Car Seat Blues
by Vicki Lansky
When your child is behaving well in a car restraint, a little positive reinforcement can go a long way toward keeping the peace. Frequent praise and attention can teach your child that travel in a car restraint is a positive experience.
- One of the best ways to prevent discipline problems is to keep children happily occupied. Start a series of silly rules, such as "hands up, we're going under a bridge" or "hold your breath when you're going by a cemetery" or "no talking when crossing the bridge". Silly word games can fill a car with laughter and fun.
- But, if in spite of all your good intentions and best efforts, your children are still unhappy, well, try distraction techniques. Turn up the radio, play a tape, sing a loud song. You might need to bring out a new toy or snack that you've had on hand for just such moments.
- And finally, tell children if things get out of hand, and if they're fighting amongst themselves, you will pull the car off the road and stay there until they behave. Then do; it's a wonderful, effective technique for settling kids down.
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Last modified: Oct 24, 1995