Discipline That Works

All children "misbehave" sometimes, and all parents wonder how to stop the misbehavior. But that's only half of our mission as parents. The other half is raising a child who internalizes our guidance to become "self-disciplined." The most effective "discipline" for your child is always positive, loving, gentle guidance. Here's why.

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Ten Tips To Become a More Peaceful Parent

Ten tips for practicing peaceful parenting with your child, to raise a healthy, happy, emotionally intelligent child.

When Kids Won't Cooperate: Give Choices

Giving choices may be the single most useful tool parents have for managing life with young children and helping kids and teens learn to manage themselves.

What's Wrong with Strict Parenting?

People think strict parenting produces better-behaved kids. However, research shows that strict, or authoritarian, parenting produces kids with low self esteem who behave worse.

Should You Spank Your Child?

Kids who are spanked are less emotionally healthy than kids who aren't. What's more, kids who are spanked behave worse over time.

What's Wrong with Permissive Parenting?

Kids need appropriate, empathetic limits for healthy emotional development. When parents don't set limits, here's what happens.

How to Set Effective Limits with Your Child

Our limits actually teach kids to set limits for themselves, which is otherwise known as self-discipline.

Empathetic Limits in Action: Leaving the Playground

A script for setting limits with a toddler or preschooler. Before long, your child will climb reluctantly from the swing into her stroller when you say it's time for lunch.

What's Wrong with Timeouts?

Timeouts ARE punishment, not any different than when you were made to stand in the corner as a child.

Why Consequences are Just More Ineffective Punishment

How will children learn to do the right thing, if they don't suffer the consequences when they do the wrong thing?

The Truth About Consequences

The advice parenting experts always give is not to rescue kids if they forget things so they'll learn a lesson. What that really teaches kids is that they can't count on their parents.

Peaceful Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child

Have a strong-willed child? You're lucky! Strong willed children can be a challenge when they're young, but if sensitively parented they become terrific teens and young adults.

When You Get Angry At Your Child

How to Handle Your Anger at Your Child. In our calm moments we know that we could handle any parenting moment much better from a state of calm. But in the storm of our anger, we feel righteously entitled to our fury.

Healing Yourself So You Can Be a More Peaceful Parent

The truth is that virtually all of us were wounded as children, and if we don't heal those wounds, they prevent us from parenting our children optimally.

When Your Child Acts Out but Can’t Cry: Building Safety

Learn how to help your child break through his anger to release the tears and fears underneath, by building safety through play.

Why Peaceful Parenting?

Peaceful parenting raises an emotionally healthy child who WANTS to cooperate.

10 Alternatives To "Consequences" When Your Child Isn't Cooperating

Next time you find yourself about to blurt out a threat or give a "consequence", try one of these responses.

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What Parents are Saying

"This website is gold!! Just what I needed. None of the other methods of "disciplining" were working for us. These articles are really helping me understand what my son needs. And the way you give specific actions to take, with suggested words! I often find myself thinking when reading about parenting, "But how exactly do I implement that????" I feel like I'm left hanging. This website does not leave me hanging. Thank you! We all want to be awesome parents; we just don't know how." - Lisa Ryder

Megan Nida