Disciplining Your Toddler Without Losing Your Mind

Enforcing the rules and willing your toddlers to obey you when they barely listen and pay attention to you can be pretty frustrating. It can make you go crazy and possibly even make you resent your child. When your toddler starts throwing a tantrum just because you did not give them what they wanted, you might feel like throwing a tantrum of your own but it won’t solve the problem, would it?

That is why it would be better if you use the following tricks on how to discipline a toddler:

1. Identify Their Misbehaviors’ Triggers

You can prevent them from misbehaving if you know what typically causes it and develop a plan to avoid it. Children usually act out when they are sleepy, hungry, extremely tired or frustrated from staying inside all the time. Make sure to help them get enough sleep for around 10 hours at night and one to two hours of nap time during the day, feed them, healthy snacks, and let them play outside to help to help release their pent-up energy.

2. Choose Your Battles and Set Priorities

You cannot say no to just about everything. Toddlers who keep hearing a no from you might end up tuning you out.  Instead, determine which misbehaviors are critical to correct and which you consider as simply annoying that they would grow out of. This is also one effective trick on how to discipline a toddler who doesn’t listen.

3. Follow Through Consequences

When you give your toddler consequences, make sure to implement them. This is one of the tips on disciplining toddlers that you can also use this to set down limits with them. Every time you keep your word and stay consistent in delivering those consequences, it teaches your toddler to trust you and avoid misbehaving. But if you keep missing in imposing those consequences, they might think that they can continue misbehaving because you never consistently follow through with consequences.

4. Implement Time-outs and Take Away Privileges

This meant putting your toddler in a boring yet safe place away from the chaos and away from your attention right after they committed an offense. Let them stay there for one minute for every year of their age. For instance, two minutes for a two-year-old. When they leave the designated place, put them back to show them you mean business.You can also take away something that matters to them for a certain period of time, such as their toys, their privilege to watch TV or play with their game consoles. This is how to discipline a toddler without hitting.

5. Brace Yourself If You’re Already Having a Bad Day

When you are in a good mood, you are more patient with your toddler, but the opposite happens when you are in a bad mood. Spend a few minutes to relax before spending time with your toddler. Take a deep breath and keep reminding yourself that you should not take it out on your toddler when they whine or misbehave.

6. Don’t Overtalk

You might tend to give your toddler a long, detailed explanation about what they did wrong and what consequences you will give them. But toddlers do not have the attention span to absorb what you are telling them. Instead, talk to them in short phrases, repeat them a few times, and include facial expression and vocal inflections. One of the tips toddler discipline is to keep it short and simple.

7. Be Positive

Don’t let your frustration win over you and don’t ever vent it out in front of them. If you hear your parents speak about them in a negative way, it would not paint a good image of you and your toddlers would end up repeating their misbehavior.

When you feel exasperated and reach that point, ask your spouse or friend for support and vent it out to them instead. It also helps if you read toddler discipline books.