Parenting Choices: Navigating the Spanking Question

10/31/24 • 8 min

Proactive Parenting with Deanna Marie Mason PhD

Okay, so today’s topic, spanking, may be a sensitive one for you based on your beliefs and ideas about parenting. Believe me, you’re not alone. Whether you are on the side of spanking or not, about 20% of parents admit to using physical punishment such as spanking or swatting as part of disciplining their children. Let me clarify, this is the percentage of parents who admit doing it. From what I see in my practice, it may be more common than that statistic lets on. However, among those that admit to spanking, interestingly, most also report not feeling very good about doing it.

Why would the parenting world be so divided on this issue. It’s probably because nearly all parents report that parenting is their greatest joy and, simultaneously, nearly three-quarters also describe parenting as their greatest challenge. So almost all parents find joy in the task of being a parent, but nearly 75% also say it’s a big job that is hard to do. It only makes sense that parents who are frustrated or feeling challenged would consider using spanking as a way of managing their children’s behavior - it may have been used by the

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Travel Tots: Tips for Flying with Little Ones

Today’s episode stems from a question I received from a listener. A first-time mom of a 4-month-old infant asked me if I knew any science-based tips to help them manage air travel with an infant. She said she had traveled often for work and was frequently surprised that parents couldn’t seem to control their infants on flights. Now that she was a mother, she better understood that no one can control babies. But, she hoped that there were some suggestions on how to help parents and babies manage flights with less stress.
As we know, modern life often requires plane travel for families. As this listener shared, frequent travelers know the dread when a flight is full of infants or small children. And, anyone who flies with any regularity has a story of a flight that was filled with continuous ear piercing screams of an infant or small child.

This awareness can be horrifying for parents when they must fly with their infant or small children. Luckily, some basic information and a good dose of humor will help most parents navigate air travel with infants and small children successfully. I assure you, there is no need to feel overwhelmed or shamed. All you need is the right information to help make everything easier.

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Baby Safety 101: Preventing Accidental Suffocation

Today’s topic is a sad and difficult issue to talk about, but because infant deaths related to suffocation continue to happen, I think it’s important that we discuss why it happens and what can be done to protect against it.

Infant death related to accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed appears to be on the rise. In 1992, pediatric health organizations recommended that infants be placed on their back to sleep and this reduced the occurrence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) dramatically. However, at the same time, sleep-related suffocation, asphyxia, entrapment, and other unspecified causes of infant death have risen.

Focusing on safe sleep environments that reduce the risk of all types of sleep-related infant deaths, including SIDS, may keep your baby safe.

Proactive Parenting with Deanna Marie Mason PhD - Parenting Choices: Navigating the Spanking Question

Transcript

Hello and welcome to another episode of Proactive Parenting. Remember, this is a judgement-free space to learn how to raise value-driven kids in a way that is right for your family, using the most current scientific research out there.

I’m your host, Dr. Deanna Marie Mason. I’m a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, published author, and a professional who has devoted my career to studying and using child development to help parents manage childhood issues.

So, grab a cup