[jpeel99]

I'm looking for some advise on disciplining when you are away from home. My little guy is really good at home. He really does follow directions pretty well. In public, however, when he doesn't want to come with me....he's not going to. We do time out at home, but how do you do this out in public (I hate scenes BTW). I am also not a spanker (Hubby does it sometimes, but it's not my thing).

our son is 3.....thanks

Jenna

[dac_cincy]

Timeouts in public work for my guy. I tell him to sit down and i stand near him without looking directly at him. It certainly got his attention quickly when it happened the first time and then again the second time. He does not typically misbehave in public any longer. he does get warning now and that seems to work for the most part at this point. I believe that he felt that being away from home was a license to act out and when the rules stayed the same, he realized that acting out was not going to work.

We have worked very hard on what he allowed to do when we are out- running away from me or refusing to come with me, that gets him picked up and put in the shopping cart. In resturants and other areas, if he is not behaving or running away, he gets to hold my hand until he behaves, continued misbehaving gets him the timeout. Usually the hand hold stops it cold- he just wants to be a few steps from me or walking beside me.
My little guy is 3 also.
Love to you,

[jalapeno]

Well, my DD is only 2 1/2. And I've heard that 3 year olds are like 2 year olds - only smarter. So I don't know if my advice would be worth much. But I second what dac wrote. I put my DD in the shopping cart if she doesn't want to stay with me. I strap her in if she makes a stink about being in the cart. If I have a stroller, I strap her into the stroller. I have a wrist strap that I can attach to her wrist and my wrist (from Babies'r'us). I will physically carry her if necessary. Usually any of those things is enough to let her know I mean business. I definitely do time-outs in public if it doesn't interfere with my plans or if I have no other options. My DH is sometimes more hesitant to discipline DD than I am and I really think she picks up on that and exploits it. My guess would be that your DS has figured out that you don't want to make a public scene and so knows he can get away with more. But it's so important to take control of stuff like that. Best of luck!!

[jalapeno]

Oh and I also try to remember to reward good behavior. So when my DD does do a good job of staying with me, I really praise her for it. And occasionally I'll do something special. Like the other day I let her pick out a little toy from the dollar section at Target just before we checked out. I didn't tell her in advance that I would do that - I just made it a special treat and let her know I was really proud of her for listening to me and staying with me in the store. I think something like that can go a long way.

[HappyTwinsMom]

When my twins were that age (and still sometimes today), we did time outs in public. If we were in a store, we'd go out to the car. If we were on the road, I'd pull over. It usually got their attention.