3 Tips To Brat-Proof Your Child

Tantrums aren't signs of problem children or spoiled children. Brats are made, not born. Set limits. Let your child know their value to your family. Model good behavior.
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3 Tips To Brat-Proof Your Child

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Nobody wants to raise a child who’s a brat – I feel quite sure when you and your partner were deciding to have kids, you didn’t say, “Tell you what, let’s raise a brat.” No one wants a bratty kid. The thing is that brat kids are not born. They’re made. And there are things that parents can do as they raise their children to cultivate in their children the very characteristics that will brat-proof them. Raising a child who is independent, who is self-reliant, who has respect – those are characteristics that put children in a position of not being bratty. But more importantly than that, children who feel that they matter, that they are significant in the lives of parents, not to the point of being spoiled, but meaning, “I care so much about you that I’m going to stop you from doing this or help you not to do that.” Those are children who will not be bratty. Bratty children are usually those children who have too much permission, who have been given too much and who have not been allowed to cultivate the very traits that put them in a position of not being bratty.

Tantrums aren't signs of problem children or spoiled children. Brats are made, not born. Set limits. Let your child know their value to your family. Model good behavior.

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Expert Bio

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Betsy Brown Braun, MA

Parent Educator & Author

Betsy Brown Braun, best-selling author of both Just Tell Me What to Say: Sensible Tips and Scripts for Perplexed Parents and You’re Not The Boss Of Me: Brat-proofing Your Four To Twelve Year-Old, is a child development and behavior specialist, parent educator, multiple birth parenting consultant, and founder of Parenting Pathways, Inc.

With over 40 years of experience in public and private early childhood and elementary education, Betsy has directed and founded school programs, taught in both public and private schools, has been a school director, and was the founding director of Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Early Childhood Center. She holds an MA in Human Development and teaching credentials from Pacific Oaks College.

In 2001 Betsy founded Parenting Pathways, Inc. to provide guidance to parents seeking the skills and confidence needed to negotiate the often-challenging parenting pathway. She leads parenting groups, seminars, and offers private parent consultations throughout the nation.

Her bestseller, Just Tell Me What To Say, in its fourth printing,presents the tried and true tools her clients use daily to handle situations that inevitably accompany raising children ages two to six and beyond. Her second book, and second bestseller, You’re Not The Boss Of Me: Brat-Proofing Your Kids, also in its fourth printing, is the ultimate hands-on guide to cultivating character traits that are tried-and-true "bratbusters." 

Betsy brings her vast knowledge, sensitivity, and special brand of humor to her parent consultations, to her groups, and to her presentations.

Her parenting expertise has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Cookie, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, In Style, Parenting, Parents, Pregnancy and Newborn, Twins, Woman’s Day, and Working Mother, among other publications. She has shared her expertise on the Today Show multiple times. Other television appearances have included The Early Show, Good Morning America Now!, Fox & Friends, Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil,  The Talk, Entertainment Tonight, KCBS, KNBC, and Fox News LA. She contributes to KNX news radio on child development, and has been a guest on countless radio programs nationwide, including NPR. She writes for and has been cited in numerous websites and parenting blogs. Betsy is a frequent speaker at educational conferences, schools, and businesses.

Betsy and her husband Ray Braun are parents of adult triplets.

More Parenting Videos from Betsy Brown Braun, MA >
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Transcription: 
Nobody wants to raise a child who’s a brat – I feel quite sure when you and your partner were deciding to have kids, you didn’t say, “Tell you what, let’s raise a brat.” No one wants a bratty kid. The thing is that brat kids are not born. They’re made. And there are things that parents can do as they raise their children to cultivate in their children the very characteristics that will brat-proof them. Raising a child who is independent, who is self-reliant, who has respect – those are characteristics that put children in a position of not being bratty. But more importantly than that, children who feel that they matter, that they are significant in the lives of parents, not to the point of being spoiled, but meaning, “I care so much about you that I’m going to stop you from doing this or help you not to do that.” Those are children who will not be bratty. Bratty children are usually those children who have too much permission, who have been given too much and who have not been allowed to cultivate the very traits that put them in a position of not being bratty.