clock so I kept turning the loud angry alarm noise on it that would freak him out. After a few times of the alarm getting angry he stopped paying with it.

Sounds really tough. we're mounting our tv on the wall to have it out of reach. And having things like cat food/litter in a place she can't get to due to a baby gate. Might be hard depending on your living circumstances, but can the rabbit cage be moved somewhere not accessible or create some sort of barrier? They're too young to fully comprehend no and it's a all a game to them at this stage, so removing the risks, or distracting while they learn are going to be the main things. Maybe rotating toys so that they seem new and exciting and are more of a distraction? We also have a play pen which I don't like to routinely use, but if I need to do something and I wouldn't be able to quickly redirect/actively play, i'd pop her in there briefly. Also wondering if it seems like it's a way of getting attention, and whether more 1:1 play throughout the day could help, or if he seems like he's physically getting something from those sorts of physical movements and if they could be replaced with some physical play

Good luck! It can feel relentless but trying to hold in mind it's all a phase!

@Kimberley he’s played with as much as possible during the day I can’t really do loads about the tv because of where it’s placed and I still live at home so I can go moving things the rabbit also can’t be moved because of space trying to distract him doesn’t seem to work as he’s more interested in the things he cannot do

When he starts doing something you don’t want him to immediately correct it. They don’t understand no and it shouldn’t be that the rabbit is being terrorised and things damaged, it’s more on us as parents than the child. As soon as my daughter does something (like try and batter our TV) I immediately say no and get up and remove her away from the tv. If she tries to go back and laughs etc we leave the room and go and do something else briefly before returning. It’s repetitive, it’s boring and annoying but the boundaries are really important. Hope you get some relief soon x

@Molly I can’t really leave the room as I also have a 4 week old

Okay, maybe a playpen for him to stay in whilst in the room so he’s not getting to the TV or the rabbit cage?

@Molly I haven’t got the space for the playpen