Disciplining Toddlers from the Book: Discipline without Shouting or Spanking

There are seven techniques defined in the book Discipline without Shouting or Spanking by Jerry Wyckoff and Barbara Unell. And they are the following;

Beat-the-clock – since children loves to win, this motivational technique teaches them to win a race against the time. This technique reduces power struggle to parents and children, the authority is being transferred to the timer.

Grandma’s Rule – is derived from the axiom ‘when you work, you eat’. it is like saying; WHEN you have X (what the parents want to do), they you may do Y (what the child wants to do). Note: Never substitute IF to WHEN.

Neutral Time – When the child is calm or after at tantrum is finished, that’s the best time to teach a child a new behavior.

Praise – verbally recognized a behavior. Praise should describe the behavior not the child. Sample would be, “Good eating” instead of “Good girl for eating!”

Reprimand – short statement would be: (1) a command to stop the behavior, (2) a reason why the behavior should stop, and (3) an alternative to the behavior. Example: “stop hitting, hitting hurts people. Ask your friend nicely to give you the toy”

Rule – a predetermined behavioral expectation that includes a stated outcome and consequences. Example of a rule: ‘we put dirty clothes in the hamper when we take them off so we can keep our house neat and so we won’t have to pick stuff all the time.”

Time Out – to take a child out of a situation for a set period of time, usually because of inappropriate behavior. Typical timeout involves taking your child to a chair or room, setting a time for a certain length of time (approximately one minute for each year of age, up to five minutes) and telling her she must stay there until the timer rings.

I have been using some of the techniques and I really recommend this book to all the mothers or care givers out there. The book has problem and solving techniques on every chapter that I find really useful (i cannot write down everything here no matter how much i want to share the contents of the book. the authors might sue me for reprinting without permission, heheh).

So, grab a copy now at the nearest book store, the book costs P184 (est $4) only!