How to Discipline a Strong Willed Child

The most important aspect of disciplining a strong willed child is consistency. The strong willed child pushes boundaries and tries to gain control of most any situation. To be effective, you must consistently enforce your discipline techniques. Read on to learn how to discipline a strong willed child.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Find out what matters to your child. Strong willed children often need to experience consequences to their actions as opposed to responding to reasoning. To figure out the best consequence, you need to understand your child.
2. Physically remove the child when he doesn't respect your wishes. For example, if the child is acting up at a restaurant, leave the restaurant. The strong willed child must understand that you are always in control.
3. Always look the child in the eye when you speak to her and block out any distractions. Do this when disciplining or when having a normal, fun conversation. The child needs to know he has your attention, and there is nothing more interesting to you then what he is saying.
4. Always stick to your word. The strong willed child can take advantage of you being tired, or busy to test their boundaries. If you want to have peace in your home, you must stick to your word. If you threaten a time-out until they cooperate, then you must leave them in time-out until they cooperate.
5. Remove yourself from the room if the child throws a temper tantrum. As long as the child is not in harms way, leave her to cry, scream and fuss on her own. Once the child realizes tantrums have no effect on you, they will stop.