How to immediately correct a (gross) habit?

Question

My son, an only child, is 19 months old. His two "siblings" are dogs twice his size and they get along great (I'm not sure how that sentence reads, but I'm not one of those people that actually treats our dogs like they're actual children). Recently he's starting acting out a few things like our dogs. Most of them are cute but one is beyond gross: He's opening his mouth and getting as close as he can to the dogs to invite them to lick... his mouth... like they (the dogs) do to each other.

I'm trying to get him around more kids, but it's not always practical. Once a week or two is typical though.

He does get a lot of attention, but I could still see how this could be a vie for an immediate reaction. I try to diligently stop it as it happens as calmly as possible but he's relentless! I'll admit that the calm part isn't always successful. I can't exactly ignore it and hope he abandons this behavior because it doesn't get a reaction. Suggestions?

Answer 1

Well, since no one has given this answer yet, I will propose it.

My dog (the licker) knows the command no licking!

She loves to lick (not obnoxiously, but if I even just compliment her, she wants to lick my hand. She also indicates her desire to play, eat, or go outside with hand licks [plus body language]. And other unknown stuff.)

Not liking too much licking, I taught her no licking!

I don't use it all the time, but when I do, she will stop even if my hand is a quarter-inch away. I make sure to praise this obedience (which makes her tongue slip out, heh, but she doesn't make contact.).

If you can't/don't want to train your baby, you can always train your dogs. You might just end up training both your dogs and your baby at the same time by saying no licking while they're both engaged in this interaction.

Answer 2

Okay, if you truly want to immediately stop the behavior, you will need to give immediate unpleasant results when he does it. "No Thank You" and other firm verbal commands do work - over time. The child needs to learn what the phrase means before it will have any impact.

At this stage in the game, a light tap on the cheek, with a firm "No" will equate that word(or phrase) with "Something I shouldn't do because it causes something unpleasant".

I know there is large controversy over corporal punishment, and that's not really what I'm suggesting. The light tap can easily be replaced by anything the child finds unpleasant, as long as it is consistently, immediately, applied and always acompanies your chosen phrase for "don't do that".

I suggested the light tap because it is an immediate unpleasant consequence, that's all.

Answer 3

For me this is a combination of a few approaches. I usually go through something like this:

1. Can I live with this? If so, then do. I mostly prefer the hands off approach when possible (let him learn through experience). But of course sometimes the answer here is 'no', and the answer is different for different people.
2. At least the first few times, be a bit silly. "Eww, that's icky." Things like that, where I convey my feelings on the matter with humor. It works surprisingly well for me with my two guys; they don't always comply, and sometimes they do it more for a bit, but usually in the long run it works for things that have obvious icky factors (like dog licking, though we don't have a dog).
3. If that doesn't work, or it's something more complicated, then I try to explain the reason. "We don't eat food off of the floor because it can make you sick." "Sorry, that's dirty now."
4. If none of those work, and I can't live with it for a while, then we use a more firm "No thank you" just like we would if he were hitting his brother or some other unacceptable activity. This we keep to a minimum, but sometimes you're just not okay with him chewing on the subway seat...