Toddler Behavior and Discipline

Favorite Words of a Four-Year-Old Your four-year-old actually needs to talk a lot. Though she's become much more fluent in her use of language, your preschooler is still practicing with different sounds and words. During this year, she'll proba...

Breaking the Pacifier Habit Most pacifiers are now designed with orthodontia in mind. They will not do any damage to the alignment of your child's teeth. So why make a point of asking your preschooler to stop using a pacifier? In time, your chil...

Your One-Year-Old: Beginning DisciplineRule #1: The word "discipline" means teaching, not punishing. Understand that, at this age, baby is beginning to learn the word no. Only use it when you mean it, and expect baby to challenge you on it every...

Breaking the Thumb Sucking Habit Childproofing Bad-tasting solutions that you can apply to your preschooler's thumb have a serious drawback. If your child rubs his eyes, the solution may sting or irritate them. Some dentists insist that thumb s...

Identifying Bad Habits in Preschoolers This article focuses on bad habits rather than bad behavior, because behavior that troubles you becomes a problem only when it becomes habitual. All preschoolers behave in ways that parents wish they would...

Helping Your Child Express Anger Appropriately Part of the reason two-year-olds have tantrums is because they don't have the words or other tools they need to express their anger or frustration fully or appropriately. For this, your toddler ne...

Three-year-olds aren't able use words at all times when they are angry, frustrated, or frightened. ...

Airing Your Dirty Laundry: Handling Public Tantrums Parents of two- and three-year-olds find themselves most uncomfortable and embarrassed when their children have tantrums in public: in the grocery store, in the park, or—and this is the wors...

Taming Toddler Tantrums Toddlers have tantrums primarily due to frustration and anger. Your toddler is probably very demanding and ambitious. Yet at the same time, she probably has a very low threshold for frustration. This volatile combination...

Temper tantrums are an inevitable part of being parent. While there is no way to prevent them, there are ways to help calm your child down when he is in the throes of emotional turmoil. Read on for 10 sanity-saving tantrum tips, and don't forget ...

Two-and-a-half-year-olds really want to have control over something -- and what they eat is the number one control issue. ...

The Terrible Twos: A Struggle for Independence Your two-year-old persists in the struggle that began when he started walking: The struggle toward some degree of separation, autonomy, independence, and the ultimate issue—identity. This means th...

The Terrible Twos: A Part of Emotional Development Why are they called the "terrible twos"? Probably because of the way two-year-olds express their emotions. Feelings are raw and powerful at age two. Most toddlers put their emotions right out t...

Have a Positive Influence on Your Toddler's Behavior Bribes and rewards, punishments and threats don't work at this age. So if you want your toddler to behave in a certain way, you'll have to resort to trickery (though some might call it "guida...

An expert evaluates the possible reasons for a five-year-old's temper tantrums in public places. ...

Punishment and Toddlers: What Doesn't Work What punishments are appropriate for a one-year-old? Let's take a look at two strategies that don't work very well with young toddlers: Time-outs (separating your child from the site and circumstances...

Don't Overuse the Word "No" Q-tip Be positive. Parents often forget that a toddler's social behavior is motivated not only by a desire to avoid displeasing others (especially parents), but also by a genuine desire to please. All too often, pare...

Manners and Mealtime Just Don't Mix Q-tip Most toddlers (and preschoolers) do not have very exotic tastes. So if you and your partner prefer foods that your child doesn't like, try to make something simpler for him. Mealtime for toddlers is nev...