Tag: Discipline

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Behaviour and Discipline Parenting and Childcare

Tips to Deal with Swearing and Abusive Language: A Guide for Parents

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Reasons why my child is using foul language

Kids are always studying how to converse and communicate with people. When your kid picks up a new swear word at kindergarten or from another kid in your society, the prospects are, he will want to try it out at the house. And when other kids start laughing when he uses the word, it will give him the confidence to repeat uttering the word.

Toddlers also study by copying themselves on others. For your kid, this often involves imitation, particularly of people he looks up to and loves, such as family members and older siblings. Thus, he may pick up certain words and behaviors to fit in, without knowing what they mean.

This is the usual stage in your child’s development. Your curious child has acquired a new skill, one that is different and thrilling.

What should you do about swearing and abusive language?

It does not matter where the language comes from, though it is never too early to teach your child that it is not tolerable. Here are some tips on how you can make your little one comprehend:

Maintain a straight face

When your preschooler uses abusive language, says a swear word, oppose the urge to giggle, which he will take as superb support for doing it again.
The capability to make adults giggle or annoy or distress is very powerful when you are little. And even if it seems hilarious or amusing to hear your toddler repeating some wrong words unknowingly, showing your enjoyment is not in his best interests.


Though difficult to practice, try to pay no heed to rude language the first time your child uses it. It may happen that he would not repeat it if it does not get him the reaction he was searching for.

Evaluate the environment

Children usually imitate behavior and language that they have heard. Although they might have an idea that it is something that is not permitted, they do not know the connotation of the words themselves. If your kid hears you or other family members swearing on a day-to-day basis, he is likely to choose these up and reiterate them. If you swear in front of him, admit and apologize that you should not have said it.

Speak to everyone within the family which also includes the household staff. No one should use bad language in front of your toddler. If they end up saying something inappropriate they should apologize.

Teach respect

Children need support and motivation to study about respectful behavior and the disparity between “good” and “bad”. Kids need to know right away when their behavior is improper, whether it is swearing, kicking or hitting. Wait for a few minutes if you need to pacify, and then tell him that foul words are not allowed. Also tell him that it is not okay to use swear words and this is not tolerated at preschool or daycare, on the playground, at friends’ houses and even their home.

Remember that all children go through this stage at some point or another. The possibility is that with a little patience and guidance, your toddler will get the message that it is not acceptable behaviour.

Categories
Parenting and Childcare

What Parents Can Do About Their Children Lying

Have you ever ruminated why your child lied about anything to you? Analogous to most other parents, does this continue bothering you a lot? Well, you just landed up at the perfect place to know what you can do about it by handling it properly. According to several kinds of research, children tend to commence lying at a tender age of around three. However, this trait peaks at an age ranging from six to ten. Your child might lie to you in order to accomplish a task, maybe he/she is an attention seeker, to observe your response and actions or some other reasons as well. Today, we are going to have a look at how parents can deal with this effectively.

Dealing with children who lie

Here are a few things that you can try in order to solve this issue-

Focus on the solution rather than yelling

Often, parents tend to do this mistake of yelling a lot at their that they get encouraged to do this stuff again and again. As a repercussion, parents fail to focus on the solution of the problem and rather tend to vent out their unnecessary emotions on their children. Try to stay as calm as possible and ensure that your child follows the solution that you have provided. Also, ensure that the child knows the consequences he/she will have to face if they fail to co-operate. 

The role model theory

You must be a good role model for your child in terms of speaking the truth at all times. This is because children tend to follow their parents a lot while growing up. If your child catches you speaking lies, he/she is bound to repeat that no matter what.

Help your child in identifying the perils of speaking lies. You can connect the dots with some favourite fictional character of your child. For example- If your child loves Iron Man, convince him/her that he is a superhero only because he speaks the truth and if you do not follow him, you will be treated like a villain in everybody’s eyes. Children tend to emulate their favourite characters. Use this to your advantage.

Reward honesty

Help your child earn some rewards each time they speak the truth. For example- It can be a penny dropped into their piggy boxes or a favourite toffy which they earn after collecting a number of truths.

You can also lure by saying that if you exceed let us say 1000 truths, we will buy you your favourite toy. But you must not lie otherwise there will be consequences that are pre-decided by you. Let your child understand the importance of honesty.

Engage your child in social activities

Many researchers observe that fussy toddlers lie just because they want some attention or are apparently low in self-esteem. They just want you to focus on them. If this is the case, be a keen observer and engage them in activities where they make a lot of new friends boosting their self-esteem and confidence. Also, by observing many strangers speaking the truth, they will want to follow them and garner more attention. 

These are a few points you must keep in your mind while dealing with these things. Surely, you will see the change after some time. Good luck parents!

Categories
Technology

How to Prevent Your Toddler from Watching Mobile Videos During Meals

A majority of toddler moms complain about how they have difficulty in feeding their babies without distracting them with a video on their smartphones. Children are often very fussy eaters and persuading them to eat healthy food is not easy. Whether at home or in a restaurant, parents often resort to showing videos on their mobiles just to make the baby eat without a tantrum.

My baby does not eat without a mobile video playing on the side!

How does video-watching during meals affect a pre-schooler?

Just as in adults, distracted or hurried eating can cause a lot of physical and emotional damage in a toddler. Some of the harmful effects of watching mobile videos while eating are:

  1. Overeating – Video-watching is one of the biggest causes of toddler obesity. Studies have shown that we tend to overfeed the baby because the kid is engrossed in the video and does not indicate when the tummy is full.
  2. Gulping food – When your child is distracted by a smartphone video he just gulps the food. His mind does not savour the food and develop preferences.
  3. Slow metabolism – Seeing a video while eating lowers your baby’s metabolic rate. Consequently, the food is digested slowly and excess fat is burned slowly.
  4. Indigestion – Your toddler’s addiction to videos during meals every day may ultimately lead to frequent bouts of indigestion, colic pain, reflux, constipation/diarrhoea, etc.
  5. Allergies – Both you and the kid are distracted by the mobile video. So you are also not as alert as you should be in detecting allergic reactions to certain foods.
  6. Interaction – It is truly said that ‘a family that eats together stays together’! Meals are the best time for parent-child bonding. While watching a video, your pre-schooler does not interact with the rest of the family and misses out on precious quality time.
How to encourage your toddler to eat without a video

Distraction from a video makes it easier to feed your child. In due course, this becomes a habit and your kid may refuse to eat a meal without watching a video. Even if the habit has set in, you can wean your child from the habit. Initially, your little one may throw tantrums and make a huge fuss. But if you persist, then eventually the child will learn to eat without the distraction. These are a few tips on how to prevent toddler from watching videos during meals every day:

  • Keep everyone’s mobile devices away during meals
  • Take help from other members of the family to keep the child in conversation
  • Try to add creativity in the food, in order to make it look a little more attractive
  • Avoid texting or browsing on your phone during meals
  • If necessary, only play audio music (preferably nursery rhymes) instead of showing videos
  • Give more time to the toddler so that your child learns to value personal relationships more than objects.

As you have seen, there are many harmful side effects of a toddler not eating without mobile video clips. Video-watching during meals adversely affects the physical and emotional well-being of your toddler. Your child’s welfare is within your hands and not so difficult to manage.