Raising a child is not exactly rocket science if you know how to fight the battle – and win it says Elizabeth Pantley, the author of The No-Cry Discipline Solution. Bringing up a child may be the most wonderful and rewarding experience of your life. However, when it comes to instilling discipline and shaping a good behaviour, it can be a tough, frustrating and challenging affair.
From the time your baby lets out his first cry until the day he leaves the nest, you have years after years to interact and connect. It would be absolutely unrealistic to expect these times to be always blissfully happy. There will be plenty of ugly scenes, uncalled-for anger and mistakes, on both your part and your child’s.
If you ask parents to list the most frustrating discipline problems during early, childhood, you will find that tantrums, fussing and whining appear on every list. Every child master their version of these behaviours – every parent has to deal with them!
Most often, these behaviours are caused by a child’s inability to express or control his emotions. Tiredness, hunger, boredom, frustration and other causes that ignite The Big Three can frequently be avoided or modified. When your child begins a meltdown, try to determine if you can tell what underlying issue is causing the problem. Solve that problem, and you’ll likely have your sweet child back again.
Ways To Handle Kids On Protest
Handling Your Kids Meltdown
No matter how excellent you are in recognising trigger causes, your kids will still have meltdown moments. Or even meltdown days. The following tips can help you handle those inevitable bumps in the road. Be flexible and practise those solutions that seem to bring the best results.
Offer Choices
You may be able to avoid problems by giving your kids more of a say in their life. You can do this by offering choices. Instead of saying, “Get ready for bed right now,” which may provoke a tantrum. You could offer them an option, “What would you like to do first, put on your pyjamas or brush your teeth?”
When you give kids time to decide for things they want to do, they end up feeling much happier as you somehow validate things for them. When they are busy deciding things are often happy.
Eye To Eye Contact
When you make a request from a distance, your kids will be most likely to ignore you. As we know, non-compliance creates stress, which leads to fussing and tantrums – from both of you and your kids. Why not, instead, get down to your kids level, look at them in the eye and make clear, concise requests. It will catch their full attention.
Tell Your Kids What You Want
Instead of focusing on their misbehaviour and protest on things you don’t want them to do, explain precisely what you’d like your kids to do or say instead. Give him simple and clear instructions to follow. Kids may not comprehend instruction vaguely. But this doesn’t make you can simply ask them to do things for you.
Validate Your Kids Feelings
One of our frequent parenting mistakes is that we tend to forget to validate our kids’ feelings. It is as if their feelings aren’t as important as us. Why not, help your kids identify and understand their emotions. Give words to their feelings, “You’re sad. You want to stay here and play. I know.” It doesn’t mean you must give in to their request whenever they protest but letting them know that you understand their problem may be enough to help them calm down.
Teach The Quiet Bunny
When children get worked up, their physiological symptoms keep them in an agitated state. You can teach your kids ways to relax and use this approach whenever your kids misbehave.
You can start each morning or end each day with a brief relaxation session. Have your kids sit or lie comfortably with their eyes closed. Tell a story that he’s a quiet bunny. Name any of the body parts and have your kids wiggle it, and relax it. Do this every time they feel upset. It will ease them up.
Handling your kids when they are on protest could take up more than just a drained of energy, it could also take up your mental and physical strength. But all in all, no matter how tough things are you would do anything for your kids, as long as they get what you wish to provide for them. You only want the best, and you will give them the best.
Your kids may have their meltdown and will protest on things as well, as we discussed earlier on, but that doesn’t mean that you have to punish them every time they did something wrong. It’s best to try and practice the ways we suggested for you to handle your kids well.
For more parenting tips and tricks, make sure to stay tuned to our blog. Don’t forget to check Motherhood.com.my for the best deals on your favourite baby items on our online store!