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Every parent knows that it’s important to discipline kids when they do something wrong. This is how your children learn to respect boundaries and learn right from wrong. And although disciplining your child doesn’t have to be unpleasant, it often is. This is because parents lash out or turn towards inappropriate ways to get their point across. But, as you learn how to best get through to your child, you will realize that it’s just not how you discipline your child that counts, but where. The environment you’re in can greatly influence your tone and the mindset of your little one. So, if you’d like to discipline them in a calm manner and have them be receptive to you, screaming across the hallway isn’t the way to go about it. Instead, try bathtime. This may not seem like an obvious answer, but it works wonders and we’re here to tell you why. Read on to know more!
1. It Gives You Time To Calm Down
It’s hard to snap at your little ones when they do something wrong or worse, do something to endanger themselves. Sometimes curious toddlers can wander away from their parents at the mall or run across the street which can cause a volatile knee-jerk reaction from the parents when they do get a hold of them. It’s easy to lose patience and go stark raving mad in these cases, but that won’t help the situation or inform your child about the dangers of repeating this behavior. They still don’t understand why it’s wrong and what they should’ve done instead.
The only thing having an outburst will do is allow you to feel relieved and good for 2 seconds before you feel bad for yelling at your child who doesn’t know any better. The best thing to do when you are in flight or fight mode is to tell your child to stop doing the dangerous act immediately and tell them that it’s wrong. Then you can bring it up later and have a discussion once you’ve cooled down and once they are in the headspace to listen to you without being scared or overwhelmed. This is why something comforting like bath time is the best time to have this conversation.
2. There Are Less Distractions
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One good thing about confronting your kids in the bath is that you don’t have to compete with a million different things for their attention. A bath involves just one activity, there isn’t a tv or ipad to distract your child. This is also a familiar environment for them so they aren’t going to be intrigued by anything behind you. You have your child’s undivided attention, in a space where they can move about without feeling cornered while still being stationary. All you have to do is put your kids in some warm water and talk to them. Make sure not too much time passes between the incident and bath time though as toddlers have a hard time recollecting all the mischief they got into that day.
Start by allowing your little one to splash around in the water and bubbles before you tell them that you want to talk to them about what happened earlier. And then start to outline why it was bad and what you’d like them to do in the future. Then, once they understand, allow them to go back to playing with their rubber ducky.
3. It Has A Calming Effect On The Kids
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Baths are the perfect time to relax and unwind after a busy or bad day. Waiting till bath time to talk to your kids about things that might usually unnerve them or stress them out is the right move because they will be in a relaxed environment when you bring it up. Kids are more likely to open up about why they did what they did and how they are really feeling when they feel safe and secure. This is why confronting them on the street is not ideal. Give them time to relax and slowly express themselves. It also helps that your tone isn’t harsh by this point. The last thing your child wants is to say something to make you angry again. Make sure to validate your child’s emotions when they do share them with you and then remind them not to repeat their behavior.
4. Use This Method Sparingly
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You still want bath time to be a fun and relaxing time for your kids. Bath time must not equate to interrogation time. So use this method sparingly and only when you feel like your kids really need to calm down before you talk to them.
Discipling kids is never an easy task. But by evaluating where and how we do it, we can make sure that we are truly helping our kids and not harming them. So, would you use the bathtime method? Let us know in the comments section!
