1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 Paperback – 1 Oct. 2003

I found this book worked with my kids (2 & 3) within a day. If I'd bought it a year ago when I first heard about it I would have saved myself a whole lot of stressYou only have to read the first few chapters to get the basic principle before you can start - so only about 20 mins reading requiredWorked so quickly I couldn't believe it, especially with my crazy 3 year old boyThey know when I get to 2 that I mean it, so it stops me giving repeated warnings & less stress & shouting all roundSo easy to understand (for all of us) & lots of explanations also in the book about why kids play up & push boundaries all the timeBrilliant

Bought this on recommendation. Essential to read whole book first. Written in a very readable style and is very informative. I use this method on my 7 year old and on my 14 year old autistic child and it works well for both. Also bought a copy for my sister who has a 2 year old. Not for the feint hearted as you really need to be on the ball for a while to get it going, then you can relax a bit. Wish I'd had it years ago, thoroughly recommend.

What a great book ! It really helped out with alot of issues that I was having with my children . The techniques and guidance is very helpful and is great with sorting out a wide range of of issue with discipline . It's a book to help families lives a little easier and happier . I really recommend this book . You won't be disappointed . Great value too.

Great advice

Really useful for use with my two boys (2 1/2 and 8 years). Explains the difference between stop and start behaviour and how to deal with each. Great alternative ideas to time out. Not always quick and easy but stick to it and it does work in most cases and the kids soon learn when they get a strike 3 that they will get either time out or equivalent.

I bought this book to get more ideas on how to respond to my 5yo son who has ADHD. He is very oppositional and I have read around a number of different approaches to dealing with 'challenging' kids as well as attending parenting skill building courses.As a general idea of how to structure a discipline routine that children and parents can easily understand and stick to, this book works very well. But despite claims I don't think that the system necessarily works if your child has special needs.The 1-2-3 magic is not very different from the Webster Stratton ideas - in particular giving clear warnings and consequences for inappropriate behaviour. Where it falls down is mainly when giving advice about when your child resists time out. The answer in this book is to lock them in a room. Not an appropriate response - and certainly one that would have social services taking an interest!I am afraid that was where this method fell down for me. I also found that the counting was a bit too abstract for him and a visual method, such as red and yellow cards, works much better.

Really useful book would recommend it

My beautiful three-year-old is highly emotionally strung, currently presenting oppositional behaviour. After trying all the usual tactics, this seems to be working. Very easy to read, and easy to pick out a couple of important chapters for the husband to get an idea.