Winning the Discipline Debates: Dr Ray Coaches Parents to Make Discipline Less Frequent, Less Frustrating and More Consistent

Dr. Ray knows his stuff. I love the examples of "episodes" you may encounter throughout the parenting years. It makes it clear what to do in what exact situation. He gives so many different examples of tantrums or disagreements and how to calmly handle the little tot (or big tot). We tried 1-2-3 Magic first, but this approach makes so much more sense and keeps the parent in control, not the child. While 1-2-3 was working for a while, we found our son always pushing us to the just before 3 and we thought, "but shouldn't he just do as we simply tell without all the chances?" Here comes Dr. Ray's book! A blessing. Our oldest is our toughest as in he will test the boundaries almost 92% of the time. We were getting so emotional disciplining him because of his persistence in breaking simple guiding rules. And he would fight us on going to the "time out corner" to stand for x amount of time. Dr. Ray says simply, if your child won't willingly go to the corner, or the stairs, or bedroom for a timeout, then the next anything they ask for they cannot have until they have completed their timeout in an appropriate manner. Boy does this work! Better than anything else, this works! "Ok, you don't want to take your timeout, well you can't play with your legos then, and no, you can't read a book either, or you can't have a drink either until you complete your timeout." It takes a small amount of time and it goes right to their head forever. Wow. Thanks again Dr. Ray. I'll be hearing you on ave maria radio!

This book is great for giving examples of situations where a child's behaviour requires discipline and how Dr. Ray would approach it and respond. My only concern is that there is approx. one story for each age group. I can see myself referring back to this book as my children get older to refresh our discipline but there wasn't enough for me right now. I need more examples, more practical advice for teaching my toddlers obedience so that I won't need this book when they are older. There was maybe only 6 pages that applied to the age group I am currently dealing with. I will look into his other books instead.

If you have children, you can "wing it" without a parenting book. It's called common sense and frequently asking, "God, please help me!" :)But if you find yourself living through the same misbehaviors (your kids, sometimes yourself!) over and over again Dr. Ray has no-nonsense answers laced with good humor.Dr. Ray writes a script of many conversations between parents/grandparents/kids and kids. If you ever wanted a little voice in your ear telling you what you should say in a pickle, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.You still use common sense. At least with this book you get some parenting advice that is actually relevant, while you're being entertained along the way.

I am a juvenile probation officer and I have dealt with hundreds of kids who were never disciplined when they were young. That being said, in my humble opinion, this is an excellent book plain and simple. Gives some great straight forward advice but not by just preaching to the reader. Dr. Ray explains the advice through short scenarios that every parent has experienced. It’s very readable, funny and easy to remember the point of each chapter. I'd say this is a must read for every parent. Especially since we live in an age where discipline is almost nonexistent.

I didn't actually read this book. I sent it to my daughter to help her with her parenting.