Alice is 1 and I swat, not smack or spank, but I swat at her butt when I've told her no a few times and she hasn't listened... example. She loves to get into the dogs food and water, which is common at her age, but you know, it's not allowed. I redirected her about five times [ not exaggerating ] and the last time I swatted her butt and sat her in the next room.

Ok well what's the difference between a smack and a spank? In Australia we don't really use the term "spank", so I just threw it in there coz I know it's a term used in the state's.

In our house we have a rule that you will get asked to do something no more then 3 times. Then you get 1 warning. If your still not listening and continuing to do whatever it was you were asked not to....then you will get a smack.

My daughter who is 8 will get a smack on her butt, and my son who is younger (almost 3) will get a tap on his hand. But as I stated above, it is a last resort. And they very rarely get a smack. They will usually do what is asked of them after the first time I ask, but they do have their days when they like to see how far they can push me lol

My sisters and I got spanked with a belt as children. Not really me, because I was the baby and all you had to do was look at me the wrong way and it would be enough to stop my behavior. We are definitely not damaged people because of it. Honestly, I think we have more respect for our parents because of it.

My nephew is 5 and he does get spanked when he does something huge. (Huge as in...can harm himself or someone else. Like playing with scissors, going into the road, etc.)

My son....I plan to use redirection and time out, if it works. He's only 11 days old right now, so...It'll be a while before I get a chance to see what works for him and what doesn't. But..I won't hesitate to spank him if he does something that could put himself in danger or someone else.

I guess when I think of 'smack' I think of being hit in the face, or on the hand, etc.

I think that resorting to violence in any situation is the wrong choice. Period.

Why are we not allowed to hit spouses, co workers or even pets, but we are able to hit the smallest people who trust us the most?

If a child is doing something dangerous I think we as parents need to question why they were not being properly supervised, and if a child is expressing curiosty we need to provide an effective outlet for that.

We spank in this family. It is pretty effective for us, I think.

Quoting That-Girl:" I think that resorting to violence in any situation is the wrong choice. Period. Why are we not allowed ... [snip!] ... they were not being properly supervised, and if a child is expressing curiosty we need to provide an effective outlet for that."

Children do dangerous things something even when they're being properly supervised.
Like one time DS and I were walking across a busy parking lot. I was holding his hand. Before I could react, he yanked his hand from mine and darted out in front of a car. Thankfully the driver was paying attention and stopped.
You better believe DS got a spanking for that.

I don't agree with smacking children in the face, but I'm okay with spanking on the bottom.

Quoting Minion:" Children do dangerous things something even when they're being properly supervised. Like one time ... [snip!] ... out in front of a car. Thankfully the driver was paying attention and stopped. You better believe DS got a spanking for that."

My daughter did that one time as well. I found yelling and explaining how not fun the hospital would be pretty effective as well

I don't care what others do as long as it isn't abuse but I don't spank.

Quoting Jennybananna:" To me a smack and spank are two different things. I spank when I feel the situation calls for it."

Yeah...spanking and smacking are two different things. Smacking implies on the face and spanking is on the bum.

Not right for our family.

I would never honor, trust, or respect a person who puts their hands on me. I don't expect my son to either.

I don't think anyone agrees with hitting a child on the face/head. Here that is not what a smack means

Quoting Mumzy...:" I don't think anyone agrees with hitting a child on the face/head. Here that is not what a smack means"

Oh! Lol. In the US, smack usually means like across the face.

Quoting Mumzy...:" Question is simple.... Do you think it is appropriate to smack/spank you child/ren for bad behavior?"

It depends. I was spanked as the kid. Never bare bottom, always over my pants and it wasn't anything super hard. I have no issues with it. My husband and I don't really spank.. we do more time outs. But we both feel there is nothing wrong with spanking.