Separation Anxiety In Children

Parents must have heard of separation anxiety faced by the children. According to child specialists, separation anxiety begins from eight months of age and till the age of five it remains prominent and afterwards slowly starts to decrease. This can also said to be normal stage of development and there is nothing to worry about it as is commonly faced by almost all the kids. This anxiety in babies arises because of the feeling that caregiver will leave only to never return again. So, if the child senses the impending separation he/she starts reacting and showing anxiety. Normally, a kid usually expresses his anxiety through clinging to the parents, excessive crying and distress. Frequent demonstration of this behavioural pattern in children is indicative of separation anxiety.

Once parents are aware of this problem, they should devote more time to the kids. If not taken proper care, this might lead to a psychological disorder called the separation anxiety disorder. But, that stage is far away and parents can always treat this anxiety problem with utmost care and devotion. Ideally, parents should remain firm when child starts showing tantrums. The reason is if you get affected by child’s behaviour and react as per his preference, next time handling anxiety symptoms will be even more difficult.

Talking to the kid will help a lot. Make him understand that separation hurts you as well. Understanding and talking will make him feel more comfortable. It will also be a good idea to familiarize the kid with his surroundings. Maintain a proper routine for you so that way child will be aware of timings. Always, always empathize with the child and understand his anxiety. Finally, never ever show your own anxiety to the child. It will make him react even more aggressively.

Preventing Child Abuse

A child can often fall prey to ill intentions of the maligned souls. These days, we often come across news of sexual abuse of a child. This is a serious crime that leaves a life-long scar in the mind of the child. Many a times, it has been found that culprit was a close relative or someone who knew the child well. Child abuse can take place any which way. The problem with child abuse is, it is one of the most unreported crimes. A child feels uncomfortable sharing his plight and parents often keep incident secret because of social stigma attached with the incident. So, instead of culprit being brought to law, he often walks free and that too in plain eye sight. Parents must follow certain precautions to save their kids from going through any such ordeal.

First thing is, never leave your kid to vulnerable situations. Make sure to check, who is around the child. While hiring a baby-sitter, make sure to check his/her credentials. Always have personal and open discussion with your kids regarding everything. This way, they will also be able to share any issues they are facing. Give your child privacy. It is very important to have deep discussions with your child. Parents must be tough enough to face realities and handle the situation in best way possible. Don’t just try to pretend that problem does not exist. Keep your child aware of suspected strangers. Parents can teach child to follow their natural instincts.

Stay At Home Dads

Staying home at traditionally been responsibility and prerogative of mothers. Fathers used to provide the family monetarily. But things are changing and they are changing fast. The modern era is witnessing the role reversal. Women are venturing out and men are taking the reign from women. Now, men don’t feel shy to don the chef cap and acting as full time stay at home fathers. However, it is a different debate that who among the both gender is better at nurturing kids. Men are giving their best to prove the earlier theory wrong and they are also seeking pleasure in watching children grow. Right from changing nappies to helping kids in completing their home works, dads are doing it all. Men are very well capable of providing child a caring, educational and safe future.

However, it is easier said than done. To achieve this task, Patience must be the hallmarks of stay at home dads. Things like unkempt cupboards, broken dishes and spilled milk are sure to disrupt your peace but they must take things in stride. Slowly but steadily, you will learn to take things easily.

Stay at home dads also need to be positive to handle the conflicts and occasional anxiety. Scolding kids should be avoided and should instead focus on diverting the mind of the child. Parents have many hassles and in such cases being positive will help you overcoming those problems. Keep your child close so that they feel protected and secure. Take good care of child’s health and related factors like water, food and hygiene. Finally, keep yourself busy with things like magazines, books, journals or news. Stay employable and enjoy the blessings of fatherhood.

Independent Children

Children grow up to become independent humans. That’s how the cycle works. It also implies that parents need to impart such skills in their child so that children grow up to become young, confident and independent individuals. In fact, attaining independence is a very crucial part in child’s growth. They cannot rely on their parents or siblings for every small need of their life. The trick for parents is to inculcate a self-determining attitude in their kid.

One of the first steps parents need to take is to avoid spoon feeding. It’s one thing to help the child whenever he needs it and it’s an altogether different thing to support him in every small thing. That makes him reliant and dependent. Help the child only when it’s needed. Simultaneously, parents’ can work on making child confident. Independence always comes with confidence. Both go hand in hand. Teach him basic things and slowly start to assign him small tasks. This way he will start to become confident and self-reliant.

The quality of independence demands decision making ability. Parents should push child to face the world on his own. Don’t try to be over-protective. This might save him in initial run but will prove to be a poor decision in the long run. Allow him to face the realities of the world. Make your child feel secure. This can be done by instilling confidence in him that parents are always there for him if in case something goes wrong. Finally, allow your child the freedom to make decisions on his own. This way he will learn quickly.

Children and Responsibilities

Right from the very beginning children should be given responsibilities. For a start, we can allot them house chores and subsequently reward them on the successful completion of tasks. Children must be given the feeling that they are also contributing to family functioning. While deciding on house chores, we can think of several questions like; how to improve kids’ accountability and freedom? What kind of works, our children do now to contribute to overall scheme of things? What other works can be added to children’s list of responsibilities in coming time? How quietly and effectively we are going to support our children at their new works? Are we going to teach some new skills to the kids? The skills could range from washing plates to cleaning house or taking care of their clothes or folding bed sheet and blankets.

These factors must be our parenting considerations for this year. These things require some time to figure out but we must devote some amount of quality time and deciding these thoughtful things. There is also a possibility that while thinking of works for kids, we might start for new works for ourselves. The process can also be very useful in taking commands of our resolutions pertaining to work, family, health, relationships etc. another wonderful result of this process will be better bond between parents and children. So what are you thinking of? Just get going and enjoy the process.