Don’t you love it when your toddler discovers the word “No”! In this post we give you 2 options to help avoid the dreaded word and prevent the toddler drama.
Around the age of 2 a child will discover the amazing impact of the word NO. At this age they become more confident and outgoing and passionately believe that their wishes are the most important. And then the word NO comes along, perfect timing you might say!
Your toddler will test you Every …. Single….. Day!
They will see how far they can push you before you react. The difficulty is they don’t know how to stop this new game they have started. This is where you come in.
Two great options are;
- The “Two-Choice” game. Instead of making a simple request, you give your toddler a choice. So instead of saying “Drink your milk”, ask a question like “Would you like milk or juice?” So long as the word “neither” is not in their vocabulary, they may be happy to drink one of the choices offered.
- The second game is the “Countdown” game. In this game the child must make up her mind about the options presented to them before you finish the countdown. The more fun the game is, the more likely you are to get a result.
Remember too that children very often imitate you, are you overusing the word NO? Try using maybe, soon, later. Sure, aren’t they all ways of saying no too!
There will be circumstances when you need your toddler to understand that NO means NO and all games are off. Having a tone of voice for these moments only helps your toddler understand that this NO is different.