My 21 month old son will not stop spitting out his drinks! At first I thought it was b/c the milk was bad (but it wasn't). And he's been doing it with juice, milk, water, everything! He takes a sip, and then spits it out all over himself. I take away the cup, and tell him no every time he does it. And I went from flicking his cheek with my fingers to smacking his face, and he just laughs every time.
I used to make him wipe up the mess he makes, but he enjoyed that too much, it was more like rewarding him.
What do I do to stop the spitting??
its really hard not to react but that would be the best way to make it stop, if at his age he is going to stop. When there is no reaction from you it won't be so appealing to the little guy. he should be given the chance to clean it up tho, making cleaning fun/a game is probably something you want to hold on to. XD
Hi!
You might want to let him sit there in his wet clothes and ignore him. If he's in a high chair take away what ever is on the tray in front and let him just sit there. My son would do the same....not as much though, and this seemed to work wonders...hope it helps.
I had this same problem with my son who was around the same age if not a little younger. I would just stick with taking the cup away. Only give it to him at mealtimes and if he does it then, take it away. He's not going to dehydrate. I definitely DON'T think smaking him in the face will make any positive difference. Good luck!
When I was having this problem with my triplets I used "biting medicine", Or should I say 1/4 tsp of vinegar. It won't hurt them and most kids HATE the taste (cept my Isabella who liked it). Can't hurt to try.
Personally, I think you won't get it to stop. He is only 21 months. At this age they don't have ANY self control and can't be expected to until at least 3. He is at the age where he is "seeing" what will happen. Cause and effect type deal. I am reading this book called "Making the terrible two's terrific" by John Rosemond and it is EXTREMELY insightful into the minds of our kids this age. I have a 22 month old and he does some pretty strange stuff, but you kinda hafta take it all in stride. I'll bet amazon.com has that above mentioned book at a great price (used) and it REALLY is one of the best books I have read. Let me know what happens. . . (Be thankful you aren't having the aggression probs I am having)
L.
My son did the same thing. I limited his cup use to only meal time and then I would only let him have a drink, then take the cup away again. I made sure he knew why he couldn't have his cup, because of the spitting...this lasted 2 days and he begged for his cup back and I told him he could only have it back if he didn't spit or he would lose it again. It worked much better than the flicking or smacking (i tried that too.). My son kept doing it for the attention. Once the attention wasn't there and he lost his cup, he quit doing it.
It sounds like he thinks it's a game. Whatever you do you need to be consistent. Making him clean it up sounds like a good idea to me but you can't stop because he seems to enjoy it. Eventually he'll get tired of cleaning up after himself when he realizes it's not fun anymore. It's probably a stage he's going through. He's looking for a reaction from you and you're giving it to him by getting upset. Keep your cool. You may want to try to ignore it, too, don't reward bad behavior with attention. He'll eventually grow out of it.
The more you respond to him spitting the worse it will get. And I really don't think that flicking and smacking his face will solve your problem. Sounds pretty harsh to me!!!
Flicking him? My jaw dropped when I read that. Okay..sorry, but flicking or smacking his face is not going to get you anywhere. He is looking for attention, so perhaps positive reinforcement is due. When he does it, tell him no sternly, take away his cup and walk away. Dont get angry. When he drinks properly, reward him with a "good job, your getting so big!". Dont give him attention when he spits it, and give him lots when he drinks it properly.
