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Can a 5 month old be naughty?

bbjmama2122

My baby is really good at crying when he doesn't get his way.. like when I take the spoon from him to get another scoop of his oatmeal. and today he threw the spoon on the ground twice.. my husband and I just looked at each other and thought oh boy.. he is being naughty already.. I try to let him work out his problems and let him be independent. I am not the spoil type at all so its getting the best of me already!

14 Similar Discussions Found

cml2018

lol I recently read that this age is where they start testing cause and effect and a favorite is dropping things !!! Haha we’re starting to see this with our little bud.

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ijustcantthinkofagoodsn

@cmsteele2,

this!!! ��

bbjmama2122

@cmsteele2,

awesome perspective. thank you for you feedback :)

cmsteele2

@bbjmama2122,

simple answer: no, your 5-month-old isn’t being naughty. He just needs you.

Yes, you will teach him that you’ll pick the spoon up if he drops it, but you also kind of want that - if he’s crying/frustrated/upset and you respond to him, you’re teaching him he can rely on you. The dropping game is also a very common way for babies to learn cause and effect through experimentation, so while the game may be tedious on your part, just remember he’s busy building some really important neurons, and you’re helping. If he wants to play and you don’t, you might try getting a tether for his toy/spoon what-have-you, so he can drop it all he wants and then pull it back to himself, or you can get it for him without having to chase it across the floor.

As for impatient feeds, my little girl totally panics whenever I have to go reload her spoon too - I try to remind myself that she’s used to foods that have a continuous flow/supply (via bottle or breast), so having a spoon taken away right after she’s gotten a taste is probably confusing/frustrating, and she’s communicating that she wants more in the only way she can. Your son is doing the same. You won’t teach him independence by withholding the spoon, but you might teach him that his food source is unreliable.

It’s okay to teach babies that they can solve problems by themselves, but make sure the challenges are appropriate. For example, placing toys in front of your son during tummy time, and cheering him on when he works to reach for them. Don’t hand them to him, but move it back in range if he accidentally knocks one away. That can help build the muscles needed for crawling, etc., and he’ll learn/develop agency as he grows. I’m not completely sure that tiny humans really understand the concept of independence the way we’re talking about it, but I do think you can start training *yourself* now not to rush in to fix things every time you see him struggle, because that will be extremely important when he’s a toddler and he really does want to start doing things on his own.

bbjmama2122

love this! thank you thank you! :)

bbjmama2122

@cml2018,

like do I give the spoon back? or will he learn, "I dropped the spoon and mommy picks it up every time!" ??

nap1

No. A 5 month old baby does not have the capacity to act willfully or be “naughty”. He is probably frustrated and acting instinctively to communicate to you that he is frustrated. Babies are entirely dependent on you to meet their needs so trying to teach them to act “independently” at this age is silly and fruitless. It honestly makes me sad to see a parent categorizing a 5 month old child as naughty and spoiled.

bbjmama2122

@nap1,

great points, thank you for opening my eyes a bit more!! first time mom and just want a behaved child.. obviously too soon to be expecting this 🤦🏼‍♀️

elpea10

@bbjmama2122,

Sorry but this is almost funny! Everyone wants their child to be "well behaved" ha ha. Babies are absolutely not naughty and if you think that then you are in for a rude awakening when they get to a toddler! Even then though, they are testing boundaries or acting out of frustration so it really isn't fair to view them as "naughty". You need to relax and learn to enjoy the mischief

airotciv233

@nap1,

100%

monkeybridge

We always have two spoons. One he can mess around with and one we pre-load to hand to him when he drops/puts down the other. That could be useful in the specific situation you described ��‍♀️

bbjmama2122

@monkeybridge,

good idea!! thank you!

monkeybridge

Also he still doesn’t have object permanence at this age. So the spoon-dropping is a pretty smart move developmentally. He’s basically testing “does the spoon exist when i can’t see it”. You giving it back to him helps prove that.

bbjmama2122

@monkeybridge,

great point, thank you :)

kenishavee225

My 5 month old scratches his sissy just to laugh at her reaction. She is dramatic and he loves all the emotion lol

bbjmama2122

@kenishavee225,

hahah they catch on quick!!

hailstorm4

My husband and I joke all the time about how naughty our daughter is. And every time we say it she gives us the naughtiest look I've ever seen and it's hilarious.
This is her low key naughty face lol I can never get a picture of it in full effect.

bbjmama2122

@hailstorm4,

awww.. so precious.. I really do think babies do a good job at getting reactions out of us!

hailstorm4

@bbjmama2122,

I swear she doesn't even realize she's a baby 🤣
She sees another baby and cups their face like they're the cutest thing in the world like girl stop, you're literally a month older than them 😅

julybubble

I don't think babies can be naughty. They are only doing what they can to try to communicate with us. They don't understand consequences at this age.

Tzvetlina

That not a baby being "naughty" that's a baby being a baby. Babies test and explore objects by doing such things as throwing them or dropping them. They are learning this way and in your example that's called cause and effect.

alyssab164

Babies are incapable of being naughty he's just trying to communicate with you the only way he knows how...

bbjmama2122

@alyssab164,

yes I see that now, thank you! :)

knl_sass

My daughter pulls her toddler sisters hair and laughs. She thinks its funny. can babies be naughty? You'll get different answer. Do kids do things purposefully for reactions even if its not a nice or sweet activity? 100%. Can they control that? probably not.