Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What discipline techniques would you like to use other than time outs? Considering the backlash against discipline all together, I think it's good that your current family is open to TOs. So use them and see what results you get. For us, the Magic 123 method works really well.
Love and Logic works longer than time outs or 1-2-3 Magic, and it's about children learning to control their own behavior and make appropriate choices for themselves. Removing toys and/or privileges can work for longer than time outs or 1-2-3 Magic as well, but it's dependent on the adult deciding what the punishment should be, knowing what a child's currency is, and it's not as effective once they are older.
Very young children cannot make appropriate choices. They are not miniature adults. They are driven by strong emotions that often have no reasoning with. This is why children understand and need simple cause and effect punishments, and also thrive on actual discipline. These emotion-aimed techniques that are so popular today are exactly the reason so many nannies are getting abused by their charges.
Young children *can* make choices if the adult offers age appropriate options.
I never ask whether a child wants to leave the park, the answer is always going to be no. For some kids, the choices are whether they want to climb up or they want me to lift them in, for other children the choices are whether they want to face me or face the car while I lift them in. If the only choices are things that don't matter to me, it's easy to let a child choose. The more choices a child makes, the more they feel in control, and the more likely they are to obey immediately when I don't offer a choice. I have worked with several children labelled as difficult as well as other children who weren't out of the ordinary, and I have never had a problem helping the kids gain control of themselves. Once they know that they can make choices, they can then be taught that their behavior is a series of choices, and it's up to them to decide how they will behave. Yes, there will be occasional meltdowns for toddlers, but they decrease quickly as the child gets older. Personally, I have more issues with kids when the parents use time outs or 1-2-3, because the parents aren't consistent, so the children constant test to see whether I will be as flexible.