in September 2023 Babies 🇬🇧

Paying no attention when we say No

Does anyone else’s baby pay no attention when you say not to do something? My 19 month old definitely used to respond to no (although may not have actually stopped doing whatever it was). No it is like we aren’t even there saying no, just completely ignores us. I suspect it is a developmental thing and she is testing the boundaries etc, but it is getting frustrating! I also don’t know whether to generally just let her get her way until she is old enough to fully understand and we can communicate properly with her. Does it matter if we give in to her at this age?! Any thoughts would be welcome :)

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We are the same, my little boy used to respond to no by shaking his head but now he just ignores and doesn’t even look at us usually and continues to do what we say no to 😩

Yeah she's learning she doesn't have to necessarily listen to you 😆 I wouldn't let her continue doing something you want her to stop doing. Physically stop her, tell her we don't do whatever it is you want her to stop doing and redirect her.

Same here! At best he stomps his feet and grunts, but so often he just carries on doing what he's doing

Little kids don't understand the negatives in sentences so if you say 'dont jump on the sofa' all they hear is 'jump on the sofa' and will do it more. It's better to try to reframe the sentence into a positive instruction so try saying 'lets sit on the sofa'. We also don't want to overuse the word no, try to save it for when you need it, like if they run out into a road so that they actually respond. It takes a lot of repetition and patience though. It is also worth noting that it's normal for them to not listen 100%, they just being toddlers 🥲

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