What Kind Of Discipline Works Best For A Crying Child
What Kind Of Discipline Works Best For A Crying Child
When your child is crying, what can you do? Sometimes parents feel helpless, and at a loss for answers or solutions, especially if they’ve already tried whatever thing came to mind first. But there are other answers of discipline for a crying child.
Determine The Cause
In choosing discipline for a crying child, the first step is to figure out why the child is crying. Sometimes the child can tell you, but often someone else will need to be “translator” for the crying child, and tell you why they started crying. If the child is hurt, you probably don’t want to get upset or banish the child to their room. On the other hand, if the big brother is teasing the child, maybe it is the big brother who needs the discipline more!
Address The Need
Once you know why the child is crying – if you can determine it – then do what you can to help. If the child got hurt, get out a bandage or kiss the owie better. If the child is hungry, feed him! If he’s tired, help him relax so he can fall asleep. Address the need, and the crying will likely go away – an easy way to look at discipline for a crying child.
Reaffirm The Love
But along with addressing the need to solve the problem, the next important step is to reassure the child of your love. This is where the hugs and kisses come in – kids need them more than we adults realize. Holding and cuddling a young child on your lap for a bit can be an effective discipline for a crying child, though we may not think of it at first.
Give Some Time
Give your babe some time to get over the crying. Tears can’t be stopped immediately, and the more of a big deal we make about them, the more they are likely to continue. Then we are more likely to want to discipline for a crying child who is crying “unnecessarily,” and it becomes a situation we caused. Better is to say something like, “You’ll feel better soon, and you can stop crying whenever you’re ready to go back in to dinner.” or something else that puts the power to stop squarely back on the child’s shoulders. That’s much better than the “what a baby! You’re still crying?” type of response that some adults give. Shaming a child rarely works to help a child stop crying, in fact, it can add to the distress. It is a poor choice for discipline for a crying child.
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