What is the best way to discipline a 4 year old child?

Answer 1

consistency is key to any discipline. one warning & then punishment is the best way to deal. they know you mean business that way. time-out works with most common problems-- with a discussion of what was wrong & they appologize before they can be out of time out. taking things away are great ways to help them to feel that things are wrong also.

Answer 2

My daughter is weeks away from being 4 and this is what we have been doing for discipline. When she does something wrong we give her a warning and explain to her what she is doing wrong and say "that's 1". If she continues to do what she is doing we tell her "that's 2" and leave it at that. If she still isn't listening we tell her "that's 3" and then remover her from the situation and place her in a spot all on her own. She has 3 minutes to sit there and think about what is going on and then when the 3 minutes are up we go over and ask her why she has been asked to walk away. After we talk about what happened we leave it in the past and move on. Another thing that we are finding works really well is taking away privileges. There has been a lot of arguing between her and her older sister and a lot of examples that she is showing her younger sister that are not okay. If she is having an exceptionally hard day we'll usually take away desert or not let her watch TV with everyone before bed. By the next day she usually is pretty good because she wants her desert back. Hope this is helpful, these tactics are working for her and they worked on her older sister.

Answer 3

I have a young man who just turned 5 a couple weeks ago, so i know a little about this. most importantly, you have to understand how your particular child thinks. do they get humiliated easily? do they talk back? do they understand when you explain something to them? do they know right from wrong? you shouldn't need to put your hands on them for discipline (however, I'm not against spankings...as long as they are with an open hand and not while you're angry). consistency! they should never get away with anything and you should never lose the argument. if they beat you once, their confidence grows and they know they can beat you again. my theory is: children are adults in training. everything they do reflects what they will become as an adult. they important thing is to make sure they learn to make the right choices and can distinguish from right and wrong. they need to be able to make the right decisions. keep in mind that kids will be kids. serious discipline should only be when they do something that they know is wrong. but to answer your question more specifically...it depends on what they did that was wrong. if they didn't finish their dinner, then no dessert. if they are fighting with the other kids, then maybe they should sit down and watch the other kids playing until they want to play nicely. bad grades, force them to study for a given amount of time, ect... hope that helps.

Answer 4

At the age of 4, most children can grasp the basics of right and wrong if you give them guidance. A simple explanation of why it is not a good thing to do whatever he/she was doing will often be all that is needed. Since children that age have a short attention span, long explanations would not be a good idea. If the child is having a temper tantrum or other behaviours that need to be addressed right away, it often works to give the child a time out (only a few minutes, please, at that age). After the child is calmed down, then you can explain something like "you might get hurt if you do that," "i will listen if you talk and tell me what you want, but if you cry or holler, then i can't help you."

Answer 5

I think all children react differently, but I found that when my daughter was 4 1/2, she went through a rough patch and the only thing that work was a few minutes to her self with no toys, books, television ect. I then would go and talk to her once she had a few minutes to regroup and explain to her the best way for her handle the situation. She is now 6 1/2 and is great at telling me and her sibilings how she feels and what she would like to do to resolve any problems!

Answer 6

1. Stay calm and therfore in control of situation at all times :) (easier said than done, I know...)
2. Be 100% consistent - same response to each negative behaviour, regardless if it's mum, dad, grandma or babysitter doing the disciplining.
3. Make discipline relevant/appropriate to negative behaviour and child's age. (Silly to smack a child while trying to teach them not to hit others, for example)
4. Never give in to crying/whinging, the child only learns they will get their own way if they cry long enough....it will drive you to insanity the next time....
Good luck!

Answer 7

I have a very good but sometimes stubborn 4 yr old..he's insanley into trains, so when he's bad..we take trains away..movies away...anything that he is crazy about..he loses for the night..make sure you sit down and talk to them and tell them why they are in trouble and other ways to reslove things ....just have to stick with it..dont say I'm gonnd do this or that if you are bad..and then not follow thru...thats how they know they have control..cause they know you wont punish them..good luck

Answer 8

Really it depends on what he has done, but with love and understanding. Kids need to know you love them even when the've done something wrong. I would talk to him and tell him hes done wrong. You can give him a time out. You take something away, maybe tv, or video game, or his favorite toy. (Just not his lovie he goes to sleep with). You also could slap his hand if he is doing something dangerous, but I would use that as a last resort. Also, some behavior can be ignored. So really I guess it depends on what he has done, as I previously said. Good luck.

Answer 9

First try time outs if that doesn't work grounding if that doesn't work spanking and if you must spank let him/her cry it out for a few mins 2-4 mins at the most then let them know you still love them

Answer 10

my husband and i use 1,2,3 and at the end of 3 if he hasent stopped doing whatever he was doing he goes in time out on the steps for 4 minutes it works very well for us we read the book 123 magic