Bumps n Baby Parenting Magazine May June 2015 | Page 9

Toddler Zone

Create an imaginary villainous character.
Convince your toddler that if he doesn’t
listen to momma, the villainous character
will come and take him.
Yes scaring your toddler can do some
tricks. Create imaginary characters that are
reasonable and somewhat logical.
Scare them but don’t overdo it. Don’t scare
them to that extend that they develop
phobias.
For example, we have this made-up
character called ‘meemee-maama’, and she
visits every house at lunchtime,
dinnertime, sleep time etc.
We have convinced him that if he doesn’t
sleep, meemee-maama will come and sleep
with him. So if he is not ready for his bed, I
ask him, “Will you sleep with meemeemaama today?” Scared little one will always
prefer to sleep with me instead and will
settle in his bed all by himself ☺

Give him choices, but make
them limited
Offering kids with choices and letting them
to choose what they want gives them a fake
idea that we are giving them power to
decide own their own.
Instead of forcing them to do things, give
them choices on what you want them to do
and let them choose. This will really work
most of the time.
When my son refuses to drink water, I ask,
“Hey you want the Sippy cup or the new
tumbler?” He feels he has some control over
things and will choose what he wants. He
would happily drink water from the sippy
cup he has chosen.
Predict and Offer alternatives
Even before I know my son is going to do
something naughty, I predict his behavior
and offer him an alternative.
When my son is taking our kitchen cups to
the balcony, I know his next move will be to
throw them out of the balcony. I don’t tell
him “Don’t throw them”. That might give
him the idea even if he hasn’t thought of it.
Instead I ask him enthusiastically “Hey, you
want to make building with those cups?” And

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