How do you discipline your Children?

When my kids were younger we used time outs. Now we only have one child left at home .With her we use groundings or we make her write sentences. Both methods seem to work very well with her. She really hates writing sentences the most.

I also do not believe in physical punishment although when I was young I wished I did get a spanking instead of taking away my favorite pastimes. My brother got his bottom spanked when he did wrong and then he was finished I had to stay home and not go ice skating which was much, much worse to me. To make a long story short that is how I continued to discipline my daughter and grandchildren.

I was raised and raised my own children by the Bible. Spare the rod and spoil the child. Now I don't mean beatings, there is a difference in discipline and abuse. But my dad used to spank us and we grew up respecting ourselves and others and didn't get into too much trouble. I spanked my kids when they needed it too, when they got older I didn't spank but I would restrict certain things from them and they would have to discuss with me what they did and why the punishment. They have grown up to be wonderful adults, one is a preacher and the other a minister's wife. Great discussion.

I also don't agree with physical punishment. Sometimes I think that it's not effective way at all to punish the children. So far, I never hit or doing physical punishment. But I think my kids very well understood when my voices already become louder, and they can see also from my face that they did some thing wrong, normally they will say sorry for what they did.

My Parents Spanked me, I turned out fine. I have spanked my children. But there is a fine line between Spanking and Abuse. I have Spanked my children on occasion. But Spankings really do not work for mine so I use other alternatives now. My Daughter stole a peice of Candy from the store one time. I made her go back into the store and appologize for taking it and then when we got home I gave her 3 licks with my Hand. That way I could feel how hard i was hitting. I never spank my Children in Anger and after wards I always tell them I love them. Just do not like what they did. That mistakes will be made and they have to learn from them. But Mommy will always love you.

I have spanked my kids when they were younger a tap on the hiney worked wonders! NOT a SMACK!! I dont know about other girls but mine got upset just KNOWING i was upset with them and cry.. id repremand them and then hug them telling them its ok but not to do it again:) XX thier crocidile tears made ME cry! lol Now.. wow!! i wish i had a paddle!! - lol we have resorted to taking things away a very *Dr.Phil* way -- thier stereos, CDS even, Ipods, computers - restricted use on it as well, stripping their room and rewarding them with ablility to get thier things back, groundings ( which *grounds* me too ) lol ITS WORKED!! they are currently working on thier OWN computers for x-mas - we have a point system and if they get too many in a week they lose there privalages - if they behave,do chores, not mouthy etc.. they get thier OWN computers for x-mas! thiers always little things that they still do get on eachothers nevers and such but as one of 7!! i know its alot of sibling stuff - and if u dont LET THEM deal with it and solve it they will never be able to handle the *real world* out there!! we listen ..if it gets out of hand we intervein but mostly we let them sort it out between them - it usually ends with name calling 1 to the other and then done lol which is very funny i have to admit!! lol

hello there Jenny..I have been pretty lucky lately..when my son was 2 my perfect world crashed down on me lol..he was so bad..and with a huge temper to follow..i would react loud and he then would react back just as loud and for almost 2 years i feel as if i was fighting myself,,well i have been doing alot of reading..and talk to other parents..and couceling..and i learned alot..that it was how i was disaplinnign him made things worse..soo now hes 5..and hes soo much better!! when hes bad..he gets time out..when he does something bad at achool or aanywhere he comes and tells me straight up..and before he tell me..he says."MOm..u might be mad at me..but i have to tel you soemthing,," and i thank him for being honest..and depending on what he did..gets time out..or soemthing taken away..if he ever gets caught lying to me..and he knows the consequences are greater..and i wont put up with it..and will swat him bum..and ground him for days..but i dont want him to go threw what i did when i grew up..maybe thats why i dont believe in physical punishment much at all..but its working for me..and thats all i know:)

Any type of dicipline will work if you have a relationship with the child. Right now my daughter is have problems eith her daughter who is trying to establish some independance. She is 5 years old and is trying to figure out how to respond to situtations. When I am baby sitting her and we have problems I may send her to a room or make her sit down for a few minutes. One thing I do is shortly after the incident we talk about it and look at what else could she have done. After several weeks she is begining to respone in a propermanner and I make a big deal about doing it right. I will some times tease her and once an a while she will respond back with teasing and we have fun with it. I know that as she gets older she will be teased and rather than feel bad about it she is learing snappy comebacks and ways to handle ti.

when I was younger I can only remember my dad hitting my butt one time, and I cried for days... That was all it took. My mom on the other hand was the one that believed in physical punishment. Smaking me in the mouth when I said something wrong.. Yeah I learned not to do that really quick. I also learned to respect my elders really quick. I do not spank my children, sometimes I wish I did.. LOL I think that sometimes it is the only way to get something through to them.Not always. I believe more in groundings, and taking their privilages away. I do not think they get the point quite as quick, so you have to repeat it a lot but hey it eventually works just like anything else.

Well I have spanked my daughters before but like you I don't see that working. So any more I normally send them to their bedroom for a time out. Sometimes I have to take away some of their toys to get my point across to them..I do ground them when it is needed.

My parents never punished me physically. I can really say that I'm lucky to have them. They really taught me that physical punishment to children can cause affect the child in some ways. Also, it is not a good example as a parent to spank your child. They might follow and do the same way to their kids. As for me, If ever I will have a child of my own, definitely no spanking for me. I'll just tell them their mistakes. If they repeat it again, there will be grounds for punishment but never physical punishment. Like less allowance for school ,etc..

My wife and I also explain things to my son, so that he understands why something he has done is wrong. Having started this from when he was very young, and also using a rewards chart, it is actually really easy to discipline our son. Also, we talk to him like he's more of an equal, and hardly ever need to raise our voices to him. We've never smacked him, but have seen a mother smack her child after he hit another, saying 'don't hit'!?!

I have a 5 year old son and 1 1/2 year old daughter. it is very tough to manage between them. my son is very naughty. In what so ever mannger i tell him he never listen to my words. earlier i used to beat him a lot. then he got used to it. now i have changed my strategy. when ever he does naughty thing i put him in bath room. so now a days he has started to listen to me and changing his attitudes. my daughter is still very young. i think i must study her first and then mould her.

Hi, I am new to this community and have been reading lots of the discussions. This is a really great discussion. I struggle with this now. I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter that is as stubborn and wonderful as can be. I have had a hard time figuring out how to make myself understood when she does something wrong. I was raised with a spanking when I did anything really wrong and I feel that I wasn't harmed emotionally in any way. But that kind of punishment doesn't seem to be effective or correct anymore. I have tried time out and while isolation is something that my daughter doesn't like, I don't know that it has been effective either. I liked one of the other responses on this discussion; very informative. But when it comes down to it, how do you reason with a 3 year old.