Questions about why children act the way they do. See the tag [discipline] about enforcing your rules.
21
votes
8answers
25k views
How can we discipline a strong-willed, misbehaving 5 year-old?
My 5 year old son receives and fears punishment but repeatedly exhibits the same unacceptable behaviors. He's always been strong-willed, and is usually the kind to view a statement like "Don't do ...
14
votes
10answers
5k views
My 5 year- old daughter is constantly defiant!
My 5-year old daughter is very defiant.
It started getting bad about 6 months ago. She doesn't do what she is told, and any time she hears the word no she throws terribly over dramatic fits screaming ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
What constitutes verbal abuse of one's child?
I frequently see parents engaging in behavior that I perceive to be verbal abuse. However, with so many parents falling in different places with regard to the strictness of their discipline, the ...
9
votes
3answers
385 views
How can I motivate my child who doesn't care about rewards?
My son is 8 and has always been argumentative and basically lazy with doing ANYTHING since he could talk.
If he has homework that takes ten minutes, he will take two hours due to just leaving the ...
13
votes
6answers
3k views
When should a child stop using a pacifier, and how can I help with this transition?
I am curious how a child can be helped to move on from his/her pacifier, and what age is a good age to do this?
12
votes
7answers
6k views
Why does my child eat so slowly?
When we have a family meal, the middle daughter will always take her time. I mean up to 2 hours, to finish a meal, especially if its not her kind of food. She'll get very easily distracted, sing to ...
7
votes
7answers
964 views
How strict should we be with our 14 month old boy?
Our baby is really sweet :)
Generally can be considered as a good / easy going baby. There are times though, when he gets totally out of control.
I've had a discussion with a child-psychologist who ...
7
votes
5answers
2k views
How to prevent children from sucking their thumb?
My 4-years-old daughter still sucks her thumb while sleeping.
How can help her stopping this habit?
I have tried to give her a pacifier, but she refuses it.
She does not have this habit during the ...
3
votes
2answers
309 views
How can we get our 5 year old son to control his temper and behave
Our youngest of 2 sons is 5 years old and demonstrating really bad behaviour. This has been on going for 2 years. He has just started primary one and is a march birthday so one of the oldest in his ...
15
votes
7answers
735 views
How can I negotiate with a toddler successfully?
Recently our 2.5 daughter started being really annoying about doing simple daily things, like brushing her teeth, dressing, undressing, putting on shoes to go out, etc. Often we need to negotiate up ...
9
votes
4answers
568 views
How to deal with incessant talking?
Our 4 year-old is constantly talking. This isn't your average pestering parents on a topic until they answer or you lose interest. He never loses interest and continually switches to any random ...
5
votes
5answers
267 views
How should I deal with my toddler's difficult behavior towards food?
My daughter is almost 15 months old and has always been a small eater. She was breastfed for the first 5 months then solids were gradually introduced. It went okay for the first few weeks but soon it ...
18
votes
3answers
1k views
How do you handle poor behavior by other people's children?
I believe that interacting with a variety of other children at social functions is an important part of childhood development. However, there seem to be a lot of children who are... how shall I ...
14
votes
5answers
2k views
What are some ways to teach a child how to spit (after brushing their teeth)?
Typically, this is something you don't want out of a child. My 4 1/2 yr old has been brushing his own teeth for about a year. The problem is that I can't convey to him to spit out the toothpaste. I ...
11
votes
7answers
216 views
How do we teach our 1 yr. old that “no” isn't a game?
We have a little girl that's almost 13 months old. She's found that when she touches a power cord or near an electrical outlet and we say "no" that it's a bit of a game. She gets a funny smirk on her ...
10
votes
3answers
555 views
How do you operate a successful “Star Chart”?
So, one of the techniques for improving behaviour that you often hear about is the "star chart". You put the focus on good behaviour by adding stars (I nearly said "badges") for the good stuff and ...
9
votes
3answers
268 views
How can I handle a child that claims medical problems as a bad excuse?
I have 3 kids who seem to use medical reasons for excuses, most often to not go to bed. For instance, my 7 year old periodically "Can't move" at bed time to get to his bed, but when he gets in there, ...
8
votes
4answers
454 views
How do I teach my toddler not to abuse animals?
We have two dogs and two cats, and our son loves to interact with them, but his form of interacting is not particularly enjoyable to the animals...
Some of the things he does are just annoying, like ...
7
votes
6answers
368 views
teenage child with severe daily temper tantrums and whining
My 13 year old daughter has severe and daily outbursts - sometimes as many as 10 a day - from time she gets up till time she goes to bed. This has been going on since she was of walking and talking ...
6
votes
4answers
174 views
What should be done when your child wakes up from a nap and is extremely irritable?
We have a daughter who takes naps and (usually) wakes up extremely cranky and irritable. She is 1 month away from being 3. Because she is so irritable, she'll usually cry when she wakes up. Depending ...
6
votes
4answers
5k views
When should an infant stop sucking on her hands?
My little girl about 3 months old and she already mouths quite frequently on her hands. Should we try to discourage this behavior now (by pulling her hand away when we find her doing it), or wait ...
5
votes
5answers
5k views
Can temper tantrums indicate a behavior problem?
I understand that temper tantrums are relatively normal for many children.
However, some children seem to have far more temper tantrums than other children their age, and others far fewer.
Can ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
What should you do after you've raised your voice at your child?
We've all lost our cool at one point or another. We all know its terrible to raise your voice at your kids, but every once in a while we slip. I've occasionally raised my voice to my teenager and to ...
6
votes
2answers
194 views
How can I encourage my 4.5 year old daughter to eat without needing tons of time along with play?
It seems that our daughter is not so fond of most foods. She is fond of milk though - any kind of milk, cow, goat, even soy. While eating I get the feeling she is bored. She eats very slowly and not ...
5
votes
5answers
255 views
How do you prepare for the “terrible twos”?
I keep hearing about how bad things get once a child enters the "terrible twos". I know quite a few parents who claim that the age is just a natural time for frequent temper tantrums, and non-stop ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
How do you teach a 1 year old to stop biting people?
I have a friend with a one year old that bites people, maybe as a sign of affection, but doesn't know that it hurts others. How can his parents discipline him regarding this behavior?
Do you try to ...
1
vote
1answer
303 views
My 4.5yr-old girl is afraid of death. What should I do?
Last night my wife (as usual) was putting our 4.5yr-old baby girl to sleep. Our daughter becomes very chatty at that time and (especially in the presence of mom) expresses thoughts and things that ...