PARENTING DISCIPLINE

No doubts about it, toddlers are very difficult to manage. At times, you will feel like they really know how to head for trouble and how to always end up in one. Many parents can recite nerve-racking stories of toddlers ending up in an emergency room. On top of that they have so few skills to communicate and solve problems. The key to disciplining your toddler includes love, understanding, patience and reflex!

As mentioned above toddlers have very limited skills of communication and therefore it is hard to understand them. Though toddlers can say a few words which of course can mean different things but still they like to express themselves by crying, grunting, pointing like babies which makes it all the more difficult to understand what they want. Toddlers just like babies love to be held, comforted, talked top and played with. But during all these times a parent should always teach them discipline because this coaching at the right time is going to help them in the wrong run. It is the duty of the parent to imbibe virtues in the child at this proper stage.

Following are a few things that parents will find helpful in disciplining their toddler:

Set a good example
This is the first step towards disciplining your kid. Be sure to demonstrate a good habit before toddlers because they are very good imitators. They will not understand that what they imitate from you is good or bad but they will do it because they see you doing it. So if you want your toddler to have good eating habits then demonstrate how to do it and talk to them about it. They may not fully understand you but they will definitely get an idea how to do things in a specific way.

Do not spank them
Certain times you might get angry with your kid and at times you may feel like hitting them but believe me spanking is not the solution. They are too small to understand good from bad. Though toddler's respond well to physical actions like holding or restraining them, touching them by the arm, picking them up but spanking will not help and studies have proved that spanking, hitting can lead to your child growing up to be physically aggressive and out of control. Therefore spanking is not the way to discipline your child.

Isolate your child when required
There are certain times when explaining, warning or any kind of negotiation is not helpful and at that time what parents ought to do is remove or isolate your child. For example if your front door is open and your child is planning to explore the surroundings what you need to do is either hold him, pick him up or put him in the crib for sometime. Though you will be met with loud protests but this safety measure will keep your child safe.

Divert and Redirect
This two-fold tactics is very important in disciplining your child. If your child is doing something unacceptable then try to divert her/his attention by dong something else like playing some other game or watching cartoons together. At the same time tell your kid that what he is doing is wrong and what he should not do. For example if your kid is throwing a heavy article like the paper weight at the glass then divert his attention by playing a game which he likes and then teach him that "paper weight is not to be thrown at the glass. If you want to throw anything throw the waste paper in the dustbin". This will not only teach him what is right but will also redirect his activity in to more acceptable and constructive situation.

Ignore
By ignoring the child's unacceptable act you can teach him that what he is doing is wrong and will not be accepted by you. This can be effective in some situations with older toddlers. Withhold all attention, praise, and support and pay absolutely no attention. Without the desired attention, children eventually quit whatever they're doing. This however requires a lot of patience.