When communicating with your child, your messages can be more effective if you take account what they know and understand at various stages in their development as well as their readiness to learn new information at different ages.
Before starting those conversations, take a moment to learn more about how to deliver that message to your toddler.
- to see how they communicate.
- to see how you should communicate.
Your child reaches for an open bottle of beer (cigarette, lighter, etc) that is within their reach.
What to Say
Promptly intercept, remove the item from reach, and tell your child, "No. You can’t touch that it’s not for kids."
You are at a family barbeque and your brother tells your child to grab their cigarettes from the table and bring them to him.
What to Say
Promptly intercept and offer to get them for him explaining that you are trying to teach your child that cigarettes are bad for them so don’t want then handling things that you've said are bad or illegal for children and send a mixed message.
Sources: The Partnership at drugfree.org