THE secret to logical consequences working effectively when managing rule breaking is for the consequence to relate directly to the misbehaviour.

An example of logical consequences could be your children are fighting over who has the Play Station. After giving them the opportunity to share it (but they continue fighting) remove the Play Station and tell them that it will be returned when they can show you that they can share it.

Use something time related - such as five-ten minutes or up to one hour, depending on your child’s age

It is easy to fall into the parent trap of threatening consequences that are too unrealistic. For instance, threatening to remove the Play Station for the next couple of days weeks or months is unrealistic, and any parent would crumble under the constant nagging from children for it to be returned.

Also avoid using a consequence which is totally unrelated to the misbehaviour, such as not sharing the Play Station with your brother means you are not going to your friend’s party next month. Your children will wear you down to submission by the time the party comes around.

If your children continue to misbehave you should use quiet time: have them sit for a short amount of time on the edges of the activity and give them time to reflect on their behaviour. When they have been quiet during quiet time let them return to the game.

If during quiet time your child is disruptive and misbehaves then escalate to time out.

Remember! When managing misbehaviour be immediate, consistent and logical to get results.

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See: www.parentandbabycoach.co.uk