How Do You Deal With Destructive Kids

I am talking a constant tornado of destruction. Hanging from shelves, chewing on wooden toys and furniture, ripping books, picking things apart and trying to put holes in them. He is almost 3. I can't terminate because I need the money and there isn't a lot of need where I am so I need ideas on correcting this before everything I own is ruined.

PS If I asked mom to repair or replace everything I am sure she would leave, it is just the kind of person she is. A boys will be boys person.

[Meyou]

If you can't terminate then you should separate him from the group and give him only things he can't destroy to play with until he learns to control himself. There is NO WAY he would be playing with my toys if he was behaving like that. He'd be in a space by himself with soft baby books and other items he couldn't destroy.

Personally I think Mom should be financially responsible for his trail of destruction. her child is ruining your property. Who exactly is responsible if she isn't? This is not normal behavior. My crew is STILL talking about the book the baby ripped 2 months ago. It was huge news then and it's still big news now. One book, by accident, two months ago.

[christinaskids]

Every time they do something destructive, exclude them from playing with toys for a period of time. With consistency, the child should learn that his behavior is not tolerable with you.

[nannyde]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am talking a constant tornado of destruction. Hanging from shelves, chewing on wooden toys and furniture, ripping books, picking things apart and trying to put holes in them. He is almost 3. I can't terminate because I need the money and there isn't a lot of need where I am so I need ideas on correcting this before everything I own is ruined.

PS If I asked mom to repair or replace everything I am sure she would leave, it is just the kind of person she is. A boys will be boys person.

A boys will be boys person.

She says that because it is a free thing to say and it makes him special.

Do you have a superyard so he can be confined into his own area? He needs just cloth rags... cloth baby toys... solid plastic formed blocks like duplo (as long as he doesn't wing them). He needs to start playing with infant toys that are light weighted and then work him up to age appropriate toys. He needs his own area every day so that he can work on developing appropriate toy play.

Graduate the toys as you would with an infant. If he is using them to bang or throw then go back to only cloth. When he is out in play you have to be within a few inches of him at all time. If he gets destructive then he goes right back. May take a couple of months.

Also, if you can give him a long walk every day before he self entertains... that would get the willies off of him.

[wdmmom]

He's got a case of the "Play yard Blues"! He needs his own toys and his own space. NONE, yes I mean NONE of my kids get to play with books. We all enjoy circle time and we read to the kids. Books aren't something to be played with unless they are cloth/plastic/vinyl type books.