Discipline Ideas That Work
At one time or another, all parents struggle with discipline – establishing and enforcing limits and getting their kids to speak to them respectfully and do what they're supposed to do. But remember: Discipline isn't only about correction. It's also about teaching kids to control themselves and care about others so they can grow up to be productive members of society.
Here are 22 approaches you can use to help your kids to do just that:
1. Be Firm
Set reasonable limits, and explain and enforce them.
2. Be Consistent
Your child will learn to adapt to inconsistencies between you and your partner
– if you allow jumping on the bed but she doesn't, for example, the child will
do it when he's with you and won't when he's with your partner. However, if you
allow jumping one day and prohibit it the next, you'll only confuse your child
and undermine your attempts to get him to listen when you ask him to do something.
3. Compromise
Kids can't always tell the difference between big and little issues, so give
in on a few small things once in a while (an extra piece of birthday cake at the
end of a long day might avoid a tantrum). That will give the child a feeling of
control and will make it easier for him to go along with the program on the bigger
issues (holding hands while crossing the street, for example).
4. Be Assertive and Specific
"Stop throwing your food now" is much better than "Cut that out!"
5. Give Choices
Kathryn Kvols, author of Redirecting Children's Behavior (Parenting Press, 1997), suggests, for example, that if your child is yanking
all the books off a shelf in the living room, you say, "Would you like to stop
knocking the books off the shelf or would you like to go to your room?" If he
ignores you, gently but firmly lead the child to his room and tell him he can
come back into the living room when he's ready to listen to you.
6. Cut Down on Warnings
If the child knows the rules (at this age, all you have to do is ask), impose
the promised consequences immediately. If you make a habit of giving six preliminary
warnings and three "last" warnings before doing anything, your child will learn
to start responding only the eighth or ninth time you ask.
7. Link Consequences Directly to Problem Behavior
And don't forget – clearly and simply – to explain what you're doing and why:
"I'm taking away your hammer because you hit me," or "I asked you not to take
that egg out of the fridge, and you didn't listen to me. Now you'll have to help
me clean it up."
8. No Banking
If you're imposing punishments or consequences, do it immediately. You can't
punish a child at the end of the day for something (or a bunch of things) he did
earlier – he won't associate the undesirable action and its consequence.
9. Keep It Short
Once the punishment is over (and whatever it is it shouldn't last any more than
a minute per year of age), get back to your life. There's no need to review, summarize
or make sure the child got the point.
10. Stay Calm
Screaming, ranting or raving can easily cross the line into verbal abuse that
can do long-term damage to your child's self-esteem.
11. Get Down to Your Child's Level
When you're talking to your child, especially to criticize, kneel or sit. You'll
still be big enough that he'll know who the boss is.
12. Don't Lecture
Instead, ask questions to engage the child in a discussion of the problematic
behavior: "Is smoking cigars OK for kids or not?" "Do you like it when someone
pushes you down in the park?"
13. Criticize the Behavior, Not the Child
Even such seemingly innocuous comments as "I've told you a thousand times," or
"Every single time you ..." gives the child the message that he's doomed to disappoint
you no matter what he does.
14. Reinforce Positive Behavior
We spend so much time criticizing the negatives and not enough time complimenting
the positives. Heartfelt comments like, "I'm so proud of you when I see you cleaning
up your toys," go a long way.
15. Play Games
"Let's see who can put the most toys away," and "I bet I can put my shoes on
before you can" are big favorites. But be sure not to put away more toys or to put your shoes on first – kids under age 5 have
a tough time losing.
16. Avoid Tantrums
Learn to recognize the things that trigger your child's tantrums. The most common
triggers include exhaustion, overstimulation, hunger and illness. Keeping those
factors to a minimum will go a long way toward reducing tantrums.
17. No Spanking
It's bad for the kids and bad for you. Children who get spanked are more likely
to suffer from poor self-esteem and depression. They're also more likely to believe
that it's OK to hit other people when they're mad. After all, you do.
18. No Shaking
It may seem like a less violent way of expressing your frustrations than spanking,
but it really isn't. Shaking your baby can make his little brain rattle around
inside his skull, resulting in brain damage.
19. No Bribes
It's tempting to pay a child off to get him to do or not do something. But the
risk – and it's a big one – is that he will demand some kind of payment before
complying with just about anything.
20. Be a Grown-up
Biting your child or pulling his hair to demonstrate that biting or hitting is
wrong or doesn't feel good will backfire – guaranteed.
21. Offer Cheese With That Whine
Tell your child that you simply don't respond to whining and that you won't give
him what he wants until he asks in a nice way – and stick with it.
22. Set a Good Example
If your child sees you and your partner arguing without violence, he'll learn
to do the same. If he sees you flouting authority by running red lights, he'll
do the same.
Above all, make sure you understand your child. Trying to discipline him without understanding why he's doing what he's doing is a little like taking cough syrup for emphysema – the thing that's bugging you goes away for a while, but the underlying problem remains and keeps getting worse with time. The most direct way to solve this is to simply ask your child what's going on and why he's acting the way he is. In many cases, he'll tell you. If he won't tell you or doesn't have the vocabulary to do so, make an educated guess such as, "Are you writing on the walls because you want me to spend more time with you?"
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