QUESTION:
"I need some mommy advice, please.
A little boy I babysit is 2-years-old. What punishments can I use on him, as he tries to take my daughter’s toys away at times? He does not do it to other kids, as they do not have toys."
RELATED QUESTION: Am I overreacting about this situation with my babysitter?
TOP ANSWERS (AS SELECTED BY MODERATOR):
“I might be kinda biased but my kids stopped going to a sitter once for a reason close to this. Babysitter’s child was an only child and spoiled rotten and didn’t care to share toys even the ones she wasn’t playing with, if my kids tried to play with said toy, she threw a fit cause it was her favorite and the mom/my babysitter would try to punish my kids and make them give her toys back. DON’T BABYSIT if you’re gonna chose favoritism over your child.”
“If you’re babysitting, you should have TONS of toys for them ALL to play with. If your daughter has toys she doesn’t want to share, they need to be put up while daycare kids are there, no exceptions.”
“I didn’t really understand your whole statement, but maybe if he is taking a toy from another child, just try and teach him to share. No need to punish. At age 2, he isn’t really trying to be nasty.”
“I wish I knew this parent because I definitely feel like you’re probably the one in the wrong here and just favoring your own child just for the simple fact that you came here to ask strangers and not the parents. That is a huge red flag to me and I feel like you probably aren’t ready to babysit someone else’s child if you can’t even ask them the important stuff.”
“2-year-olds are just learning to share. Don’t punish/discipline. Teach and redirect!”
“Umm maybe instead of asking a bunch of strangers ask the parents? Cause I’m telling you if a babysitter punished my child without my acknowledgment, they probably wouldn’t like the outcome.”
“Ask the parents. I’d snap you in half if a babysitter punished my 2-year-old child. Lol.”
“He’s two, at this age, it’s about guiding and teaching and not about punishment. Teach him to share and if you’re not patient enough to try and teach him you probably shouldn’t be a babysitter.”
“Sounds like you’re mad he’s taking away from your child? What do you do if your child takes from him? Nothing? If you answered nothing, that’s a problem. Even if they are your daughter’s toys, you are babysitting while watching your daughter. Your child doesn’t come before the others. Someone is paying you to keep their baby safe and loved. With that said, you cannot punish another person’s child without talking to that parent about what they want to be done. If you don’t want to discuss that, the ONLY thing you can do is redirect and teach. That is probably what the parents are expecting you to do.”
“Talk to his parents about what they’re comfortable with. Put him in the corner, put him in timeout, make him sit on his hands. Things like that. But don’t forget to not only punish him, but reward him when he has good behavior.”
“I would never punish another child unless the parents said it was okay first… that being said, the rule at my house is all toys are to be shared regardless of who’s is who’s. Sharing is caring and we share with our friends. Now if one kid is playing with it and it gets taken away by another kid, I’ll step in and remind them that the toys are for sharing but you need to wait until they sit it down and are done playing with it. We don’t snatch out of hands, we ask or wait. I watched a little boy and I constantly had to remind him to share and to not do that but he’s 2, that’s what you have to do until they’re older and fully understand…”
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