How do you respond when you toddler says horrible things?

I would say - ‘we don’t hurt people bc that causes them pain - you don’t like it when something hurts and neither do they’ (bc if we don’t explain they don’t necessarily know)- I wouldn’t necessarily say you’re ruining something or you’re about to ruin something personally - as that’s a little bit negative and intense - I would maybe say - oh this is so fun - you being too silly might make it not as fun…does that make sense - I don’t think you have a problem really with your child - he or she is just flipping your argument back on you - bc they don’t want to comply - and have limited reasoning skills at this age - it’s about explaining to them why negative behaviours aren’t good though more than anything - don’t give them the chance to argue back lol - give good reasons for why you’re asking for different behaviours - so instead of saying we don’t hit / bite etc - you say - we don’t hit bc it hurts

@danielle I’ve tried telling him the reason we don’t hurt others and he’ll say things like ‘I do like being hurt’ even though he obviously doesn’t. Giving him logical reasons for things doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere.

I know what you’re saying - just remember you’re much smarter than him lol - his brain is nowhere near as developed as yours , by saying I like doing it - he’s just challenging you to see what you will say - and trying to get one up on you intellectually lol- just remember he can’t bc he is a three year old - be confident in your ability to explain to him - in language he understands - why xyz behaviour or speech is not good - so ‘I like hurting people’ - you could say just off the top of my head- just bc we like something doesn’t make it good for us or other people - so just bc you like it doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you to hurt people- you can be firm and authoritative while saying this - he will get the message soon enough - you just have to make sure you have the last word if the behaviour / speech is unacceptable - bc I said so in a way kind of a tone - not to scare him but for him to know you know what’s best and are his mum at the end of the day

Mine went through this stage and I would always say “It’s not ok to…” about whatever she said eg it’s not ok to kick, it’s not ok to hit people. This worked for us. She’s mostly stopped now.