My 16 Month Old Is Starting to Throw Things

My 12 month old has gotten to where he likes to throw things. We do try and redirect him, but I think it's also important to understand that he is simply learning cause and effect. He's found out that he can use his arms and hands in a different way, and it makes a really neat sound (and whatever he has ends up way over there). I am in no way an expert, but I think this is important for them developmentally. We try to show ours that the ball is what we throw, but right now it's so new and he's so young that he doesn't understand that. I hope I'm doing the right thing with my child by letting him experiment (while disciplining him if he gets one of our household items), but these are my suggestions. Hope it's helpful.

I think that redirection is the best discipline for this age and type of behavior. You have to decide if it's okay to throw certain things in the house, such as balls. For us, we decided that we did want to be able to play catch inside. Then set up a ball box in the area of the house where you wouldn't mind some throwing (nothing breakable around). When you see your son throwing puzzle pieces you can redirect him to the balls, stuffed animals, whatever is in the box. "You want to practice your throwing? Great! Let's put the puzzle pieces away and get somethign out of the box." With a little practice, he'll get the hang of it!

Oh goodness! My daughter's 2 yr old cousin is known for throwing things. And she doesnt really get in all that much trouble, but she will litteraly throw her full sippy cup at your face. That hurts! Doesnt matter if she is mad or not. I don't think Ive ever seen her HAND something to someone. I think that is all because she hasnt really ever got disciplined over it. Thankfully your little one isn't that bad yet. I would think the best thing to do when your outside do the whole throwing thing. Ya know like a ball or playing t-ball or something. That way he still gets to do his throwing urge. But when you are inside and he trys to throw things I would definatly discipline him. Make sure that every time you do though that you let him know, "We do NOT throw things inside the house. Throwing things is a game we do outside-NOT-inside." Repitition is the key in this. If you let him throw somethings inside but not others I would think this will confuse him. Best thing is to not let him throw anything while inside. This way he wont get confused about where it's ok to throw things or not. But definatly tell him where it's ok to throw things and where it's not everytime you discipline him for this. Eventually he will understand, and the older he gets the better he will understand this.

Oh I forgot! lol. I guess you'd want to deside if throwing things inside is ok or not. At that age I didnt let my daughter throw anything inside. That way I wouldnt confuse her. But now that she is 3 she gets the difference when I ask her to throw someting to me, and when she wants to just throw something for whatever reason. I guess I kinda was hard on that subject. I was like, "No throwning inside. Only outside" at first. Then when I saw that she got the idea, it was easier to play throwing games inside without confusing her.

Wouldn't it be so much easier if our children just got what we were saying, and they knew what we were talking about? lol

~C.~

Yep, my 21 month old son does it too. I tell him "oh no! don't throw that!" and ask him to set it on the table or the couch or whatever is nearby. It seems to work to give him an alternative thing to do with the object that he wants to throw. Then you can give him a ball (something Nerf or inflatable) and tell him that he may throw a ball, but he must set a cup on the table.

I have a two year old boy and I think it's just a boy thing. I would let him continue to throw, but encourage things that can only be thrown...like football, basketball, beachball, etc. I asked a similiar question to my pediatrician and this was also her advice. I think I'm going to add the OUTSIDE bit to it now. lol! Happy New Year!

Yep, it's a boy thing, but some of my friends' little girls throw, too. I think it's just another one of the phases of "If I can do it, I'm going to do it all the time until I get bored of it."