Has anyone ever smacked their child?

[IsAnybodyOutThere]

This evening I slapped my hysterical 5yr DS on the face. I have never felt so ashamed in my life. It is the thing I said I would never do. I didn't do it out of anger but more because I just didn't know what else to do to stop him having complete hysterics. Has anybody else ever done this? Please tell me that I a not alone.

A friend once told me that her mum told her

Its when you do it whatever it may be smack or... and you don`t feel guilty when you know its so wrong

Thats a problem

Advice given to me by health professionals only- re hand smacking!

Hi there
Have just joined this site and caught hold of this thread........
I am a mother of three - aged 11, and twins aged 5. I am also a Child Care Social Worker (yes, the only people worse than me at the moment are bankers and paediatricians I should think).
Anyway, part of my role is to advocate no smacking, however, as a mother as well as a professional I know too well that this is not always realistic and I have smacked my children. It is not something that I am proud of and do not like to do. I also know that I have lost the battle when I resort to smacking. The question I ask myself and others is "does it make you feel good and it does it help the child learn from their mistakes" answer is no so alternatives are always the best choice, but I know this does not help when you have lost the plot and smacked.
I stopped smacking my 11 year old as an acceptable form of punishment when he was about 7 because one day I smacked him and he laughed back at me and so I smacked him again and again and I scared myself and him because neither of us thought I would stop. I have not smacked him since.
What you also have to remember is that your child has long since forgotten about the smack way before you and is probably happily playing whilst you are punishing yourself.

thanks for that rodders, reassuring

welcome!

Hey don't beat yourself up over it, move on, you did it and you know yourself it was wrong, next time walk away, make sure the child is in a safe place and just walk away. kids are here to push us.

rodders, from that post, and please don't think im being funny, but i reckon you are a pretty good social worker as you sound realistic about how hard it is to be a parent.

It is SO hard

OP don't punish yourself over this, its probably not ok to smack the face but i can understand totally why you did it, its almost like you think it will help but then its like, why the fuck did i do that - i bet your DS forgets all about it before you do.