How to Discipline a Toddler

Toddlers are free spirits—they enjoy testing the limits presented to them. This involves a lot of breaking the rules and misbehaving. Disciplining a toddler focuses on eliminating negative behaviors and promoting positive behaviors. There are several ways to discipline a toddler, but the key is finding the one that works best for the child involved.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Avoid yelling or hitting. This teaches the child that aggression is acceptable, and can lead to more behavior problems in the future.
2. Use positive reinforcement. Rather than giving attention to negative behaviors constantly, compliment positive behavior. Since attention is what toddlers crave, even negative attention is a reward.
3. Withhold privileges. For instance, take away a favorite toy, a trip to the park or television time. This is discipline without negative attention.
4. Show children the consequences of their actions. These include the natural consequences, such as breaking a toy so it can't be enjoyed, and logical consequences, such as if toys are not put up, then they will be put away and can't be played with.
5. Use time-outs. This gives the child a chance to think about the questionable actions and calm down. Time-outs are generally the same length in minutes as the age of the child. They are only effective after 2 years of age, as younger children will not understand this form of discipline.
6. Try ignoring a misbehaving child. This form of discipline is known as extinction, and requires that no attention is given when the undesired behavior is performed.