Lack of emotional bond, facing tantrums, and setting clear goals are the common challenges every parent faces when they discipline toddlers. It’s hard to guide the children without any connectivity. Toddlers need love and trust to understand what they expect or feel. It’s very stressful when your toddler throws a fit, and you have no idea how to calm them down.
All these challenges develop the feeling of being exhausted or lost in parents. So, how to discipline a toddler without any yelling. This article provides you with detailed tips or strategies that enable you to add discipline in toddlers lives. Keep reading to discover the secret techniques.
How to Discipline a Toddler with 7 Practical Techniques?
Before following certain guidelines to add discipline in toddlers’ lives, it’s important to understand when to start disciplining a child. 19- to 25-month-old toddlers are the best age to teach the rules that help them feel safe and secure. You can start teaching your child about what you like or not.
Here are tried and tested tips that guide you on how to discipline a 1-year-old toddler or under one-year-old toddler.
1. Set Clear and Consistent Boundaries or Rules
How to be a better mother? As a good mother of toddlers, it’s essential for you to create clear boundaries and rules. Once you make rules, don’t change them every two to three days. It may confuse your baby to follow them or pick what you do or not.
Make sure the rules are easy to understand for toddlers. In the early stage of life, toddlers’ minds are in a growing stage. Try to follow or practice these rules consistently. Also make sure the rules are not hard and help the baby to feel safe and secure.
Tips for setting clear and consistent boundaries for toddler discipline:
- Keep rules simple, like “no hitting” or “be gentle.”
- Be firm but remain calm when applying rules.
- Set the routine or timetable to teach these rules.
- Be patient as they learn to follow the rules.
Keep in mind that babies need time to learn these rules. Over time, they will start following rules naturally.
2. Use Positive Reinforcement for Desired Behaviors
Positive reinforcement means appreciating the baby’s good moves or actions, and behaviors. This is one of the best techniques to teach your toddler good behavior or manners. It is best to encourage the toddlers about good ones rather than punishing them for bad actions.
Encourage your toddlers when they listen, share, and express kindness. Furthermore, give positive feedback that motivates the babies to repeat the good actions. It’s necessary to notice the little things they do right, like putting their toys away, etc.
Related Article: How to get the toddler to listen? Simple tactics that work
Tips for using positive reinforcement:
- Praise your toddlers immediately with nonverbal communication like thumb erection.
- Use words like Great job! Or I am so proud of you!
- Offer small rewards like stickers.
- Keep praise sincere and avoid complicating it.
You can create an environment to keep the toddlers motivated to do good actions.
3. Teach the Power of Time-Outs Without Punishment
Time-out tips are one of the effective ways to teach toddlers something great about behaviors. It’s not like giving punishment. It’s all about giving another chance or time to calm down the babies. During this time, toddlers think on their behaviors.
It enables the children to understand that every action has certain consequences. So, it is important to teach the toddlers to take action wisely. A good mother understand this tips and don’t use the time-out technique as a threat. They use this tip to give space to the baby. So, they think about what happened.
Tips for using time-outs effectively for toddler discipline:
- Give your toddlers quiet space to sit for a short time
- Use time-out for certain actions like hitting or yelling.
- Parents avoid being angry during the time-out process.
After the time-out, talk to your toddler about your behavior, saying it wasn’t okay and what they can do next time.
4. Redirect Attention with Distraction Techniques
When the toddlers are misbehaving or making wrong moves, redirect their attention to other things. Redirection is the best tool to shift their focus away from frustrations. When you see your toddler start to get disturbed or upset, try to change the subject or introduce new things.
This action immediately captures their attention and gives them a chance to forget about what made them upset. Redirection works among the younger toddlers. Because they have shorter attention spans and easily shift their focus to other things.
Tips for redirection techniques:
- Change the words or start doing a new activity.
- Offer a favorite or new toys to shift their focus.
- Go outside with toddler to distract from upset or tense environment.
- Use a smiley or funny face to release baby tension.
This technique prevents the situation from getting worse and gives babies a situation where they feel better.
5. Stay Calm to Model Emotional Control
Children are the reflection of their parents. Its important for parents to control themselves in front of toddlers. If you stay calm when your children are upset, it shows them how to manage their own emotions or feelings.
Your toddlers look or see toward you on how to tackle or act in different situations. If you yell, get depressed, or hate yourself as a mom, they might show the same act as you. So, be calm and take a deep breath to handle the tense situations. If your toddlers do the wrong thing, try to respond affectionately.
Tips for staying calm:
- Take a deep breath before showing any reaction to your toddler’s action.
- Count one to ten in your head to calm down.
- Speak slowly and in a soft voice to release the stress.
- Take a short break to reset your emotions.
When you stay calm, your toddler practically learns how to control emotions. It’s very challenging for you to build emotional control skills, especially in raising boys.
6. Explain Consequences, Not Just Punishments
It’s important to teach your toddler that they are responsible for every action they take. Make it clear that if they break the rules, you will be offended by them. Don’t explain any kind of punishment if they do something wrong.
Punishment leads to developing aggression and feelings of hate toward children. This technique enables the toddlers to better understand what will happen next if something goes wrong. So, your children take responsibility for every move or action.
Tips for explaining consequences:
- Use simple language that your toddler can understand.
- Make sure the consequence fits the action
- Give them a chance to correct their behaviors.
- Explain the consequence clearly before the behavior or wrong happens.
By learning this thing, your strong-willed toddlers will know the real or practical results of their actions.
7. Be Firm but Loving: How to Balance Authority with Compassion
Discipline is not all about being strict or beating and yelling. When you teach toddlers the basic manners or rules, be firm, but your attitude should be loving. It’s important for mothers to show love for their children.
When you balance your positive attitude and your power and authority, your toddlers easily attach to you. Parents can easily create healthy relationships where their children nourish and teach rules.
Tips for balancing authority with compassion
- Set clear and firm rules but don’t enforce these rules
- Usea calm tone of voice to show both love and authority
- Offer hug and words of encouragement after discipline
- Explain your action with love, like “I am doing this because I care about you, my baby.”
By doing this, you can create boundaries where toddlers easily understand the importance of discipline and the consequences of providing this.
Conclusion
To sum up, the knowledge of how to discipline a toddlers involve certain strategies or tips that enable you to understand toddler behaviors. It’s important for parents to avoid certain actions like abuse, yelling, and physical punishment. These actions have a negative impact on children’s mental health. The above guidance enables the parents to discipline their toddlers.
However, how to discipline an autistic toddler. There are no hard or fast rules for autistic children. You can read the above guide and create a healthy environment for children where they learn how to control emotions and stay calm. All these tips make your children responsible for their actions or behaviors.