The Disciplining Of Infants

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The Disciplining of Infants Marie Cross BSHS/342 November 19, 2011 Linda Branch, Ph. D. The Disciplining of Infants There are opposing schools of thought on the benefits of disciplining infants. Some experts and parents believe that infants cannot comprehend discipline or right from wrong. The other side believes that infants are clever and know how to test the limitations of their environments. It is a fact that infants do need structure and protection; however, doctors, parents, and other experts of child psychology differ in opinion about the effectiveness of positive discipline and negative discipline when applied to infants. According to Dr. Lawrence Kutner (2009), the connotations of discipline need to be reevaluated differently by the caretaker and viewed from another perspective. Instead of viewing discipline as punishment, parents should view discipline as a teaching opportunity between child and parent. Dr. Kutner (2009) advises that warnings, swats on the child’s bottom, and threats are nonproductive in achieving desired results. His advice is to use environmental controls. Environmental controls are a fancy moniker used in describing how to make the home or other environments child-proof and safe (Kutner, 2009.). For example, he asserts that covering the electrical socket is better than yelling at the child to stop playing with it. The parent must realize that the child has a natural curiosity to explore and he or she is not mentally developed enough to understand what is safe and what is not safe. Other experts declare that saying “no” should be effective in urgent matters where the child may encounter imminent danger. They also say the tone of the parent’s voice is an indication of displeasure and the child recognizes the voice change. Experts determine that babies cannot make the connection between actions and consequences; therefore
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