Tips on Disciplining Your Child

If you have children, you have often wondered from time to time if your disciplinary techniques are appropriate. With so many techniques in books and on popular talk shows, there is a lot of pressure for parents to adopt a new technique. But don't you know your children better than anyone else?

I believe that all children are different and may require different methods of discipline. The advice of experts is always useful, but must be combined with your own first-hand knowledge of your child.

It's important not to try to force a method of discipline that is just not working on your unique child. Time outs work well for some children but not for all children.

A close friend of mine was struggling with a child who bites. She tried method after method, and just ended up with a confused and frustrated biter. Taking the time to understand her child and what would work best for him would have been more effective.

Children must learn about rules and consequences. To fail to discipline a child at all for breaking the rules is really doing a disservice to him or her.

Remember that discipline should never actually harm a child. A child who is properly disciplined will learn life lessons. I child who is harmed through discipline will not.

Children will learn best from discipline if it correlates to the act committed. For example, drawing on a wall should result in the child cleaning the wall. Don't entirely let the little ones off the hook - this can be tempting as it will take a lot of patience to wait for them to clean the wall and you will most likely need to help them at some point. But the lesson will still be a good one.

Your child will respond best to discipline if you take the time to identify what works best for him or her.