2. Decide with your spouse how to discipline. If your style of discipline is different from your spouse's then once again your child is going to have some issues with discipline. So, if you do not let your child have juice out of the kitchen, when you are away from home, your husband or wife should enforce the same standard.

3. Talk to sitters, day-care, family, etc. about how you discipline your child. Even though Grandma wants to be the spoiler, if when you child is there they do not have any discipline, you will find it much more difficult to discipline and keep them in order at home. So, discuss your philosophies of discipline with anyone who may watch your child. Make sure they know what you expect behavior wise from your child, and that they will enforce it when you are not there. Obviously if you are taking your child to a day-care, the day-care will have their own set of rules. However, that does not mean you shouldn't discuss your style of discipline with them.

4. Have a specified place for a time out. Time outs are the newest and probably one of the most effective forms of discipline for a child. However, if you are not careful about where you put them the timeout could backfire on you. You never want to put your child in their room or on their bed for a timeout. This is a bad idea because it means that they start to associate places you want them to be with a negative thing. So, make sure you establish a specific place for timeouts to take place. Get a timeout chair if needed. By having a specific place or chair for a discipline spot, you make sure that your child understands what it is that is happening for them.

5. Help them understand what and why they are being disciplined. For discipline to be effective, your child needs to know that they are being disciplined, and they need to know why. If you are not clear about why you are disciplining, your child may feel like you are angry with them, don't love them, etc. So, explain in terms they can understand that you love them but that their behavior is unacceptable, and thus they must have a timeout, or spank, or nose in the corner, or whatever form of discipline you choose.

6. Keep your temper. If you are angry, yell, hit, etc. your discipline will not be effective. For a child to learn control and good behavior, you must set an example. So, exhibit your control, and discipline with an even temper, calm voice, and good manner. If you are too angry, turn the disciplining to someone that can do so with composure, or wait a while, and then discipline. However, do not wait so long the child does not understand what they are being disciplined for.

Discipline is not to hurt your child, but to help them become better, happier, and have more fun by having acceptable behavior.