What can make a great parent?
A great parent is someone who strives to make choices in the best interest of the kid.
What makes a fantastic parent isn't just identified by the parent 's actions, but also the intention of theirs.
A good parent does not need to be perfect. Nobody is perfect. No child is perfect either … keeping this in your mind is important when we set the expectations of ours.
Profitable parenting is not about achieving perfection. But it does not mean that we shouldn't work to that goal. Set high standards for ourselves then and first the children of ours second. We function as role models that are important for them.
Top 10 Parenting Tips
You'll be a much better parent, in case you stick to these 10 tips for parenting tips, and you'll avoid bad parenting.
Not all of them are that easy.
It's unlikely that anybody is able to do them on a regular basis.
Nevertheless, even in case you only do a component of these tips in this parenting guide, you will be moving in the right direction if you keep working on them.
#1 BE A good Role MODEL
Walk the walk. Don't just tell the child of yours everything you wish them to do.
The most effective way to teach is showing them.
Human is an unique species in part since we are able to learn by imitation. We are programmed to imitate others' actions, comprehend them, and integrate them in to our own. Children, in particular, watch everything their parents do very carefully.
So, be the person you want your child to be - respect your child, show them positive attitude and behavior, have empathy towards your child's emotion - and your kid will follow suit.
#2: Love THEM And Show Through ACTION
Demonstrate the love of yours.
There's no such thing as loving your child too much. Loving them can't spoil them.
Just what you choose to do (or give) in the name of love can - things like material indulgence, leniency, low expectation, and over protection. When these things are given in place of real love, that's when you'll have a spoiled kid.
To love your child can be as easy as offering them hugs, spending quality time with them, having family meals together, and listening to your kid's problems seriously.
Showing these actions of love can trigger the release of feel good hormones such as oxytocin. These neurochemicals can provide us a full sense of calm, emotional warmth, and contentment; from these, the child, will acquire resilience and also not to point out a closer connection with you.
#3: Practice Kind And Firm POSITIVE PARENTING
Babies are born with around hundred billion brain cells (neurons) with relatively few connections. These connections create our thoughts, drive our actions, shape the personalities of ours, and essentially determine who we are. They're "sculpted", strengthened, and created through life experiences.
Give the child of yours positive family interaction, especially in the beginning years. They will then be equipped to see positive experiences themselves and also offer them to others.
But if you give the child of yours negative experiences, they will not have the kind of development necessary for them to thrive.
Sing that silly song. Use a tickle marathon. Go on the park. Laugh with your child. Give them good attention. Drive through an emotional tantrum with them. Solve an issue together with a positive mind-set.
These positive experiences create excellent neural connections in your child's brain and create the memories of you your kid carries for life.
When it comes to discipline, it appears to be hard to remain positive, particularly when dealing with behavior problems. But it's possible by using positive discipline and avoiding harsh discipline.
Being a great parent means you need to teach the child of yours the morals of what's right and what is wrong.
Setting limits and being consistent is the golden rule to discipline that is good. Be kind and firm when you establish rules and enforce them. Concentrate on the reason for the child's misbehavior. And make it a chance for them to find out for the future in a positive manner, instead of to get punished for the past.
#4: Be a Safe HAVEN FOR The CHILD of yours
Let the child of yours know that you will remain there for them by being responsive to your child's signals and vulnerable to their needs. Support and accept the child of yours as a person. Be a warm and safe place for the child of yours to explore from and return to.
Kids raised by parents that are constantly responsive tend to have better psychological regulation development, interpersonal skills development, along with mental health outcomes.
#5: Talk with YOUR CHILD And Help THEIR BRAINS INTEGRATE
Most of us know already the value of communication. Talk to the child of yours and also listen to them carefully. By keeping an open line of communication, you'll have a better connection with the child of yours as well as your child will come to you when there's an issue.
But there is an additional reason behind communication. You help your kid integrate various parts of their brain, a critical process in a child's development.
Integration is similar to our body, in which different organs must coordinate and work together to maintain a healthy body. When various regions of the brain are incorporated, they are able to work harmoniously as an entire, meaning less tantrums, much more good behavior, much more empathy, and much better psychological well-being.
To accomplish that, conversation through troubling experiences. Ask the child of yours to describe what happened and how they felt to develop attuned communication.
You don't have to offer solutions. You do not have to have all of the answers to become a good parent. Just listening to them talk. Ask clarifying questions using simple words will help them make sense of their experiences and integrate their memories.
#6: Reflect on Your own personal CHILDHOOD
A lot of us wish to parent differently from the parents of ours. Even people who had an excellent upbringing and a happy childhood may wish to alter some aspects of the way they had been brought up.
But very frequently, when we open the mouths of ours, we speak just like our own parents did.
Reflecting on our own childhood is an action towards understanding the reason we parent the way we do. Make note of things you'd like changing and think of how you'd get it done differently in a genuine scenario. Try to be mindful and change the behavior of yours next time those issues come up.
Don't quit in case you don't succeed at first. It will take practice, lots of practice to consciously alter one 's child-rearing strategies.
#7: Pay attention to Your personal WELL-BEING
Parents need relief too.
Give consideration to your own well-being to prevent parental burnout.
Oftentimes, things including your own needs or the overall health of your marriage are placed on the back burner when a child is born. If you do not pay attention to them, they are going to become bigger problems down the road. Take time to enhance your relationship with the spouse of yours.
Stressed-out parents tend to be more prone to fighting. Don't hesitate to ask for parenting assistance. To have some "me time" for self care and stress management is important to revitalize the mind.
How parents take proper care of their child physically and mentally can make a big difference in the parenting of theirs and family life. If these two areas fail, your child is going to suffer, too.
#8: Don't SPANK, NO MATTER WHAT
Undoubtedly, to some parents, spanking can bring https://parentinghowto.com/ about short term compliance which sometimes is a much-needed help for the parents.
However, this method does not teach the kid right from wrong. It only teaches the kid to fear external consequences. The kid will be motivated to avoid getting caught with behavior that is inappropriate.
Spanking your child is modeling to the child that he/she can resolve issues by violence. A child who's spanked, smacked, or hit is more vulnerable to fighting with other children. They are much more apt to become bullies and also to use verbal/physical aggression to resolve disputes.
Later in life, they're additionally more likely to lead to delinquency and oppositional behavior, worse parent child human relationships, mental health issues, and domestic violence victims or even abusers.
You will find a variety of better options to discipline which have been shown to be more effective, such as good discipline (Tip #3 above positive reinforcement and).
#9: Keep Things In Perspective And remember YOUR PARENTING GOAL
What is your goal in raising a child?
When you are like the majority of parents, you would like your child to do well in school, be productive, be independent and responsible, be respectful, enjoy good associations along with you and some, be caring and compassionate, and have a happy, healthy and fulfilling life.
Though just how much time do you spend working towards those goals?
When you're like most parents, you most likely spend the majority of the time simply attempting getting through the day. As authors, Bryson and Siegel, point out in the book of theirs, The Whole Brain kid, rather than helping your kid thrive, spent most of time simply attempting to survive!
To not allow the survival mode dominate the life of yours, the next time you're feeling angry or frustrated, step back. Think about what anger and frustration will do for you or your child.
Instead, find ways to turn every bad experience right into a learning opportunity for them. Even epic tantrums could be transformed into priceless brain-sculpting moments if you focus on teaching your child, not trying to control them.
#10: Take a SHORTCUT Through the use of Findings In Latest PSYCHOLOGY And NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
By shortcuts, I do not mean shortchanging the child of yours with tricks. What I mean is taking advantage of what is already known by scientists.
Parenting is among the most researched fields in psychology. Lots of parenting techniques, practices, or traditions were scientifically researched, refined, verified, or refuted.
For optimum parenting advice for raising a child and info which are backed by science, here is among my personal favorite science based parenting books, The Science of Parenting.
Using medical knowledge is of course not really a one-size-fits-all strategy. Every kid differs. Even within the best parenting style, there are able to be many different effective parenting methods you can choose according to your child's temperament.
A very good example is using spanking to discipline. There are numerous better alternatives, e.g. redirection, reasoning, time-in, etc. You are able to choose a non punitive discipline method that works ideal for the child of yours.
Of course, you are able to also choose to utilize "traditional" or "old school" parenting styles (e.g. punishing or maybe spanking) and might still buy a "similar" outcome.
Differential susceptibility has shown us that kids with various temperaments react to the quality of parenting differently.
Those people who are more susceptible to parenting quality is going to have better outcomes under good parenting but even worse outcomes under bad parenting.
Those people who are less prone may "turn out fine" no matter how strong their parents treat them. But it does not mean those practices are good. These children are merely lucky. They could thrive despite bad parenting, not due to it.
Why take a chance with sub par parenting practices if you can use well-researched, better ones?
The value of parenting cannot be underestimated. Taking science based parental advice may not be the easiest way to parent. It might require more work on the part of yours in the short term but can save you lots of agony and time in the long term.
Final Thoughts On Parenting
The good point is, that although parenting is difficult, it is additionally very rewarding. The bad part is the rewards typically come much later than the hard work. But in case we try our best now, we will ultimately reap the rewards and have nothing to regret.
To Happy Parenting!