How can you talk your child out of becoming a long-term smoker? There's no perfect solution but here's a few suggestions...

Generally, make it difficult for him. Refuse to subsidise his smoking and dock his allowance by the sum she spends on cigarettes. Remember it's illegal for under-16s to buy cigarettes. Above all, if you smoke, don't leave your cigarettes lying around. Don't allow him to smoke in the house.

Try bribery
Some parents find bribery works. A friend promised her son a large sum of money on his 18th birthday on the assumption that if he could last until then, he was unlikely to start later. Not a cast-iron guarantee since many students start to smoke at university, but generally, the later they start the less likely they are to continue.

It pays not to smoke
Work out what it costs him to smoke every week and do a deal with him that he will break the habit in a month. For the first week, each day he puts the money he saves into a pot and you match the amount. In the second week, you give double the amount he saves. In week three, three times and in week four, four times the amount saved. At the end of four weeks he will have amassed a tidy sum and broken the smoking habit.

If he smokes within the four weeks, he forfeits the lot and you pocket it! This approach only works if he has a commitment to give up and saving money is the right incentive for him.

• Ask Our Experts: Stingy? Or Spoilt?
• Ask Our Experts: Wandering 11 Yr-Old
• Ask Our Experts: Constant Squabbling
• Ask Our Members - Parents Recount Their Experiences