Counting before discipline?

The consistency is what makes it effective or ineffective. I always state what my child needs to do, what the consequence will be, then count to 5. Then if she complies with the request, I thank her for being a good listener. If she does not comply I follow through, even if it means I miss out on something. I have walked out of stores, movies, restaurants...you name it. Now when we are out, i rarely have to count past 3 to get her to comply. Sometimes it is very begrudgingly, but she still does it.

Children nowdays are very smart. They know how to explore their parents emotions to their advantage. So counting before disciplining them gives them room for them to misbehave. Discipline should be instant.

It surely depends how it is done. You are right that the child must understand that there will be a kind of punishment for bad behaviour. I still think that spanking must be left as last resource. Reasoning is important to begin with.

Sometime it hard to discipline child especially a young child like 3-4 years because they reasoning is not good enought and may not understand the consequence, hence they just to be punished for bad behaviour.Like not keeping toys , throwing stuffs , pushing , bitting and such , usually i just scold them straigh away and said cannot to that.Have to patient and they bound to repeat the same naught action and have to scold them again.Distraction and reward is good option too.

Counting before spanking? Lucky you, my parents just beat us up without any warning and we surely were not behaving badly. I don't count either, I give my kids a time limit. .. Minutes before they have to be upstairs and in bed. And if it comes to cleaning up I tell them to do it, if not I will throw it away if I pass by (and I do, it works).

I don't count at all I give 1 warning and I tell my child this your one warning or you'll be trouble so you better stop now. Normall saying it one time is enough for me when it comes to children. Some times it doesn't work so then the next step is time out for a while which is never fun if someone else playing or doing they want to do but they can't since they are sitting.

I think it's very important (most important) actually to give children a chance to stop misbehaving, unless what they are doing is dangerous. When I'm a mom, I'll say something like "If you keep doing that you'll be grounded for 2 weeks". Then, as everyone says, follow through is key.

hey there geekemgirl, I think you are right if parents do follow the true fashion of the counting discipline method i think that children will behave more and grow up to be more polite and behaved people, they should count and at the end of the count if the child is still misbehaving then they should incorporate the discipline right???

As a mom and teacher, I can tell you that discipline/consequences are very important in keeping children orderly and under control. Positive reinforcement is also very important. I like to let a child know exactly what is expected, explain what will happen if they do not 'stop' what they are doing and then follow through if they choose not to make a positive choice. They are then the one 'choosing' either the positive or negative result to their actions. So, sometimes I may give one warning (or count if it's at home with my kids..."You have until I get to zero to stop doing __________ or __________ will be what you are choosing to happen as a result") I never give them more than a count of 3 at home. If I'm in class, I will say "When I get to zero, I would like everyone to clean up the activity they are working on and be in their seat with the following items ready: math book, journal and a pencil and noise level is zero (silent)." Then I will give them from whatever number I think they need to accomplish that, speeding up or slowing down to add a fun aspect to it. This usually works and then I have a positive incentive system in place to reward students who are ready when I get to zero. I think you have to consider the situation and the urgency of the need for immediate compliance. If your child is in harm's way you need them moving fast, no one has time to count. So, it's important to instill the value of complying the first time asked, it's good practice! Also, most importantly-follow through with what you say. If you aren't going to do what you say, don't say it. Kids learn that you're full of hot air quickly and then it is nearly impossible to get them to do what you say.