If you are a parent of any child over one year of age, it is likely you understand why discipline is important. Many parents are a little lost when their tiny bundle of baby joy turns into a taxing, authority-challenging toddler. Generally that discipline is needed is no question, its how to discipline the child that is sometimes unclear.

A child that lacks discipline is not only in danger to her or his self, but also puts a great deal of unnecessary stress on the parents. Too much or incorrect discipline however can have lasting negative affects on the child’s psychology.http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;101/4/723

This simple step-by-step guide will offer advice on how to discipline a child at any life stage. Remember that no one can tell you just how to parent and discipline your child. This guide is merely a general idea of how to discipline a child. It will attempt to remain impartial to any one method. What does or does not work for you may vary. Feel free to amend, alter, and change this guide to meet your child’s and your personal needs as you see fit.

Once your child begins to learn to move, be it crawling or walking, you will likely find the need to stop them from doing things that can hurt them or that you simply do not want them doing.

Very young babies will likely not understand any form of discipline you could offer. Your best route of action is to eliminate the opportunity for them to do wrong. You can do this by child proofing your home. You can find a full guide on how to child proof by clicking the phrase in this sentence.

If you do catch the baby doing something dangerous or that you don’t want them doing, simply say, “No” in a firm tone and stop the child from doing what it’s doing. It may also help to replace the negative activity with an acceptable one.

Once the baby becomes an actual toddler, many experts feel time-out is the best method of discipline. Keep in mind that a toddler has a short memory. Keep time-outs short and make the discipline immediate. Always explain in very simple words why they are being put in time-out as well as let the child know that repeating the action will result in time-out again.

Here are a few examples:

The child is sticking Cheetos in the VCR. You could say, “No, we don’t put food into the VCR. If we do, it will stop working and we can’t watch *insert a favorite cartoon*. When you put food in the VCR you get put in time-out.”

The child is hitting you or someone else. You might say, “No, we don’t hit. When we hit people, it hurts them and then they are sad. When you hit people you get put in time-out.”

Following the explanation be sure to follow through each time and place the child in time-out. http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/discipline.html#

By time a toddler is about three years old they begin to understand the concept of consequences. This is a good time to sit down as a family and talk about house rules. Teaching your child that actions have consequences is more effective than teaching them that doing wrong results in punishment.

At this age, the child is also far more likely to notice if you are not living by the same rules you set for them or if you fail to follow through with your consequences every time a negative action is performed. It is especially important you both follow your own rules and follow through on any threat you make. Avoid making threats out of anger you would never keep. For example, telling your child you’ll turn around and go home if you’re five hours from home on an eight hour road trip is an unrealistic punishment.

Also, now is a good time to begin offering a verbal explanation of what the proper behavior is as an alternative to the bad behavior. Be sure to reward positive behavior, just as often as you provide consequences for negative behavior. http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/discipline.html#

Many parents begin to consider spanking as a form of discipline at this age. The jury is out so to speak as far as expert advice goes on this one. Some feel it hurts the child in more than one way, others say it has benefits now and later. http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/01/04/2010-01-04_spanking_makes_kids_perform_better_in_school_study.html If you do choose to spank be sure you are not hurting the child. There is a difference between spanking and abusing. Always use an open hand and restraint. One way many parents feel spanking can be effectively integrated is to use it only in severe situations; circumstances where not obeying could cost your child its life. This makes spanking have a shock factor by making it an out of the ordinary punishment, rather than a common consequence. For instance if you caught your child playing with matches or a knife, spanking may be appropriate. As with the time-out method be sure to explain entirely why the child is being punished before punishing. http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/how-to-spank-your-child-4548.html

By age six your child has left the toddler stage and is well into kid. Stay true to your now well-established rules and set of consequences but begin to add in natural consequences and consequences that fit the crime so to speak. Before this age the child may not understand these types of punishment; this is why time-out is a better bet in younger kids.

A natural consequence is the reason you did not want them to do what ever it is they are doing. For example, if you wanted your child to go to bed at a decent time so they will not be tired. The concept of natural consequences would mean to let them stay up and suffer with being tired the following day. The idea is that the child will learn from their own negative behavior and correct it. This can work better if you make sure the child understands what caused the negative reaction through explanation.

With consequences that fit the crime, you begin to branch off from simple time-outs. Pick a punishment that relates to the negative behavior. For instance, a child that tracks mud all over the house should clean the floors. A child that gets mad while playing video games and throws the controller gets the game taken away.

Once the child reaches teen age, removal of privileges can be a useful tactic. It is important to communicate with a teen often and treat them as the adult they are quickly becoming but also maintain control. Grant your child at all ages the respect you would want yourself.http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/discipline.html#http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/discipline