4 Ways To Discipline a Toddler Without Losing Your Cool

Teaching a toddler how to behave is probably the most difficult stage for parents because this is the age at which children start to become more independent and discover themselves as individuals. Yet they still have a limited ability to communicate and reason. We struggle with teaching them table manners, how to love and not bully, that it is not okay to scream when mummy is driving and not to forget potty training drama. Here are a few ways to discipline your toddler to make life much easier for you and the rest of the family.

1. 1. You need to have the same schedule every day. This means having consistent nap times, mealtimes, and bedtimes as well as times when your toddler is free to just have fun. When you do this, your toddler feels safe and relaxed. Your toddler needs to be taught things like potty training over and over again till they get it. Consistency is the key to getting anything done.

2. 2. Do not hit your toddler. Learn self-control, learn to say stop and No. Those two words work like magic (When said a million times of course).  And if it doesn’t work the first time, don’t stop saying it till your toddler gets it right. Your child may drive you close to a breaking point, that you’re tempted to spank him. But most experts warn against this practice. When we spank, kids learn that physical punishment is acceptable. Thereby, modeling exactly what we don’t want our kids to do. Experts say, “At the toddler stage, redirection and brief breaks are far more effective discipline tactics.”

3. 3. It’s not easy to stay calm when you’re in the middle of watching your child throw a tantrum. But losing control will quickly escalate an already stressful situation. In the end, that’s going to make you feel worse and guilty and it will do your child no good. Sometimes the best tactic is to ignore the behavior entirely by acting like they are not doing what they are doing. Experts say, “when your toddler realizes his screaming won’t get him a second cookie or your attention, he’ll get tired of yelling eventually.”

4. 4. Finally, to make the job easier, we should learn to reason and act like toddlers. Give in to letting your toddler do things like painting your face with the make-up brush. It’s OK to feel stressed out by your toddler sometimes. We can only do our best as no one is perfect and there are some days that we’re better at this than other days.

SEE ALSO:

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