My 14-Month-old Has Such a Temper!

I think your modified time-out is exactly the right approach, and one I used with both of my girls at this age. My oldest went through the "terrible twos" starting at a year old, and same as you are experiencing, it tended to be when she was tired or hungry, and had reached the end of her rope. I don't think she was trying to be bad, it's just that toddlers are like little animals. They are not civilized yet! When they reach the end of their rope, what they really need is to get away from whatever is causing their frustration, so they can pull themselves together again. They do need to be corrected (to be told "No hitting - hitting hurts"), and then calmly removed from the situation so they can cool down.

Hang in there. He will continue to do this until he's 3, probably, although hopefully in that time he will slowly learn to control his temper and will stop hitting, throwing, etc. It took both of my girls until nearly 4 to get to the point where they could consistently control their tempers. Now they just yell at each other. LOL

I think at 14mos, you're pretty much stuck as to teaching him lessons. He's too little to really understand consequences. So I would just keep removing him from the situation and be consistent.
If you feel like he goes right back to it, maybe stick him in a pack n play until he cools off (my ds would've had a FIT over this), or take him out of the room completely for a distraction?
All you can do is redirect and let him keep testing his boundaries.
You just have to hold your own, if you can keep your sanity in tact.
Hang in there!

Sounds like he has passion. He deeply feels his emotions and when he's happy, I'll guess that he is totally into the joy of a situation too.

If that sounds like your son, get "Raising your Spirited Child" by Kurcinka. It will save you hours of frustration now and also in the years to come. (she has some great other books too)

Well If they aren't hungry, tired or sick, then I stick with ignoring or an age appropriate lecture with a time out if they are getting physical. My favorite thing that works at home is I find the family pet and start giving all my attention and praise to it in front of the tot - it makes for a great distraction and they usually quit their fit and come join me rubbing it's belly :-) Good news is they are just testing ya and they do out grow them!

My son was (okay, is) just like this. He's a bit strong willed and it started early. He went through a biting phase and we had to start using timeout for him too. I strapped a portable booster seat to a chair facing the wall in our dining room (VERY boring for him!). Whenever he would bite, I would say very firmly, "no biting" and put him in the chair for 1 minute. It really started to work with him, so I don't think it's too early to start it.

I absolutely agree with you that your son is looking for boundaries, so make sure you give them to him. The earlier, the better! Oh, and be sure you are using the phrase "no throwing" or "no hitting" instead of just "no" so that he knows what he is doing that is wrong. It may seem like he won't understand, but it's helpful to start explaining things early and talking to them using short phrases that they can understand (and he can!). Just be consistent. I know you said it doesn't feel like it's working, but it will in time if the consequence is the same EVERY time. Good luck!

My 2.5 year old daughter is doing the exact same thing. The more that I say no the more she does. So I just ignore her. Walk around her like she is not even there. After a few minutes she calms down tells me that she is sorry and moves on to something else. Then later I explain to her what she is doing is bad. I know that your son is young and won't understand that part of it right now. Unless I know that she is very tired then that method doesn't work. I just sit with her on the couch till she falls asleep. You do not know how many toys we have thrown out cause she throws them and breaks them. She mostly has her massive tantrums when we come in from outside. She LOVES to be outside. No matter how tired she is she will not come in so I have to carry her in. I wish you luck.

Unless she is really tired, in which case nothing works, I tell her she is being naughty and do a modified time out. I pick her up and put her in a chair or on a sofa somewhere away from where she was misbehaving (when she was younger I used the pack and play becuase she did not understand the concept of sitting still) and tell her again that she was naughty. I then will sit by her but will not touch her or pick her up until she says she is sorry and for what. Again you need to work up to the sorry understanding at 14months your son probably does not entirly get what he did wrong.

I think the hard part is balancing between letting them know you are always there (hence the sitting with them) and not cuddling or holding because they were bad.

Now at almost 2 1/2 while she still has her moments, if I tell her that she needs to do (or not do) "X" and she say No or has a tantrum, all I need to do is repeat that if she does not stop then she will be naughty. SInce she does not want Mama to not hold her she usually does what I ask.

Everyone is differnt, not sure if this would work for you , but I hope it helped.

Good luck!