Parenting Tips: Disciplining young children is a challenging and frustrating experience. Here are a few suggestions to help you get the result you want when disciplining your child.
- Be reasonable. Do not expect too much.
- Let your child know ahead of time when he/she is expected to do something.
- When children misbehave, suggest a new activity.
- Be patient. No one said parenting was easy!
- Praise behaviors you like and ignore behaviors you don’t like whenever your can and it is safe to do so.
- Try to structure you child’s day so that meal time and bedtimes are the same every day.
- Tell, don’t ask. Tell your children what you want them to do.
- Give your child a set amount of warnings about misbehavior in a calm but firm voice.
- After the warning limit, follow through with a short consequence like a time out. Try to use consequences that are related to the behavior.
- Offer choices. Making choices is an important part of growing up.
- A child who is rewarded and praised usually develops a happy and cooperative attitude. A child who is punished frequently often becomes angry and stops caring about the punishments and others.
- Remember to set a good example. Children learn by watching.
Remember, good effective parenting is teaching…its one way to show love to your children!
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