Children mature and become responsible through learning and discipline. Before you get too frustrated with your child, try to remember that misbehaving and testing limits are part of the process of growing up. If you find yourself losing your cool, take a few seconds to breathe in and regain your composure before you discipline your child.
Set Rules
Hearing the word "no" can help your child understand limits, according to certified family-life educator Sandy Bailey in an article on BabyCenter. When your child does something that you consider unacceptable, let him know immediately. You don't need to explain your reasoning, but older kids might respond better if they understand what the "no" means.
Create Consequences
Knowing that their actions have consequences will often deter children from misbehaving, according to an article by the American Academy of Pediatrics published in the Healthy Children website. Natural consequences are simpler: "If you break your toy, you will not have one to play with." For this to work, it proves important to make it clear to your child that consequences exist, and that you will enforce them. So, if he breaks his toy on purpose, you will not be replacing it.
Take Away Privileges
When things have no natural consequence, Healthy Children recommends creating one. "If you don't do your homework, I'll take away your TV privileges for the day." These consequences need to become established as early as possible in the disciplining process. Don't wait until you've been asking your child to do his homework for an hour before you establish the consequences of not obeying. This works even better if you have a series of rules or consequences established for different actions that you repeat every time the problem arises. Use a few items and withhold privileges that have a meaning to your child, such as taking away the TV or the Playstation or canceling a play date. Never rescind on your word or next time your child won't take you seriously.
Establish a Time-Out Period
Kids younger than five might have trouble understanding the concept of privileges and consequences, so time-outs might be more effective. Time-out works best if you save it for only serious problems, rather than implementing it all the time, for even the smallest offenses. A time-out that lasts only a few minutes is often enough, according to Healthy Children. Don't send a child to his room for a time-out, since there's likely to be lots of toys and fun things to do there. Instead, sit him on a chair in the corner or at the kitchen table without anything to do.
