How do you discipline a 2 year old child?

I bet you've already started teaching her the do's and don'ts of life and you don't even know it! My son is almost 5, he's our one and only. Right from day one, we started teaching him. We were constantly talking to him, and not in baby jibberish either, real words that were part of the english language. Everything you say, do, express or demonstrate is a teaching moment! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to be fanatic and turn everything into a school lesson, I'm just saying that leading by example is in of itself - teaching. For example, we wanted our son to be polite. So EVERYTIME I got him something, helped him with something, I would say, "thank you mommy." Within days, he started to imitate me. Now, it's so automatic that I'm sure HE doesn't even realize he's saying it. Same thing with manners, "please, thank you, no thank you, excuse me..." Simple phrases to correct/train her would be "we say please may I have...not I want or gimme..." "We say excuse me when we need to interrupt/get by..." The key thing, I think, is always be verbal; have a conversation with yourself with the phrases you want her to learn, then start leaving key words out and have her fill in the blank. This is a game to them, but you see, it's actually teaching them! As far as other things like temper tantrums, IGNORE HER! Simply say, "when you are all done, you come and see me." And leave her be... let her get out her frustration/anger and when she's done, RESPOND to her right away. Not sharing? Turn it around on her... tell her, "you can have what I have, if I can have what you have" Then tell her, "NICE SHARING" Fresh talk? Ignore her. Tell her, "That's not the way we speak/ask/say XXX" When she says it the right way, RESPOND to her right away. Punishments in our home are 99% time outs - ONE minute per year. The key to time outs is to completely ignore them while they are sitting there. NO toys, TV, music, books... nothing. When their time is up, you need to get her to admit why she was in time out and get an apology. Then, and this is important - DON'T HOLD A GRUDGE. After the hugs and apologies, say, "ok, done and over with." You don't want them to think you will continue to be mad AFTER they've already done the punishment. The other 1% of the time depends on the peril of the situation. Touch a hot stove/candle/fireplace - no doubt about it - a swat on the hand or butt. Swearing gets a flick on the cheek. Pretty simple, cut and dried methods. It WORKS! Best of luck!

I explain to her in a clam voice what she did wrong, then put her in the corner (or time out spot of some sort) and if she gets up you put her right back down, and until she calms down. And then let her know again why she was there, and that works well with my kids, Most of the time I just threaten time out and they quit...although there are those times we must follow through/ Disciplining a 2 year old is exhausting!!! It is much easier to forget about it, but just rememberm, as hard a it is to discipline a 2 year old, it gets even harder the older they get without it in their past to help rear them... Good luck!!

A really hard question! And one which I reckon every parent of a two year old would love to know the answer to! I think the key thing to do is to be consistent.

My son is three years old now, almost four, and from the time that he was able to comprehend what we were saying to him we've used a lot of "No" with him. This is great for those things that we really don't want him to do for whatever reason. In addition to this there are things that are done that could be dangerous to himself or others. For those things we have been strict with time outs for him. Now he is a very well behaved child for his age.

I did, still do, the praise/punish method. Every day is a new day and my daughter would gets 1 hour of TV (she gets 2 hours now but she is ten), a sweet treat like a cookie or candy as part of her after noon snack, and dessert. She knows any problems I'll give an immediate verbal correction which is equal to a warning. She gets two a day and the third correction comes with a punishment. (Loss of time/treat/or dessert). If she goes the day with only one warning she gets a sticker (I have stickers like a teacher). If she goes with no warnings she gets a bonus (half hour of tv the next day, or a choice of candy in the grocery line or a knick-knack toy).

My daughter just turned 3 and what seems to work with her is time outs or "getting down on her level" as in I get down to where she can look me in the eye and I explain what she did wrong and why it is wrong...it seems to work...most of the time...but kids will be kids and sometimes it seems nothing works!

Hi, I am a mother of one little boy.My son is going to 3.5years old in a few days time. At this stage,he can be very demanding,need more attention from me and very curious on the things happened surrounding him.He can keep ask for questions for WHY,WHAT,and demanded an answer from me. To train and educate a child is not an easy task. For me, I discpline my son to behave well,no shout at home or jumping here and there. If he wants something,come and look for me,instead of shouting for me. I also educate him to be polite to others and be friendly. Whenever he saw elder people, he has to call them "uncle " or " auntie". Of course, there was a time whereby he will get cranky and I have to handle him patiently.Sometimes, I was totally blurr on how to handle this active boy too. But I told myself, I have to stay calm and no beating on him if possible unless he has go over the boundary. Once a while, I will beat him lightly on his buttock when he gets naughty and stubborn. I also trained him to keep his own toys after playing,or else,the whole living room will be in mess and full of his toys everywhere. Of course, he might not be doing it well and tidy,but at least, he is cooperative enough to keep his toys into the baskets and I just need to teach him how to place them nicely into the place. At the age of 2 years old, it is time for potty training. It needs lot of patience in potty training. Accidents might be happened,no scolding,just keep remind them to pee or poo at the potty.Tell them that pee and poo are dirty,don't touch them and has to call mummy or daddy to clean it up. Now, my son is diaperless in day time and has been successful in potty training. He has attended nursery this year. Start to learn writing and he can sing well too. The most important is don't over pampered our kids. Of course, once a while can buy them some toys or bring them out for their favourite food,but we have to set a limit and have to be firm when handling them. Enjoy your motherhood and Takecare !!!

Hi, I'm a mother of two wonderful boys and I sure can relate to your situation. the type of punishment I give depends upon the gravity of the mistake. Whenever he wants something that should not be given to him, I say no firmly. Like when he wants ice cream even if he has cough, I say no and explain to him why. I tell him that ice cream makes him cough more and would make him ill for a long time, consequently, he cannot play as much as he wants because he is sick; When at the mall, he would ask me or his dad to buy him a toy. We tell him that we cannot buy the toy especially if its pricey because if we do we will not be able to buy his milk. He would weigh the situation in his head and most of the time accept our decision without fuzz. He would just then ask for permission to hold the toy or see it. So you see, talking and explaining to him really does the job. However, there are times when kids want to "test" our patience by disobeying on purpose. After a series or reminder and still he does not obey, I believe such behavior ,for me, requires spanking! most especially if his safety is in the line. But after I spanked him, I talk to him and tell him that if he don't listen to mommy he might get hurt.

My son is 14 months old and although I know he's not at the age yet where he can completely understand and comprehend when he is doing something wrong, my husband and I have tried to start early with disciplining him. What we have started doing is if he is doing something that we don't want him to, we say simply, "No sir" or just "No". If he tries again, we might call out his name and then "No". We say it very firmly. I have had to spank his hand a couple of times when he has bitten me. He knows what "No biting" means because whenever he puts his mouth down on my skin, like my arm or hand or something, I tell him "No biting" and he won't do it but if I don't tell him, he bites. He bit my finger the other day and I didn't spank his hand, I just said, "Ow, no sir!" in a very firm voice. I know he knew what I meant because it hurt his feelings and he cried for a few seconds out of pity..lol It is so cute. I have made mistakes where I pick him up and apologize when I shouldn't right away but I love him too much to see him cry. =)

Well, I am raising a two and a one year old, Peytan and Tristan. Peytan is very jealous over Tristan by nature of course, but it's still hard for her to understand that you can not hit or bite your brother. So, if she hits or bites him she has to go in a time out for two minutes (preferably not their room if they have toys to play with). If she can't listen after you tell her twice then she has to sit by my feet until her time out is up. I suggest not letting them go if they are crying when their time is up. You don't want them to think that they can get out of things if they cry. Peytan is being potty trained for several months now, so she knows she cant pee herself. If she does have an accident we give her a cold shower. We've done that once and she hasn't peed herself since. It's suggested that you don't tell a toddler "no" when they can't do something. Say their name an tell them that they can't do that. If they still don't listen tell them "if you can't listen to mommy, you have to go in a timeout." Usually they listen but if not then it's time out time. These will probably be the roughest years of your child raising, but you can get through it!

I believe that its about teaching a child what you will and will not tolerate about their behavior. This can usually be done through reward and holding back rewards. When my daughter was in her terrible two's her mother and I had many instances where we felt like giving her a good spanking. But when one is firm and shows the child that there is no compromise for bad behavior, the child will eventually learn. By the time my daughter was 5, it was about making mommy and daddy proud of her behavior so she could receive the rewards. There rewards of course do not have to always be material things. They can be something as simple as a smile as opposed to a straight face or a frown. Children are very intelligent and will pick up on almost everything. For those of you that have children of those ages, it is hard but it can work and when as a parent you see them walking on that stage on graduation day getting their college degree, you will know that it was all worth it.