Thread: spanking

how far is too far?

Any.

There definitely is a line that can be crossed and while we do not currently spank our children, we have in the past. Before we even had kids I always thought to myself "well if it was good for me, it will be good for them". Yeah, I know, that stuff generally doesn't work the same way. We found that it wasn't effective for us. I think our daughter has only been spanked once or twice and our son never but again we decided against it because it was not right for us. I am not an advocate against spanking though as it might be an effective form of punishment for some families. I do believe that it should be a last resort punishment though. Kids running into the street or causing damage to neighbors vehicles would be possible scenarios where this might be necessary.

Again, for us, we don't do it any more. As for how far is too far, well if you are spanking your children for every offense, that is too far. If you even come close to leaving bruises, that is too far. If you have not tried other alternatives, that is too far. These are just my opinions about the subject but this is what I believe.

I don't believe in spanking, so to me any spanking is going too far. There are so many other ways to teach a child how to behave appropriately, I don't see a need for hitting them. In over 22 years of parenting, I have never had to resort to hitting any of my three children.

I also do not spank (though I want to oh so badly sometimes lol)
I do believe there is a line though, its just so gray and fuzzy though. A parent that smacks their child on the hand for something, its not abuse, but its no the best way either... its just so hard to determine when it becomes abuse and when it is just punishment

I do agree Penn, but just so you know before these babies come, you will. Almost every parent I have talked to has yelled at their child fo rno reason other then mom or dad is just stressed.
I remember once, Nichole was just a baby baby, maybe 2 month sold at the most. She was colic, dh was working midnights so he was rarely home when I was awake, or he was sleeping while I was awake.
She was just screaming, just screaming and screaming, I had nursed her, changed her ,crocked her, sang to her, walked around with her, NOTHING would make her stop crying. I was stressed and hormonal. I put her down in her swing strapped her in while she continued to scream, yelled at more poor newborn to just stop crying and walked away. I yelled at her, it was aweful! I felt sooooo bad. I'm a calm person, rarely will you ever here me yell at anything, but I was just exhausted!!! I ended up taking a shower for like 20 minutes while she continued to scream her head off. but when I was done, I was calm again, feeling very guilty for yelling at a poor newborn!! But I was able to handle her screaming again. lol it didn't end till she was around 7 or 8 months old

Kaytee, we have all been there. There are times when the stress is unbearable and we do yell. This is not to say it is acceptable but it does happen. Making sure to know your boundaries and how to correct that in the future is the most important part.

yep,I agree. I know that was when it was time to set down the screaming child and walk away