A 2- or 3-year-old who has been hitting, biting, or throwing food, for example, should be told in a calm, neutral voice why the behavior is unacceptable and taken to a designated timeout area — a kitchen chair or bottom stair — for a minute or two to calm down.
Each child is different, but most children need to be given clear rules about behavior. Discipline needs to start as soon as a child is pulling up and crawling. Infants rely on their parents to provide a safe environment. Discipline should be adjusted by the age of your child.
Research shows that spanking, slapping and other forms of physical punishment don't work well to correct a child's behavior. The same holds true for yelling at or shaming a child. Beyond being ineffective, harsh physical and verbal punishments can also damage a child's long-term physical and mental health.
Keep your hands in your pockets or fold your hands together. This is the most simple and basic of the logical consequences of hitting. In fact, we try to say something like “keep your hands to yourself” and the best way to do that is to make sure they're not available to use.
If your child hits you when angry, a logical consequence would be to tell her to keep her hands to herself and move away from her/block yourself until she is calm (even if that means removing her to a safe area where she can't hurt anyone).
Once you've built this foundation, you're ready to deliver effective consequences. In this article, we'll outline how to facilitate the three types of consequences: natural, logical, and problem-solving.
Physical punishment by a parent towards a child remains lawful under the Criminal Code Act 1924 (s 50), which states: 'It is lawful for a parent or a person in the place of a parent to use, by way of correction, any force towards a child in his or her care that is reasonable in the circumstances. '
Acknowledge your actions
Experts say caregivers should first acknowledge what happened in order to mend the relationship with their kids. "Whenever you hit your child, it's significant, so own what you did," says Dr. Siegel. Then make sure to discuss what happened with your kid and console them.
Discipline in its simplest forms can start as soon as your baby is 8 months old. You'll know it's time to start your discipline journey when your sweet bundle starts doing things like biting your arm or pulling off your glasses even after you say “no”…and then laughs and laughs.
You can start disciplining kids from the time they are babies using tactics like ignoring and distracting. Setting limits and explaining rules can begin as kids grow.
But babies don't understand consequences. They also don't know the difference between right and wrong. This means that negative consequences, or punishment, don't work for babies. Instead, babies need warm, loving care so they feel secure.
Take a deep breath and turn your attention to the toddler. Move in close to the toddler, look him in the eye, and say "People are not for pushing. Pushing hurts. You must have been very upset to hurt the baby." If your toddler is not too defended, he will burst into tears.
When infants display anger and aggression, it is often due to discomfort, pain or frustration. Older babies will use aggression to protect themselves, to express anger or to get what they want. When your baby is aggressive, it is because he has not learned a better way of behaving.
Research has found that physical punishment such as smacking is both ineffective and bad for children's development. Research which analysed a range of studies on physical punishment such as smacking found that, in fact, this punishment made child behaviour worse.
But a new study has revealed the practice is more prevalent than many would think. The research, led by the Australian Catholic University's Professor Daryl Higgins, found six in 10 people aged between 16 and 24 experienced four or more incidents of smacking in childhood.
Whereas some parents find hitting a child, no matter how softly you do it, absolutely deplorable. But is smacking your kids even legal? The answer to the above question according to the current law is: it's not illegal to smack your children in NSW.
Corporal punishment sets clear boundaries and motivates children to behave in school. Children are better able to make decisions about their behavior, exercise self-control, and be accountable for their actions when they understand the…
Now let's talk about a practical tool for disciplining your child. I call it the three “R”s of discipline: remove, reflect and reconnect. Now, before you think that these R's only apply to younger children, know that, with some minor adjustments, they can apply to young teens as well.
Natural consequences are those things that happen in response to your child's behavior without parental involvement. These are imposed by nature, society, or another person. You do not actually deliver a natural consequence yourself.
Children spanked frequently and/or severely are at higher risk for mental health problems, ranging from anxiety and depression to alcohol and drug abuse, according to some research studies. Children whose parents hit them regularly may also develop more distant parent-child relationships later on.