Positive Discipline Versus Punishment

Discipline and Punishment - What's The Difference

Child discipline- Isn't this the least enjoyable part of parenting?

Disciplining your child is indeed the toughest challenge of parenting. It can get frustrating, discouraging, and hard too. Parenting can feel overwhelming! Wish kids came with their own customised manual for smooth functioning and sanity of moms! Moving on from wishful thinking, do you ever ponder about how to discipline your child without punishing them?

Let’s first differentiate between discipline and punishment, shall we?

What is discipline?

Discipline refers to a positive way of teaching the kid self-control, confidence, and responsibility. The key to positive discipline is making the child understand what behaviour is okay and what behaviour is not okay. Encouraging the appropriate behaviour of your child is very important.

What is Punishment?

Punishment is quite different from discipline. Punishment may be physical as in hitting, causing pain. It may be psychological as in disapproval, isolation, or shaming. It focuses on past misbehaviour and offers no help to make the child's behaviour better in the future.

The first thing you need to comprehend is punishment is NOT the way of disciplining your child. No more nagging, no more yelling. So what can you do then? Winning without whining is your new go-to mantra. And we will teach you how to master the art of positive parenting. Let's get started.

Discipline refers to teaching, whereas punishment inflicts suffering, from past behaviour. Punishment is really awful and harmful to the brain, and moms don't you want a healthy brain for your little one? We know the answer to that is a unanimous yes! Here are 10 discipline mistakes to avoid.

Punishment is bad for your kid, and why should you discipline them the right way?

Positive discipline helps strengthen the relationship between the parent and the child. Punishment triggers fear, guilt, shame, and this will lead to erosion of self-esteem and resentment, which, however, will result in bad behaviour i.e. toddler tantrums. Here are three areas where you can work in disciplining your child!

Give the attention they need:

NEWS FLASH: Kids need attention. If you don’t keep that attention basket full with positive attention, kids will look out for it in any way they can get, even negative attention. They will push your buttons with negative behaviour because to a kid, even negative attention is a deposit in the attention bucket. Take out a few minutes every day and spend some time with your child. Make sure the time you are with them is just for them. When you fill your child’s attention basket positively and proactively, your kids will become more cooperative, and less likely to seek out attention in negative ways.

Set limits and stick to them:

Kids thrive when they have structure and know their boundaries. When the expectations from your end are clearly communicated to them, they have a framework to work within. Don't go overboard with tons of rules, but focus on what’s most important. Be clear about the ground rules and what happens when someone breaks the rules. Be consistent. Follow through every time with the agreed-upon consequence when kids push the rules.

Reward good behaviour:

Acknowledging the right behaviour is the best way to encourage the child to continue doing the same. Compliment your little one if he is behaving in an appreciable manner. You can reward your kid with a treat too. But always remember to teach them the difference between rewarding & bribing!

Discipline is proactive, rather than reactive. It prevents many behaviour problems and it ensures kids are actively learning from their mistakes. So what are your ways of disciplining your kid? Share with us in the comment section.