Getting your child to do what you want the first time you ask. Sound impossible?

It's not. Parents of young children can achieve just that.

Getting your child to listen is an easy online program that can help you improve your child's behaviour. It?s designed to help parents get children to do what you ask, with less nagging, yelling and  frustration.

And that means more enjoyment for the whole family.

Getting your child to listen helps you to identify whether your child's behaviour is just that, a normal child's behaviour, or whether there is room for improvement. It then provides practical steps for improving behaviour, plus ideas for getting a sense of your progress.

What improvement can you expect?

You could cut down on having to repeat requests or instructions by as much as a third. That's a big difference. It means there'll be less stress, less frustration, less yelling. And family life will be more fun for everybody.

What do I need to do before I start?

Getting your child to listen will provide immediate help, but is designed to work best over a period of 2-4 weeks. It is free, easy to use, and completely confidential.

Getting started

Getting your child to listen has five major parts, plus a section on Survival Strategies. The information works best if each part is followed in order, however parents who need immediate help might find the tips in Survival Strategies helpful while putting the program in place. Each part has its own PDF to work on online. Alternatively, the whole document can be downloaded from this page.

Part 1 How does your child compare?

Part 2 Setting up house rules

Part 3 Asking your child to do something

Part 4 Rewarding good behaviour

Part 5 When positive strategies alone don?t work

Part 6 Survival Strategies 

Getting your child to listen is for parents who would like help getting young children to listen and do what they ask. It is for young children, and particularly applies to families who are having trouble getting children to follow requests in a range of day to day settings and situations.

Getting your child to listen is also helpful for parents who have children with developmental delays or  hyperactivity. If you are already seeing a pediatrician or other health professional, please consult them about your plans to work through this guide.

This program was written by Professor Alan Hudson, Head of School of Health Sciences, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia. Professor Hudson has a distinguished career as a clinician, researcher and teacher. He is published widely in the scientific literature and is the Founding Chairperson of the Victorian Parenting Centre's (now the Parenting Research Centre) Board of Management.

The program was updated and adapted for online publication by Warren Cann  and Marisa Baschuk  at the Parenting Research Centre.

 We gratefully acknowledge funding support provided by the Victorian Government Department of Human Services to make this document available online.