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Even 8-month-olds are down with punishment, a new study says

A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences proves that babies as young as 8 months know good from bad in social interaction. What's more, babies approve of punishment for bad behavior.

As reported here, when researchers showed the young babies puppets in different forms of play scenario, 8-month-olds figured out the "nice" puppets and the "naughty" ones, and favored the good guys.

So, this study is saying that infants can determine the disciplinarian. They will favor those who punish those doing harm.

My baby embracing punishment. You realize what this means...

As mommies, we are in serious trouble.

I now find myself on alert around my daughter. Armed with this new information, I can't be cheating, thieving, or lying to her.

She's like a ninja; handing out her BBD ( Baby Beat Down) with sharp fingernails, excessive drool and when the crime is truly bad, The Vomit Rockets.

I can see it now:

When I forgo putting away folded laundry, I have to place it up above eye-level. She might punish me by attacking said laundry with quick little fingers, wiping her breakfast-covered mouth all over fresh, clean sheets.

Going to sneak that bowl of ice cream or the last cookie, I'll have to be stealthy. My girl can already sense the fridge door opening. The beat down to get that yummy treat from me could be less than worth it.

Needless to say, I'm very self aware. My sweet girl has skills I didn't sign up for.
Please wish me luck. She just pushed through a new tooth.

-The Robot Mommy

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Comment by the robot mommy on December 20, 2011 at 3:02am: Thanks for the comments! I really do appreciate any and all feedback on my writings. I'll be getting some more posts coming very soon so I hope to see you all back at Baby News soon :)

Comment by Natty Vazquez on December 17, 2011 at 7:21pm: Lmbo! Great article robot mommy! My DD has a mind of her own too! I can definitely see her attacking my laundry pile!! I definitely don't believe in spanking her so little (she's 14 mos) but I do believe in using a firm tone and not letting her get away with everything she wants too. Even if she can make the distinction between right and wrong, I think its a little bit hypocritical of me to teach her hitting isa bad!!(except when Mommy or Daddy do it). Still its good to know that they may be able to understand what is good behavior and what is bad and to know that they understand that disciplining you because you behaved badly doesn't mean I think you're bad!

Comment by Mrs. Aa on December 17, 2011 at 1:20pm: I liked her take on the article. It is a serious subject and I'd love to see where this research will lead us to, but The Robot Mommy isn't the one responsible for it, she just shared it with us. :)
My youngest is 18mo and she knows exactly what she is doing wrong, in certain situations and some things she will still do because well, she is still 18mo and she's testing things out, but some other things, she will look at it and say "no no" - and stop herself. I think it's amazing. And I never spanked her. My oldest I have, when he was smaller and I was trying to teach him things, but the more time passes, the more I dislike spanking, the less I believe in it... Although sometimes, very rarely though, it is my last resource with my 10yo. But it almost never happens.
I'm taking a "parent-child relationship" course (me and my husband) with a psychologist, and I've learned SO many things about this, and how changing ourselves - the way we talk to the kids and the way we punish them - can change the kids. Really, since I started this course, I hardly EVER need to yell at him, ground him, punish him... He is a completely different child (he was never the misbehaving kind, though, his problem was more with being responsible). Anywys. Before this course I read a book (which the course is kind of based on), and I TOTALLY suggest it to every parent: "How To Takk so your Kids will Listen and listen so kids will talk" - you can easily find on Google. It's an exercise tochange our parenting style when we are too used to something, but it's amazing how sometimes a very simple thing can be so powerful. :)
Have a nice weekend y'all!

Comment by Mom365 on December 17, 2011 at 10:40am: Thanks for everyone's comments - we'll make sure the Baby News keeps being informative, as well as sometimes funny. FYI, the article linked from The Robot Mommy's post has all the info about this new study, but we want to clarify that this study is NOT about babies liking to be punished - it's about babies approving of punishment for other people (or in this case, puppets) who they've seen do something naughty. In other words, by 18 months, babies understand the concept of good and bad; and they believe in the idea of punishment for unkind or antisocial behavior. Also, the study does not talk about physical punishment; punishment might just mean having a toy taken away.

Comment by crysalyn5 on December 17, 2011 at 10:20am: This article left me wanting, good start I enjoyed the humorous turn until; I realized that's all there was. I'd like to know more about the study itself & what kind of punishment the babies accepted. I mean if hitting is "bad" do they accept spanking as appropriate?

Comment by the robot mommy on December 14, 2011 at 12:13am: Cara, thank you for adding to the comment thread. My point of writing my piece based on the article wasn't really to talk about the way parents discipline their child but to emphasis the point of children at a young age recognizing punishment and its effects. I playfully took a take on switching the role of displinarian and trying to make it humorous. It was by no means meant to offend.
Based on your comment, I hope you'll decide to write your own take on the research study and how it pertains to your parenting style. I believe that readers of this forum would be very interested to hear your take on on it.

Comment by Cara Howard on December 13, 2011 at 11:54pm: I don't get why this article was made into a joke by the author. Other studies get serious face-time, but an article that suggests parents actually SHOULD discipline at a younger age? Nope - turned into a joke.

We started spanking DS at around 10 months old, when we first started seeing his defiance. Now, at 16 months, our friends marvel at how he comes when we call him, how he listens when we tell him to put something back or leave something alone. Don't get me wrong - he's a baby, and he still has a mind of his own. But I don't plan to have a child who thinks it's funny to run away from me when I call, or who spits in my face when I tell him it's time for bed. The research this article so blithely ignores (or mocks?) may very well be the key to better behaved toddlers and children - whether you use spanking as your form of discipline or not.

Comment by the robot mommy on December 12, 2011 at 9:36pm: Lol! It not to far off that my daughter has that mischievous twinkle in her eye and acute self awareness of her surrounding. I'm sure any punishment she doles out will be minimimalist. It's the holiday season, after all :)

Comment by mama0313 on December 12, 2011 at 11:04am: my baby likes being bad and she knows it!

Comment by Mrs. Aa on December 11, 2011 at 1:21pm: Hahaha laundry attack! Very funny. :)
If it's proved beyond any doubts that they do understand it, great - but people have to keep in mind they are still babies. We can certainly "talk" to them, teaching what's right and wrong, I'm sure they'll be making zillions of connections in those little brains, somewhere, but "punishment" sounds a little (ok a lot) too much for me.