Life is tough for babies and toddlers, simply because they don’t understand a lot of what’s going on.
They go to unfamiliar places, with unfamiliar food, people, and smells, and only know that they are with you. It’s up to you to protect them and help them feel confident that they are okay, wherever they are.
At home, when they have to do certain things and don’t want to, they will put up a fight and throw tantrums.
Sometimes our toddlers just don’t want to sit in their high chair, or let you take their armpit temperature, or lay down for a diaper change, or take a bath, or anything else they have to do.
Related: 14 Ways To Deal With Frustrations As A Parent – From Real Moms
The best way to get a toddler to do something they don’t want to do is to make it FUN.
The way that I make things fun is ” One, Two, THREEEEEEEE….”
I started doing this and would toss my daughter on the couch gently, or swing her in my arms toward her dad and give her to him on the big “Threeeeee!”
I would first do it to make her laugh and just be silly, but eventually, it became a tool to get her out of being stubborn.
When she doesn’t want to get into her highchair, I swing her toward it for “One” and “Two” and then lift her high up in the air then sit her down for “THREEEEEEE…” I say it in a high-pitched voice to let her know that it’s okay and that we’re just having fun. And she likes it and giggles and will sit down.
Having fun became a distraction from what she didn’t want to do.
Of course, there are exceptions on extremely tough days of separation anxiety, where she just has to be a little upset to be her chair.
How to teach them that it means something fun.
1. Cradle toddler in your arms, and stand over bed or couch.
2. Start rocking toddler back and forth, saying the numbers when they are near/over the bed or couch.
3. And on the big “THREEEEEE…” gently plop toddler down, from a safe height.
Do this as many times as they giggle for, or until you’re tired of it.
Madison absolutely LOVES when I do this and rock her toward her dad or grandma. Her dad always makes a silly face when I bring her close to him and it just cracks her up! Which, in turn, cracks us up, too.
Use it for anything.
I mentioned above that I used this tool for Madison’s high chair, you can also use it for:
- Diaper change
- Going in from outside playtime
- Bedtime
- When needing them to go somewhere else (i.e. into the play area, instead of the kitchen)
- Getting into car seat
- Wiping their nose
- Putting on sunscreen
- Laying down on table at doctor’s office to be measured
Basically, if it’s something not fun, this tool will make it fun. You just do whatever it is you need to do on the big “Threeeeee!!!” and they’ll know something fun is gonna happen! And then it’s over quickly and they’re focus has shifted.
Sometimes, we want our little ones to grow up too fast and understand more than they are capable of.
It would make things easier on us if our babes would just do what we needed them to do and not fight it all the time. As parents, we are TIRED and would love something to be a little easy, just this once, PLEASE!!!
But…
It’s up to us to make it easy. So, there’s still a little work we have to do to get to the easier part.
You have to have a special code or fun thing that your child can focus on when they’re feeling out-of-place, nervous, or just not in the mood to do what they don’t want to do.
Most times, it will jolt them out of that feeling and bring them back to seeing you and knowing that they are okay with you and that you do fun and nice things for them.
For me, it’s one…two…threeeee!!!
Let me know in the comments if this has helped your toddler, or what you use to distract your little one from what they don’t want to do!
Related:
Five Ways to Ask Your Husband For Help, and Actually Get It
The Secret to Fighting Mom Overwhelm
How to Stop Taking Your Mom Frustrations Out On Your Spouse
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