Customer Reviews

Without Spanking or Spoiling: A Practical Approach to Toddler and Preschool Guidance

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a mother of 5 children, and family nurse practitioner, I highly recommend this book for parents of toddlers and preschool age children. Ms Crary gives many options for discipline along with realistic guidelines as to common discipline problems parents have with children in the one to 5 year old age group. Her work is based on sound developmental psychology. She knows well what is appropriate behavior for the various ages, what discipline strategies are likely to encourage the desired behavior in children, and what behaviors can safely and easily be ignored. I highly recommend this book not only to my clients in the office, but to my children as they parent. It has been gratefully received by my daughter-in-law, and she is recommending it to her sisters-in-law and friends, as they enter this stage of parenting. Beth Aversa, Family Nurse Practitioner

I ordered this book for some suggestions on disciplining my toddler. Not only did it help me change my attitude toward's his 'misbehavior', but it gives many alternatives to spanking and time out. In fact, most of the suggestions don't involve discipline but rather help you to get your toddler to do what you want him/her to do so that discipline isn't necessary. I recommend this book for anyone whose ever felt exhausted from fighting with their toddler all day.

As the mother of a 'spirited' toddler, I am constantly searching for ways to instill discipline without damaging one or both of us in the process. "Without Spanking or Spoiling," gives step-by-step ways to handle almost any disciplinary problem your toddler might give you. The worksheets provide a chance to gain insight into your toddler's problems, and the back pages provide solutions to the 10 most common toddler disciplinary issues. I used one of the suggestions within minutes of finishing the book (my toddler likes to throw things at her infant sister), and instantly received positive results, and those results are still in effect 10 days later. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is the parent or caregiver of toddlers. My copy is in great demand at our playgroup!

I have read this book twice since checking it out from the library and finally decided to buy my own copy. I have 1 1/2 year old twins who are just beginning to test their limits and my patience.

The book begins by offering age appropriate behaviors so you know what may be "normal" behavior as opposed to "bad" behavior for a young child. Ms. Clary then goes on to show how to define the problem (including whose problem it may be-child's or parent's), avoid behavior problems, increase appropriate behavior and decrease inappropriate behavior. She gives great examples throughout the book and allows space for the reader to work though both given examples and their own personal problems. Although it is geared towards toddlers and preschoolers, most of the advice seems like it would be appropriate throughout childhood. The book ends with a wonderful section on common behavior issues and how to deal with them and summaries of all the alternatives in the book.

I have already used several of the ideas with my toddlers. And the section on teaching new and appropriate behaviors has reminded me that young children are like big sponges. They see what their parents do and how they act and grow up to behave in the same way. This is the only parenting book on discipline and behavior that I have read so far, but I have to believe it is one of the easiest to read and apply.

For me, this book was exactly what it purported to be -- a practical approach. I'm philosophically (and practically) against spanking, but the non-spanking disclipline books typically contain too much philosophy and too few practical suggestions for my taste. This book, however, is full of practical suggestions that have really helped. Thumbs up!

I don't have much to say that hasn't been said here, but I felt the need to add my two cents and my five stars to bring up the ratings of this book. I do love Dr. Sears and his discipline ideas, but they are rather vague. This book has more examples on how to actually implement these ideas. I don't think I ever actually followed any of Crary's ideas to the letter, but they really, really helped me to determine my own plan of action.

I love her developmental lists and her focus on being aware of your child's developmental level at all times. It is so much easier to go with your child's flow when you know what they are doing or not doing is "normal" for their age.

I don't think it says anywhere in this book that it is for dealing with special needs children. I don't understand why someone would get on here and give a negative review based on this book's lack of a special needs section. There are plenty of books out there for parents of special needs children -- why not get one of those?

This book is like a printed parenting workshop, complete with exercises that help you learn and work through each technique covered (as well as recommended reading if you'd like to delve deeper on any single topic). At the end, the entire book is distilled into a (thrilling!) one-page problem-solving process that incorporates every step covered in the book. This will help you *thoughtfully* overcome ANY problem you encounter with your toddler/preschool-aged child on up! There are even a few "frequently asked questions" problems explored as examples.

I borrowed this book from my Le Leche League lending library, and it is one of the best parenting books I have ever read. It is so rich with good information, I can't possibly absorb everything I need to know in a few short weeks. I wish I had read it when my two older children were toddlers.

This book read like most parenting magazines--simple parent/child problems as examples, with obvious solutions. There are a lot of exercises, which are more self-revealing then they are helpful in solving problems. This book reads more like a collection of methods and approaches, which could be helpful if you are exploring different approaches. A reader who is purchasing his/her first book on parent/child issues may find this book useful as a general guide, as the author provides a good source list for each approach or topic.

This is a great book! It is not a book about the philosophy of parenting and discipline, it's a book about how to solve problems. It covers many examples of common discipline issues and then offers a wide variety of ways to troubleshoot them. You are invited to examine the issue that's bugging you, write down all the details and then troubleshoot with all the ideas you can think of for solving it. The ideas keep the whole family in mind. While some issues maybe solved by adjusting your own views of natural child behavior, others can be solved by experimenting with one of the many techniques the author presents.

The techniques are the backbone of this book. She covers a wide variety using a lot of detail. Many times I have read about these techniques in magazines but the lack of details lead to poor results everytime. This book gives step by step instructions. I figure if the technique doesn't quite work for my child, then at least I will know where to make an adjustment, instead of scrapping the whole idea.

The techniques are just as the book says: no spanking, no spoiling. Respectful, age appropriate and adjustable to your family needs. The problem solving model used in this book can be carried over to just about every area of your life: relationships, work, community.