Discipline

Good question! I’m no expert and this is my first. Just wanted to offer the resource biglittlefeelings.com I believe they have an instagram page too. It’s toddler specific parenting advice. I’ve found it really helpful!

The best thing you can do for your child is teach them to coregulate, which means to calm down and ground their emotions using the help of a caregiver. When kids (or grown ups) are very upset it's impossible to learn lessons. Start right away by being comforting, kind, offering hugs, patting their back, massage, modeling deep breaths etc when your child is upset. Help them identify their emotions (ex: you're feeling so upset that we need to leave the park. That's so disappointing). If your child is doing something that's not allowed, tell them"no" calmly (very important that it's said calmly) and don't allow them to continue doing the behavior - take away the toy they're trying to break, put them down if they're pulling your hair, move them away from the outlet they're trying to touch, etc. and if they get very upset offer a distraction or coregulation. If you seem upset you will spark their interest and might accidentally encourage that behavior to happen again.

Keep in mind that research shows that punishment of any kind, especially physical punishment, is much less effective at changing behavior than giving rewards for good behaviors and punishment creates several negative side effects like damaging the relationship, violence, negative outbursts, mental illness, etc. So it's way better to reward good behaviors and ignore bad behaviors than to punish bad behaviors. Good luck!

The word discipline means to teach. You are always doing this. If you want your child to do specific things or act a certain way, you HAVE to behave that way. Yelling teaches yelling, and hitting teaches hitting. But also, respect teaches respect. The more you point out the good things, the more you will see those behaviors. The more you point out the bad things, the more you will see those behaviors. Never ignore your child-it teaches them you don't care, plus you're only teaching them how to ignore you! You're the model. When we teach our children what NOT to do, we fail to teach them what TO do. My best help for listening skills, is say it once, say it twice, then assist them in doing the thing, and ALWAYS praise, even if you had to help them get there.