Triplet Time Out!
Everything is different when you have multiples. Because they are born early and with their siblings, they develop at a different rate than a single-born baby. This means that they are smaller and do not do the same things at the same time as other babies that are the same “Age” as they are do.
My trio rolled over later, learned to sit up later and didn’t even cut teeth until they were a little over nine months old. Actually, only one of my triplets can even walk and they are currently 16 months old.
I don’t know if it is because they are tinier than normal babies, or if it is because I have babied them too much, but this go-round I have been a bit more lax in the discipline department. My eldest was disciplined from the beginning as I could recognize that he understood what it was that I meant.
My triplets have been different in that I just haven’t thought that they would understand the concepts of right or wrong yet. Don’t get me wrong, I have been teaching them the difference between “Yes” and “No” and what “No-No’s” are. I just haven’t found that they can fully understand what it is that I am trying to convey to them in a situation where one of them is crying.
Recently, because my triplets are teething very badly, they have developed a habit of biting each other. I have caught them biting each other in attempts to get stolen toys back from each other and even when one got into the way of another. I have been in quite a quandary over how to address this with them.
What I have been doing, is making sure to turn my full attention to the child who was bitten or hurt after stating to the other two children that biting is bad, biting hurts, and biting is a no-no etc.
Of course half the time, I can’t even tell who did the biting, or caused the crying, but I sure can tell who lost the fight! Usually I end up consoling the baby who got hurt, leaving the others to watch the bitten sibling get all of the attention.
Saturday, I had to take my eldest son to Dallas to see “Sweet Charity.” This meant that husband had baby duty. After the show, I got a call from a very excited and proud husband.
As luck would have it, there was a biting binge in the play-yard. Kian had decided to pull Kai’s hair and at the same time bite Vivienne’s arm. Apparently he is very adept at multi-tasking for a toddler. Most adults aren’t so coordinated!
My husband had this very bright idea! He decided to try putting him in time out, something which we had thought of before, but hadn’t been able to find a good safe place to implement the punishment that wasn’t a fun place to play!
What he did, was sit him in his little feeding chair, turn it away from the television to where Kian had no choice but to sit there and watch his daddy play with his siblings and have loads of fun. He told him that biting and pulling hair hurt and were both no-no’s.
Husband did not do anything more than buckle him into his little chair and turn it around. He didn’t give him his feeding tray or a snack or a toy, either. He even managed to ignore Kian’s little sniffles and all (which is very difficult for a doting daddy to do!)
Poor biting and hair pulling Kian had to sit and watch his daddy play with his siblings in their play-yard with their toys. He apparently figured out that he was missing out and it made him very sad. After he was allowed back into the play-yard he was even GOOD for a time.
Husband only had one other incident with Kian biting and he went straight back into time out again. Each time, he sniffled and was sad about missing out and each time he was good afterwards.
I am so very proud of husband for solving our discipline dilemma. Now we have a good way to get our point across to the babies when they do something wrong. This way, I can actually separate each of them in a safe manner and where they cannot get to the others or communicate easily.
Hopefully they will get more teeth and the biting will go away and fade in time (and other habits!). If not, our new, modified time-out system may just help us quell our tiny trio problems!
My trio rolled over later, learned to sit up later and didn’t even cut teeth until they were a little over nine months old. Actually, only one of my triplets can even walk and they are currently 16 months old.
I don’t know if it is because they are tinier than normal babies, or if it is because I have babied them too much, but this go-round I have been a bit more lax in the discipline department. My eldest was disciplined from the beginning as I could recognize that he understood what it was that I meant.
My triplets have been different in that I just haven’t thought that they would understand the concepts of right or wrong yet. Don’t get me wrong, I have been teaching them the difference between “Yes” and “No” and what “No-No’s” are. I just haven’t found that they can fully understand what it is that I am trying to convey to them in a situation where one of them is crying.
Recently, because my triplets are teething very badly, they have developed a habit of biting each other. I have caught them biting each other in attempts to get stolen toys back from each other and even when one got into the way of another. I have been in quite a quandary over how to address this with them.
What I have been doing, is making sure to turn my full attention to the child who was bitten or hurt after stating to the other two children that biting is bad, biting hurts, and biting is a no-no etc.
Of course half the time, I can’t even tell who did the biting, or caused the crying, but I sure can tell who lost the fight! Usually I end up consoling the baby who got hurt, leaving the others to watch the bitten sibling get all of the attention.
Saturday, I had to take my eldest son to Dallas to see “Sweet Charity.” This meant that husband had baby duty. After the show, I got a call from a very excited and proud husband.
As luck would have it, there was a biting binge in the play-yard. Kian had decided to pull Kai’s hair and at the same time bite Vivienne’s arm. Apparently he is very adept at multi-tasking for a toddler. Most adults aren’t so coordinated!
My husband had this very bright idea! He decided to try putting him in time out, something which we had thought of before, but hadn’t been able to find a good safe place to implement the punishment that wasn’t a fun place to play!
What he did, was sit him in his little feeding chair, turn it away from the television to where Kian had no choice but to sit there and watch his daddy play with his siblings and have loads of fun. He told him that biting and pulling hair hurt and were both no-no’s.
Husband did not do anything more than buckle him into his little chair and turn it around. He didn’t give him his feeding tray or a snack or a toy, either. He even managed to ignore Kian’s little sniffles and all (which is very difficult for a doting daddy to do!)
Poor biting and hair pulling Kian had to sit and watch his daddy play with his siblings in their play-yard with their toys. He apparently figured out that he was missing out and it made him very sad. After he was allowed back into the play-yard he was even GOOD for a time.
Husband only had one other incident with Kian biting and he went straight back into time out again. Each time, he sniffled and was sad about missing out and each time he was good afterwards.
I am so very proud of husband for solving our discipline dilemma. Now we have a good way to get our point across to the babies when they do something wrong. This way, I can actually separate each of them in a safe manner and where they cannot get to the others or communicate easily.
Hopefully they will get more teeth and the biting will go away and fade in time (and other habits!). If not, our new, modified time-out system may just help us quell our tiny trio problems!
Labels: biting, discipline, multiples, time outs
posted by Mimi Rankin Webb at 5:57 PM
Mimi is the mother of four: a 12 1/2-year-old boy and 1-year-old triplets (two boys and one girl). She is very happily busy taking care of everyone, whether it's the triplets' multiple doctor appointments, attempting a shopping excursion or volunteering to plan her son's school renaissance festival.
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