No-Cry Discipline

Help Your Child Take Medicine without a Fuss

Is giving your child medicine a difficult experience? Does she fuss and push you away whenever it is time to take the medicine? When you finally get the medicine in her mouth, does she spit it out or let half of it drip down her chin?

Unfortunately, at some point your child will likely have to take medication. And since it is very important to give your child medication when necessary and as prescribed, it is also important to lessen the struggle and have your child take the medicine as needed.

When You’re Frustrated that Your Child is Dawdling

“Let’s go!” “You need to hurry up!” “We need to leave!” Sound familiar? It is hard not to get frustrated when you are trying to get everyone out the door, on to the next activity, or ready for bed. It is even more frustrating when your attempts seem to slow everyone down even further rather than speed them up.

The first step in minimizing frustrations is understanding why kids dawdle, and then learning about what you can do to help…

When Little Kids Can’t Share – Here’s How to Help

It can be frustrating and embarrassing when your typically sweet little child refuses to share. Fortunately, this is totally normal and there are things you can do to help. Sharing is a complicated social skill that your child will learn with the help of your guidance and plenty of practice.

Change Your Baby’s Diaper without a Fight

Babies live in an exciting world where there is a lot to discover and explore. They do not want to have to lie still even when their diapers are wet, messy, and surely uncomfortable. Babies can put up a great fight when you need to change their diapers – crying, fussing, or even trying to crawl away. This becomes a great source of frustration to parents, since it’s a basic hygiene issue that can’t be ignored, and it has to happen numerous times a day. All of this means that it can make your day happier to find a way to change your baby’s diaper without a fight.

The Importance of Positive Self-Talk

If your child is often worried, it is likely that his self-talk is negative. Negative self-talk can cause children to focus on possible disasters such as…

What if Mommy forgets to pick me up from camp?

What if I hate my new teacher?

What if I get hurt and no one is there to help me?

What if something bad happens to Daddy while he is away?

A stressed-out child tends to rehearse these thoughts in his mind—over and over—until he becomes overcome with fear and worry. Negative self-talk can escalate easily, which then causes anxiety to increase. This is why it is so important to take the time to work with your child to make his self-talk more positive.

Are you Sending Secret Messages to Your Children?

In their diligent efforts to be good teachers, many parents inadvertently treat their children in ways that they would never treat a friend! In their efforts to raise respectful children, they sometimes become so focused on the end goal that they don’t realize that the secret message coming through to their children is not a pleasant one.

Here’s what I mean:

Imagine that you’ve been invited to your friend’s home for dinner. Your friend welcomes you at the door, and you step inside and say hello. Interrupting you, your host yells, “What is the matter with you! Your shoes are all muddy and you’re getting my carpet dirty!” Embarrassed you mumble, “Sorry,” and remove your shoes.