Raised two good kids that way.

However, the vast majority of times we are talking about a swift whap on the butt with the hand to get a small child's attention, as when they are about to run into a street, or do something extraordinarily stupid. Little pain involved, especially when you're slapping diaper and not butt. But it does bring focus.

Didn't use it as a formal punishment, where a kid would have to come up after the fact and get a spanking. And never, never with an object of any kind. If you're doing it because you've lost your temper, you aren't doing the right thing.

Ironically, considering the nature of the law, older children are more capable of listening to reason and dealing with longer-term consequences of actions, and then things like time outs, or removal of privileges, works a lot better. It's very small children, who (like puppies) aren't thinking all that well yet, where the more straightforward "putch" (as my grandparents called it) on the rump works better.

My Dad and Mom delivered such spankings. My Dad specialized in two things: The "head flick," where a single finger is snapped on top of the head, and the "belt threat." The latter involves removal of the belt, folding it in half, pushing the ends together to push the two halves of the belt apart, and then a quick pull to snap them together. Makes a crack like a whip. Scared the crap out of us kids. Got to the point where all he'd have to do is reach for the buckle of his belt to make us shape up.

Interestingly, in all those years, to the best of my memory, that belt was never actually used to do anything but make a noise.