How To Prevent My Toddler From Throwing Things
My toddler’s tendency to just throw things here, there, and everywhere is something that I, the neat freak mom, can’t help but be triggered on bad days. He can end up throwing food, his toys, his clothes, his bowls, basically everything, and leave a mess and destruction in his wake.
And so, from one learning parent to another, here are some tools and ways that I’ve implemented in order to stop the actions and at least get some semblance of peace of mind. Let’s dive in.
1. Respectfully telling
As always, when the actions have run their course of him throwing things around, I’d need to have a mind with my tone and words on how to stop him. Most days, it’s incredibly difficult to stop me from yelling at him “NO, DON’T THROW”, but I focus on progress and not perfection. And try to be better next time by respectfully telling him to stop throwing.
After all, our toddlers are in the stage of exerting their independence, so the more you say “Don’t”, the more they want to do it. It’s just the way they’re wired. But in the end, positive and respectful discipline isn’t all about getting them to just do what we tell them to do. But ‘to teach’ and model how to deal with difficult situations.
2. Connect with them
Sometimes, we might need to consider the reason for them throwing things. Depending on their age, especially toddlers that are about 4 to 5, they already roughly have an idea that they shouldn’t be throwing things. It might be a sign of an underlying need for more attention, love, and reconnection.
From their perspective, throwing things immediately gets your attention. And for our kids, any negative attention is better than no attention at all. Hence, do try to set a special time together with your child that THEY want to do. It doesn’t have to be the whole day. Science has narrowed it down to at least 10 minutes a day of special one-on-one time is what they need to fill themselves up.
3. Redirect them what they can throw
With young kids, throwing things is one way for them to expel their energy or big feelings inside them (actually not just young kids). Sometimes, we just got to let them be, and allow them room to actually throw stuff.
So a simple redirection might just do the trick. You can allow them to throw maybe stuffed toys, or where they can throw things. The important thing is to stick to your boundaries and be mindful of your words. If they don’t follow through with your boundaries, then gently and firmly stop them. Put them in another room where they can throw stuff if needed.
4. Repetition is key
As with children of any age, but most especially toddlers, sometimes, there’s just no other way to it. They just need to be repeated again and again (and again). Remember that our kids are still learning and absorbing from the world around us. They’re learning that when they throw things, this is what they get.
You can also repeat that whatever they throw, they need to pick up. This hopefully helps them to know the drill when they still want to throw things. In short, sticking to our words, and repeating them again and again with gentleness and firmness, will get their little brains to catch up. Take heart, dear parent! They won’t be throwing things forever. They’ll eventually get it.
5. Modeling with our actions
As with all things parenting, our kids copy a lot from us. Especially with the bad habits. We might need to take some time to check in if we throw things around for fun (or when we have big feelings ourselves) and put a curve to this habit of ours.
Alternatively, we can also model with them where, what, and when we can throw. Model these actions when everyone is hopefully in a more receptive state. And NOT in the middle of a tantrum where they just react and won’t be able to understand your words.
And there you have it, dear parent. Some five ways for you to prevent your little one from throwing things.
Hope these resonated with you dear parent! And do share what other ways do you have in mind to curb this tendency of our little ones.
You might also be interested to check the following blog posts for more toddler tips and tricks:
5 Ways To Get Your Child To Listen to You
How To Prevent My Toddler From Biting
Simple Ways To Teach Body Consent to Our Children
Again, cheering for you dear parent in this journey we have together!
