Using Discipline and Consequences

Stay calm.

Children pick up on their parents’ feelings and actions. When your child is misbehaving or you are disciplining your child, be sure to stay calm. If you yell or get upset, your child’s behavior will likely get worse along with yours. This makes things more difficult and frustrating to handle.

Use logical consequences.

Consequences for broken rules should be related to the misbehavior when possible. For example, if your child doesn’t follow the house rule of sharing her toys, she could lose the toy for a set amount of time.

Explain to your child how his behaviors make other people feel.

Instead of just telling your child to “say you’re sorry,” tell your child how his behavior makes other people feel. This helps your child understand why he shouldn’t misbehave. You will need to do this a lot with young children before they understand.

Be consistent when using discipline.

Follow through with consequences each time a misbehavior occurs. Your child should know she loses her toy each time she bangs it against the window. If you don’t follow through, your child may think she can sometimes get away with misbehaviors and the misbehaviors will continue.

Explain family rules and consequences to others who care for your child.

Take time to explain the family rules and the consequences for breaking the rules to everyone who cares for your child. Make sure they understand that they should enforce the family rules as consistently and predictably as you.