Danger discipline?

[jammomy]

What do you do to help your dc to stay away from/out of the street?  My 4 yo ds knows the boundaries and rules about staying away from and/or crossing the street.  However, if he gets a "wild hare" and decides to go running around crazy when we are outside, I want to have already implemented some kind of gentle discipline that will prevent him from going into the street.  We are planning on moving and the home in which we are interested sits fairly close to the street.  When we were there yesterday, he was running around like crazy, excited and having fun and got out the front door.  He wanted me to chase him, but I didn't for fear he would run into the street, and I firmly reminded him of the "boundary line" on the driveway; I was able to get to him and bring him back in the house.  Anyway, I know prevention is key, but what if gets into the street - how do you handle it then?

[ArmsOfLove]

I physically get them as quickly as I can and the outdoor play is over.  I also set the boundary farther back than the edge of the street so that they aren't so close when they are within bounds and I have that extra bit of time when they cross the boundary before they are in the street.

[ellies mom]

Part of it it setting boundaries and part of it is disciplining yourself. I let my 23mo know repeatedly this is where you need to stop, this is where you need to hold my hand or be carried etc. That is the boundary part. The rest of it is disciplining myself to make sure she doesn't have the chance to cross the boundary. I know that sounds simplistic but basically it means that if I can't get to her quickly enough to prevent her from say running into the street, then we need to find another place to be. So, if she is in a pushing the limits or exploring kind of mood, then pulling weeds in the front yard isn't the activity for the afternoon. Or if she keeps pushing the boundary even if I am right there,  we go inside for the rest of the afternoon.

I'm really not sure there is any type of discipline outside of physical intervention (not spanking but "catching") to prevent a child from running into the street. I think as hard as it can be that you simply have to be in place to stop them. If there is a reason you can't for whatever reason, then it may be a case of "leashing" the child until he can better control his normal impulses.

Kind of sucks huh, sometimes you just want a simple "if you do this, this will or will not happen". Sorry.

[4blessings]

In our home, the "logical consequence" for running into the street is that we go inside. My children LOVE to play outside, so with each child it takes just once or twice before they get it.

But like you said, prevention really is key. Until I can totally trust my children, I don't get far enough away from them when we're outisde that I couldn't catch them if they head that way