Should You Ever Punish Your Child-by Dana Obleman

I love getting advice from other moms who have experienced similar struggles and have found answers! Dana Obleman is one of those moms.  I used her advice for my littlest one, Maxwell, for all his sleeping needs as he was approaching his first year, and the "no whining weekend cure" I am still practicing with my four year old.  She is an expert in my eyes and uses her passion to help others. I can relate to that! See what she has to say about punishing your child.....
One of the most important parenting lessons I ever learned
was the difference between using punishments and consequences.
The difference is pretty simple, really:
A punishment is when you inflict some kind of penalty on your
child.
A consequence is just a natural result of something that already
happened.
For example, let's say you have a rule in your house: no
throwing toys. But then one day, your two-year-old daughter Sally
gets mad and throws her favorite doll at her brother. He jumps out
of the way, and the doll hits the wall and breaks into pieces.
The natural consequence of her action -- throwing her doll -- is
that her favorite toy is now broken. That will teach her the
importance of not throwing toys MUCH more effectively than
scolding or yelling will.
So instead of yelling at Sally for throwing her doll and sending
her to her room, it would be better to just say something like,
"You must have been really angry to throw your doll like that."

This will help her make the connection between acting out in
anger and losing her favorite toy... and spare you the need to
be the "bad guy" by disciplining her for something she already
regrets.

You can learn more about consequences, discipline, and get
tons of other helpful parenting tips by visiting my website at:

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