Spanking my 6-year-old kid

[Neha Garg]

I have a 6 year old daughter.. Though she is very smart and active, and good in studies, but she does not obey her teachers and me too.. She is very talkative in class and does not listen to me. Due to this, i have noticed that i have developed a habit of slapping and spanking her a lot.. i always warn her politely and then a little strictly for 2-3 times, but most of the time she doesnt listen to me and finally ends up getting spanked. This has become a serious problem for me now because she is very small and soft. Yesterday i hit her with my slipper. She still has the bruise on her leg. I know this would lead to a disaster. And i even know very well that i have to control my habit of spanking first.... because she is too small. Please help me and suggest how can i control my habit of spanking my daughter. I fear that she would hate me when she would grow up. I always apologize to her after hitting her and promise not to hit her again and she also promises to listen to me. But everyday, we go through this. I am dying inside. I want to stop this habit at any cost. Please help!!!

[Kaumi Sharma]

You need to stop spanking your child as it will have disastrous effect on the child. Spanking is not the right way to discipline. It will lead to low self esteem and low confidence in the child. She will be left with mental scars for the rest of the life. For your child, you are the role model and if you spank then she will also learn the same from you and imitate. She may also become aggressive. You need to control your anger and find other means of disciplining. You need to control your actions. Her behaviour may be as a result of your spanking so you need to take control now or it will be late. Try anger management techniques. Give time out for punishment and disciplining.
You can also reward her for good behaviour as then it will motivate her to be good. Hope this works for you and your child.