A few months ago, Macy began to bang her head on the back of the high chair when she wanted something while we were eating. It was very frustrating for all of us and we quickly realized that we needed to find a different tactic of dealing with it, since repeatedly telling her no and getting mad at her did not change her behavior. Matt and I decided we needed to find a way to distract her and since signing is huge at our house, we decided that we would use sign language to do it. We started signing and saying, "Macy, stop." We would say and sign her name all slow and drawn out, and then abruptly sign "stop!" It actually worked great and made both Maddie and Macy giggle really good. Well, since we have two little budding signers at our house, the girls have both picked it up. Now, Macy is no longer just Macy. When we ask her what her name is, she signs and says, "Meme, pop!" When Macy bangs her head now, we look at her and she knows what to do: "Meme, pop!" If she starts banging the doors on the entertainment center, she looks at me and says and signs: "Meme, pop!" It is so hilarious. She smiles and giggles the whole time she is doing it. Maddie does it too, and has even put her own name in there: "Mmnn, op!" So cute.
By the way, Macy has also learned some real manners so when she bangs her head it is: "Meme, pop!" followed by her signing "more please." She has gotten really good at remembering that using her polite signs gets her food much faster than head banging does!
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