Comments on: Do your kids think “Ouch” is the funniest thing you can say?

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:46:41 +0000

Ooooh, I’m definitely going to have to read the responses here because my child has a mischevious bent like this as well… she sticks her fingers in the back of her throat and gags herself just because she wants me to run and see if she’s choking to death… then she laughs. Frustrating!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:06:41 +0000

My 2-year-old doesn’t physically hurt people, but she does have this funny routine where she’ll throw her teddy bear on to the ground emphatically and then run to me and say, “Is he hurt?” And I’ll say, “Yes. What should you do?” And then she’ll go pick up the bear and comfort him.

And then do the whole thing again!

Not sure where she got that from…

By: homemom3

homemom3 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:47:29 +0000

haha no way, my kids know when mom says ouch she’s just busted something, a foot, toe, knee, etc. They know mom will be off whatever she has happened to hurt again. Actually their response is, “Mom what did you break?” I agree with above comments, try pretending to cry.

By: jubilee

jubilee — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:26:15 +0000

My technique was to pick them up and in a fun way say “ouch” as many times as I could stand it. That usually got it out of their system. It may take a couple of times for it to be effective, but it beats spanking them!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:29:44 +0000

My 19 month old son recently started similar behaviors of hitting to get a reaction. My pediatrician said that sometimes kids just do it for the attention. He said to be sure to pile on the attention when they are doing good things. Then, when they do something like hitting to get the reaction let them know it is not ok. I have started using time outs. I give him a warning to stop and if he continues I count to three. If he has not stopped by three he gets a time out. Which is usually me holding him still (since he is not old enough to know to stay in a chair) for about a minute until he says “sorry” and gives me a kiss. We kiss boo boos better, so this makes sense for us.

By: Callista

Callista — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:23:07 +0000

My youngest is just getting out of that stage. Saying a little ouch is funny to them because they don’t realize you’re hurt. If the child is sitting in your lap facing you and does something to you and you say ouch and then he/she laughs and does it again, you’re not getting your point across.

Next time it happens, say ouch louder and scarier and move away from the child. Or if the child is on your lap, take him/her off. Say that hurts and look away from the child. At this point the child should start whimpering or clamboring for your attention again. Pick the child up and say I love you and give a hug so they know you’re okay. A few times of this and she’ll get it.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:00:47 +0000

Mine thinks it’s hilarious as well.

What I do, is get all serious – no laughing, no smiling, I hold his hands, look him in the eyes and say “no hitting” in a firm voice. In my case, I think he thinks that hitting is a form of play so when he sees that I’m not playing, he’ll stop most of the time.

By: faerylandmom

faerylandmom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:26:46 +0000

I like Carrie B’s idea…something has to tell her, in no uncertain terms, that it’s unacceptable. It may be a “normal” phase, but “normal” does not always equal “acceptable.” If that makes sense…

My youngest is almost two, and he’s entering that phase as well. His favorite is to kick me as HARD as he can while I’m changing his diaper – and it HURTS. I usually grab his feet and hold them so he can’t move them for a minute (so I can get his attention), put my face very close to his, and use the deepest voice I can manage to tell him “Don’t kick Mommy. It hurts!”

This tends to sober him up right away, and he stops. I know he’ll grow out of it, but I don’t think it’s okay to just let him get away with it either.

I don’t think there’s a single mom out there who hadn’t dealt with this…hugs and prayers that you find something soon that works well to teach your little girlie.

By: Erica

Erica — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:02:06 +0000

My smallest one, Christian, he loves to swing at my face and laughs and laughs and laughs. But he doesn’t really understand that it hurts.

By: Jennie

Jennie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:46:24 +0000

My 3 year old is really testing his limits with the word “no” right now. “No, I don’t have to!” “No, I’m not gonna” “No, you can’t make me” I think they all have a little bit of a rotten side in one way or another!

By: KellieS

KellieS — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:11:35 +0000

Your post actually made me laugh! My 13-month-old does the exact same thing. She finds it hilarious to push, hit, kick, or whatever to the family in order to get a reaction-the “ouch”. I think it started out as a game that my husband played when she was as infant.

I’m not really sure what to do about it either. Just hoping that she outgrows it when she realizes that being hurt is not funny. It likely is something that will get better as the emotional part of their little beings will mature. Good luck.

By: Satakieli

Satakieli — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:31:38 +0000

Hey just came across your blog today.

Is it bad that I’m secretly glad I’m not the only one whose kid does this?

Mine also likes “Uh Oh!” whenever mommy drops something and thinks it’s funny to throw things and say “Uh Oh!” no idea where he got that from, does provide at least a little amusement though. We were at IKEA last Saturday and the husband knocked over a mirror in the loading bay area, a huge crash was followed by a little voice saying “Dddy, Uh Oh!” Looks like we wont be able to get away with destroying anything for a while…

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:13:54 +0000

My little one thinks the word “ouch” is funny too. I think its just the sound of the word or maybe the pitch of voice we use when we say it. He hasn’t figured out to hurt me on purpose yet (thank goodness), but when he accidently pinches or something & I yelp out an “ouch”, it definitely gets a laugh from him. Maybe its time to come up with a new non-funny word to replace ouch with?

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:59:26 +0000

No advice here! Just a 17 mo old who says “OW!” every time someone touches him. We started saying it to him, so he’d learn that it hurts when he hits or pinches. And now even when his 8 yr old sister pats him on the head, he says, “OW!” So good luck with this one! Can’t wait to here everyone’s advice!

By: Hailey

Hailey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:20:36 +0000

Caroline went through this too right after she turned two. I tried everything. Nothing worked. It lasted for a while then she finally outgrew it. It was a long few months though.