Whether it’s with sweets, a holiday, a new toy or a movie, many of us have promised or given our children something in exchange for them doing what they are told.
So, intrigued by what our community of mums had to say, we asked you, our MummyPages mums, how you bribe your kids to do what they are told, and this is what you said:
1. "Had to bribe 3 year old with a lollipop to stand still and stop saying dinosaur every time we tried to take his pass port picture. Picture number 10 worked out ok."
2. "I can get my son happily shopping if I promise him those little bags of apple and grapes!"
3. "I promised my just gone 3 year old marshmallow if she let me leave her playschool without her. No more tears."
4. "I tell my girls that they only get rewarded if they do their part in things like..cleaning there rooms ,, helping out at home and doing good in school.. but id never go back on what i promise them ...After they do their part."
5. "Stickers or an orange! I will give chocolate if we are out and there's nothing else around but she will gladly eat an orange or raisins over anything else!"
6. "Today little man wanted Shrek on so I said eat some of your tea while I set it up (he tries everything not to eat) it worked we got some tea down him."
7. "Probably bad parenting but me and my husband have promised our son some big hero 6 mini figures if he stays in his own bed for 7 nights!! All we want is a peaceful sleep."
8. "I say to my daughter you can sleep in mummies bed tonight if you eat all of your dinner up! And also if you help me with the cleaning you will get big strong muscles like mummy."
9. "When my daughter was little she had a fear of doing a number 2 on the toilet so me and hubby promised to take her on a big girls holiday if she could do it - holiday was already booked but it worked lol."
10. "I'm not gonna lie if my little girl is just constantly whining for no reason, I give her snacks to keep her quiet if I'm eating my dinner or need to do something, things like rice cakes, or carrot crisp things and sometimes chocolate."
11. "Raisins always work for my two year old twins...or the promise of playing 'let it go' on my phone is a winner too"
12. "I usually use stickers or stamps for my little girl. She loves flashing a stamp on her hand to anyone that will look."
13. "Skylanders with one, buses, trucks or Lego with other."
14. "If I need to cut my 2 lo hands and feet nails. I bribe with chocolate, but even that with my 3 year old son doesn't work so we end up chasing him round the house with one foot done one not."
15. "Money of course [...] it's an oldie but goodie"
16. "When potty training... 2 skittles for a wee, 5 for a poo. Worked a charm."
And finally, if you are still feeling a little bit guilty about using bribery, remember, as one one mum wrote, "it's not bribery ..... It's positive reinforcement"
