Nooooo!!!!!!!

I remember my daughter saying NO to things she actually wanted. It is just a phase and will go away. The quickest way for them to understand NO is to live it. So if you ask if she wants a snack or toy and she says no, just take it for No and move on. If she really wanted it, she will tell you.
I hate "I can't" more than anything.....But that comes around 4 1/2 to 5....we are in the midst of that right now.

But you can have such fun conversations.....When they are in the No saying mood ask, "Would you like some Ice Cream?" (this is when you also have Ice Cream and it's a time when they can have a treat like this) It's so funny when they realize they've said "NO" to Ice Cream. Then you say, "Oh, you said you didn't want any, you said, 'No' I'm not going to make you eat it. " I did something like this with my daughter, I didn't make it tortuous but made it fun and light. In the end she got the Ice Cream after, "Are you sure? I don't want to make you eat it if you really mean No." It's going to happen so I think making it as fun yet educational as possible is the best route to atleast save a little sanity.

Wait till she starts using the word "MINE" all the time.. LOL

It's also a control thing. We tell my DD, "Well, you said no, so you don't get...." She's quickly learning that if she wants something, she needs to stop saying NO as a first response because we'll take that no at face value and not keep asking "Are you sure?" When she went through a pointing and weird noises phase, we told her that she could use signs or words, but generic pointing with senseless noises got her nothing. She needed to communicate.

I learned very, very quickly with my eldest daughter not to use the words that I didn't want her to use. I try to use as positive language as possible with my girls because it's the most effective in disciplining them and getting them to perform the behaviors and actions that I prefer. But it also sets a tone for my children to use more positive language.

I had to really, really curb my usage of the word "no" around my kids. The less I used it, and even now that they're older, the less they use it. I still have to catch myself sometimes because it's just so much easier for me to say, "No, end of story." However, it's much more effective for me to expand my responses to something like, "We don't _____." "Mommy doesn't like it when you _____." "Let's go over here and play with ____ because this isn't working out for us." "I don't think this is a good idea. Let's try ____ instead." This way you're not just redirecting, but you're redirecting with purpose and discipline.

My 2 year old got the hint when I warned her if she kept saying no I'd start saying no. I did it for one whole day. She hated it. I said she can say no thank you mommy if I asked her a question but If I told her to do something NO would mean a whole day of me saying no.

My two year old is allowed to say no a lot, but when it's a defiant no to us in conjunction with some bratty outburst, we discipline it. She pretty much gets it and hardly does it now.

Ditto the "I can't"... ugh. Combated that with "well why can't you?" and "how can I help you so that you can?"

Now we're into "I don't wanna"... fine. I tell them that if the don't want to and I have to go pick up their room, clean up the dishes then things are taken away or they have to eat at the table or privileges taken away (tv, game systems, computer time)

nothing is worse then the "no" though I think, if only cause the kid is soooo little at that point.

My husband and I have said that this new bundle, who will be here soon, is not going to learn the words: hungry or thirsty......We hear those words ALL day long! Our daughter can be finished eating a HUGE meal and 5 seconds later say she is hungry....UGH! Drives us batty! :)