[Restless]

How exactly would you go about helping your children break their bad habits? Would you use verbal techniques or would you go further or maybe use a different approach?

[TakeYourTime]

When I'm in a good mood, I sit them down and ask them to think through the consequences of what happens if they does not develop the positive that comes out of the alternative. If I'm in a bad mood, I just firmly them to stop it.

[JDan]

My girls learn from their bad habits on their own. They are pretty conscientious about things, and are quick to point out the merits of doing things one way instead of the other. I think you need to let them figure some things out for themselves.

[Pascallist]

I would teach them to break bad habits by giving examples, and it will usually do the trick. It depends on the habit though. It is hard to teach about waking up early, because I couldn't give a good example for that.

[Wyss]

If you are not able to sit down and talk to your child something is seriously wrong. Some parents shun it off and think the kid will outgrow the bad habit and that is not always the case.

[Bobby]

You can try talking to them and even punishing them. But if all else fails, maybe some good old fashioned bribery would work. Try setting up a reward sticker chart and see if that might help.

[Lorenzo]

When I catch my kids doing something undesirable, I usually sit them down and talk to them about it. I make sure to tell them why I think what they're doing is not right and how they could avoid or stop doing it again. I know it's tricky because kids are mature beyond their years, and mine, have minds of their own and could be very stubborn. There is no magic formula to curtailing a bad habit, really. It just takes practice (in talking and explaining to your kids well) and a lot of patience because more often than not, you have to remind them over and over again.

And oh, when I see my kids doing good, I praise them about it. The thing is, kids just need to be appreciated. They only do bad things to get your attention.

[joeldgreat]

One of the most notorious bad habit amongst my kids is that they wont listen to what we've said when they are on the front of the television or computer. If I ask them to get something while on the middle of "it", it takes twice or trice before they let go on the TV and sometimes would ask me again what was I am speaking off.

So, I make it a rule that I would not repeat my words twice, otherwise TV / Computer will turned off instantly. Had made it more more than 20 times already and I think the instruction retains on their mind already.

[Jonathan]

I think it would depend on the kids and how old they are. A kid under seven would need a different approach than a kid above the age does. I think disciplining younger children would be harder.

[Godric]

What I would do is to ask them why they are doing it and make them realize what it is they're doing. Most of the time when we simply tell them what not to do, they would be more motivated to do it. Kids have a tendency to disobey us because they're at a stage wherein they're still trying to gauge us.