Spanking babies?

mmksparbud said:

Babies can not know what they are doing is wrong, or that the pain inflicted is for something they did. Spanking babies is stupid, mean, unnecessary, useless and barbaric. A friend showed me her backs side once. From her thighs to her waist she was nothing but scars. As a baby, her mother sat her down in boiling water because she had been crying. I busted out crying myself when I saw that. I can't imagine the insanity of that woman to think that would have quieted a crying baby. There are people who have thrown babies against the wall for crying---Yah--it stopped crying, it died. I don't care what anti-death penalty people say---they need to be taken out and shot.

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Stringfellow_Hawke said:

When my child is born I have every intention of spanking when necessary. Its how I was brought up, its how their mother was brought up and their grandparents.
When we were kids, pretty much all our dads had to do was look at us when we got out of line. This is what I want. To get right a few times to start and then it be minimal going forward.

I have never heard of babies (as in under 3) being spanked where I'm from. That is way over the line.

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ValleyGal said:

Just because you were brought up that way, doesn't make it right. Do you seriously want your children to fear (be afraid) of you when you give them a "look"?

Instead, why not gain their respect through relationship?

God is our Father. He does not give us a "look" to keep us in line. He gives us guidelines and trains us gently, not through threat of a spanking, and we fear (awe) him... we are not in fear (afraid) of him.

Please enroll in some parenting classes... there are other ways to have obedient children than spanking them.

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ValleyGal said:

God is our Father. He does not give us a "look" to keep us in line. He gives us guidelines and trains us gently, not through threat of a spanking, and we fear (awe) him... we are not in fear (afraid) of him.

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Dave-W said:

That is not how many groups teach God.

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ValleyGal said:

That is most unfortunate indeed.

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Avniel said:

I agree totally with you. I remember my cousins gave me a long stick when we were kids in jamaica. I would spend the summer there’s and I would learn about the farm life. I took the stick and wacked the goat, one of the goats charged me up a tree, I stay there for what seemed like hours. The rod of correction is a gentle rod of guidance and lessons.

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ValleyGal said:

That is most unfortunate indeed.

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Dave-W said:

That is not how many groups teach God.

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Kayeliz said:

This is a question which came up because I'm pregnant rigth now (6th month) and have been reading a lot about raising children and especially about babies - I guess that's what most soon-to-be parents do. One thing that came up in an article is that, at least in the United States, it is quite common to spank babies who are less than 12 months old.

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yeshuaslavejeff said:

Well, it looks like this topic opened a pandora's box of troubles.

ONE good book that DOES NOT lead to wickedness is "Children the Challenge".

ANY book or idea or thread topics or posts, BEFORE accepting, always needs to be TESTED, TESTED TESTED by Scripture , always with continual prayer to the Father in heaven ASKING for the Father's Wisdom and TRUTH.

No, I don't think most soon-to-be parents read a lot about raising children and especially about babies. Those who do, usually read ungodly sources and are led to stay on the wide road to destruction.

No, I don't think it is quite common to spank babies. There's no reason to think so.


Children: The Challenge by Rudolf Dreikurs
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Children book. Read 109 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Children: The Challenge gives the key to parents who seek to build trus...

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• I believe that it is important to guide children in the way of the Lord, and to correct them when necessary. I believe that whenever one disciplines a child in order to correct a behavior, it must be done out of love and for the purpose of instructing a child, and never out of hate or spite. Whenever possible, I think that the person disciplining the child should help him or her understand why he or she is being disciplined. I also think that parents should try to model the behaviors they want their child to display, and that alongside discipline to correct a behavior, it would be good to take steps to reinforce a child's positive behaviors.
• I believe that it is important to take great care that the way one disciplines a child or youth is appropriate to their development and would not cause physical, emotional or mental harm. For example, I think it is important to be careful with words, and if a parent has a child who has a medical condition making heavy physical exercise harmful for them, I do not think it would be appropriate, reasonable or safe to ask a child who has a medical condition restricting heavy physical activity to do heavy physical exercise for the purpose of correction.
• I believe that one should obey the laws of the land unless they contradict God's word.
• I do think that corporal punishment can too often go to a harmful extent (whether deliberately or not) causing physical, emotional or mental injury to a child.

Earlier this year, a report released by the American Psychological Association analyzed five decades worth of studies, including data from over 160,000 children.

Researchers found that the more children were spanked, the more likely they were to experience antisocial behaviours, mental health problems, and displays of aggression. They were also more likely to abuse their children in the future.

The study found no indication of improved child behaviour due to spanking.

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Kayeliz said:

This is a question which came up because I'm pregnant rigth now (6th month) and have been reading a lot about raising children and especially about babies - I guess that's what most soon-to-be parents do. One thing that came up in an article is that, at least in the United States, it is quite common to spank babies who are less than 12 months old.

I might have to be honest here - my husband and I have already decided against spanking. Not out of some blind idealism, but my own experience is that it was other forms of punishment which worked best for me as a child. Besides, we live in Germany where it is illegal. So, admittedly, I'm not asking about this because I'm wondering about whether we should spank our baby, but it is a topic I still think and read about a lot (even in Germany, people on Christian forums often tend to be in favour of spanking) - which has been important for me in making the decision not to spank our child. And even while we have made our decision, I'm still interested in knowing why parents do things differently.

What shocked me a little is the spaning of babies, though. My godchild is 18 months old and I do know that, to a certain extend, they understand that they are not supposed to do certain things, but I also know that, around 12 months old, he did not seem to have any concept of his actions having consequences. When I held him on my lap, he would happily try to dive headfirst down on the floor, probably inflicting major injuries to himself if I hadn't been holding him and kept him from falling. So I'm wondering - if parents do spank their babies at 12 months or younger, why? First, what are the reasons, or what have the babies done to deserve a spanking, and what do you think will be the effect? Do you think the baby will actually learn not to do certain things? Will it be pure fear that will make the baby stop doing certain things or really a lesson that they learn? Aren't you worried that it might do more damage than good in such a small child?

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