“This One or That One?” – Giving Choices

If you have been with Spoon Fed Baby for some time now, you will know that I’m all about making things easy.  Whether it be tips for using cloth diapers, favorite breakfast foods, or lessons from a toddler at the salon, I love making lists, organizing things, and simplifying.

I feel comfy writing about those things.  I live those things every day, so I know that my readers and friends are as well.  One thing that I have not written about is the D word…..DISCIPLINE. Yuck.  Just saying it makes me nervous. It makes me nervous because I know not everyone is on the same page, and I am not the person to ruffle any feathers around here, because very different things work for different people. I like to just keep things happy and sun shiny. I know what some of you are thinking…”grow a pair” right?  haha

Because P-buddy is 19 months, and closer to 2 years old than 1, we are in the thick of “toddler behavior”. You know what that means for our toddlers…

• high emotions 
• quick anger
• thin patience 
• strong frustrations

 Because we are approaching the time that I actually have to “parent” (gasp) I have been doing lots and lots of googling.  One of the best websites I have come across for all things discipline is Aha Parenting.  She has tons and tons of ideas, articles and goodies.

Ok so anyways. Here goes my first “discipline” post! *Disclaimer – I’m NOT an expert!  haha

One thing that we run into A LOT during our day is P-buddy not doing something that we have asked. Duh, all toddlers do that right? When that happens I have found that giving choices works wonders!  I can usually get him to do what I asked him to do, just in a different way. But in the end the task is complete and there is a happy toddler on our hands!

Giving a Toddler Choices

Giving choices works so well for our little guy because we are giving the power back to him instead of to the almighty parents. Instead of a power struggle we get the task accomplished and he feels like he was the one to do it and to make the choice to do it.  Here are a few examples of how it works throughout our day:

• Cleaning up toys: “Do you want to clean up the blue or red blocks?”
• Picking up thrown food: “Do you want to put the green beans on the plate or the napkin?”
• Cleaning up used dishes: “Do you want to put your dish in the sink or the dishwasher?”
• Avoiding biting us (it’s been a phase lately): “Do you want to bite the fish toy or the ball?” We chose some toys that are acceptable for biting.
• Our sippy for milk leaks to so avoid him throwing it anywhere and leaking onto the carpet: “Do you want to put your milk on the table or the counter?”

What kind of choices do you use at home?