How to Discipline Your Bipolar Child
Resist the urge to yell or get visibly angry., Pick your battles., Be consistent with the things that you reprimand your child for., Discipline your child with logical consequences for his actions., Do not blame your child, but make him understand...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Resist the urge to yell or get visibly angry.
Your child learns by observing your actions.
While you might sometimes feel like yelling or showing your child that you are really angry, you should try to stay calm in the face of his bad behavior.
When you yell and get angry, you are showing him that it is ok to sometimes act out in that way.Instead of yelling or showing your anger, calmly approach your child and tell him—again calmly—that his bad behavior has made you really upset. -
Step 2: Pick your battles.
It is important to remember that it is not necessary to correct every single thing that you child does wrong.
When you constantly are telling your child he has done something wrong, or disciplining him for a bad behavior, may cause your child more stress.
When a child with bipolar disorder gets stressed, it is more likely that he will act out.Take a step back and consider what things your child does need to be controlled, and what can be ignored.
Sometimes little moments of acting-out that don’t affect anyone can be ignored.
Talk to your partner and make a decision about your child’s specific actions and which ones you want to discourage. , Once you decide which behaviors you are going to discourage, reinforce, or ignore, you need to stick to that decision.
Bipolar disorder can often create a feeling of needing control or consistency so when you are consistent with your disciple, your child will understand what is happening better than if you sometimes disciplined his behavior and sometimes ignored it.Remember that, like children without bipolar disorder, your child will most likely test the limits of your disciple.
Try to be as consistent as possible and continue to discourage or encourage as different behaviors occur. , Children who have bipolar disorder tend to show a heightened awareness of fairness, particularly when it comes to discipline.
Like any other child, your bipolar child probably won’t like the disciple you dish out, but he will be more likely to accept it if he thinks it is fair.
Come up with logical forms of disciple that relate directly to your child’s bad behavior.
Think of this as a consequence that ‘fits the crime’.For example, if your child is handling a toy really aggressively and starts banging it on the ground, tell him that it is going to break and that he will not get a new one if it does break.
If it does break, tell him again that he is not going to get a new one, and take the broken toy away. , If your child understands that a certain type of behavior is not simply “bad”, but rather that it affects others in a negative way, he will think twice before behaving that way again.
Children can find it challenging to put themselves in another person’s shoes and understand how their words or actions might be hurtful or harming to those around them.
You can use dolls, drawings or any other sort of creative, playful activity to reenact the situation.
You child is likely to show you a lot more about his feelings when playing, as opposed to talking.
Act out the ‘bad’ thing that your child did, and then show him how is action affected you or others around you.
You can also use exaggerated facial expressions to make your child understand how his ‘bad’ actions made you or someone else feel . -
Step 3: Be consistent with the things that you reprimand your child for.
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Step 4: Discipline your child with logical consequences for his actions.
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Step 5: Do not blame your child
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Step 6: but make him understand that what he has done is wrong.
Detailed Guide
Your child learns by observing your actions.
While you might sometimes feel like yelling or showing your child that you are really angry, you should try to stay calm in the face of his bad behavior.
When you yell and get angry, you are showing him that it is ok to sometimes act out in that way.Instead of yelling or showing your anger, calmly approach your child and tell him—again calmly—that his bad behavior has made you really upset.
It is important to remember that it is not necessary to correct every single thing that you child does wrong.
When you constantly are telling your child he has done something wrong, or disciplining him for a bad behavior, may cause your child more stress.
When a child with bipolar disorder gets stressed, it is more likely that he will act out.Take a step back and consider what things your child does need to be controlled, and what can be ignored.
Sometimes little moments of acting-out that don’t affect anyone can be ignored.
Talk to your partner and make a decision about your child’s specific actions and which ones you want to discourage. , Once you decide which behaviors you are going to discourage, reinforce, or ignore, you need to stick to that decision.
Bipolar disorder can often create a feeling of needing control or consistency so when you are consistent with your disciple, your child will understand what is happening better than if you sometimes disciplined his behavior and sometimes ignored it.Remember that, like children without bipolar disorder, your child will most likely test the limits of your disciple.
Try to be as consistent as possible and continue to discourage or encourage as different behaviors occur. , Children who have bipolar disorder tend to show a heightened awareness of fairness, particularly when it comes to discipline.
Like any other child, your bipolar child probably won’t like the disciple you dish out, but he will be more likely to accept it if he thinks it is fair.
Come up with logical forms of disciple that relate directly to your child’s bad behavior.
Think of this as a consequence that ‘fits the crime’.For example, if your child is handling a toy really aggressively and starts banging it on the ground, tell him that it is going to break and that he will not get a new one if it does break.
If it does break, tell him again that he is not going to get a new one, and take the broken toy away. , If your child understands that a certain type of behavior is not simply “bad”, but rather that it affects others in a negative way, he will think twice before behaving that way again.
Children can find it challenging to put themselves in another person’s shoes and understand how their words or actions might be hurtful or harming to those around them.
You can use dolls, drawings or any other sort of creative, playful activity to reenact the situation.
You child is likely to show you a lot more about his feelings when playing, as opposed to talking.
Act out the ‘bad’ thing that your child did, and then show him how is action affected you or others around you.
You can also use exaggerated facial expressions to make your child understand how his ‘bad’ actions made you or someone else feel .
About the Author
Carol Bell
Carol Bell has dedicated 10 years to mastering education and learning. As a content creator, Carol focuses on providing actionable tips and step-by-step guides.
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