Parenting is not simple. Good parenting is work that is hard.

What makes a great parent?

A good parent is a person who strives to make decisions in the most effective interest of the child.

What can make a great parent is not only identified by the parent 's actions, but also the intention of theirs.

A good parent does not have to be perfect. Nobody is perfect. No child is ideal either … keeping this in mind is essential when we set our expectations.

Successful parenting isn't about achieving perfection. But it does not imply that we shouldn't work to that goal. Set high standards for ourselves first and then the children of ours second. We function as important role models for them.

 

Top 10 Parenting Tips

 

Listed here are ten suggestions that will help you be a much better parent, learn great parenting skills, and stay away from bad parenting.

Some aren't simple or fast.

It is unlikely that any person can do them all the time.

While you may not always do all of these things, though the ideas in this parenting guide will help you move in the right direction.

 

 

#1 BE An excellent Role MODEL

Walk the walk. Do not simply 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're 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 would like the child of yours to be - respect your kid, demonstrate to them good behavior and attitude, have empathy towards your child's emotion - as well as your kid will follow suit.

 

 

#2: Love THEM And Show Through ACTION

Demonstrate the love of yours.

There is no such thing as loving your child a lot of. To love them can't spoil them​​.

Just what you choose to do (or give) in the name of love can - things as material indulgence, low expectation, leniency, and over protection. When these items are provided in place of love that is real, that is when you will have a spoiled child.

Loving your child may be as easy as giving them hugs, spending quality time with them, having family meals together, and hearing your kid's problems seriously.

Showing these acts of love can cause the release of feel-good hormones such as oxytocin. These neurochemicals are able to provide us a deep sense of calm, emotional warmth, and contentment; from these, the kid, will develop resilience and never to mention a closer relationship 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 the actions of ours, shape the personalities of ours, and basically determine who we are. They are created, strengthened, and "sculpted" through life experiences.

Give the child of yours positive family interaction, particularly in the early years. They'll then be able to see positive experiences themselves and provide them to others​​.

But if you give your child bad experiences, they won't have the kind of development needed for them to thrive.

Sing that silly song. Have a tickle marathon. Go on the park. Laugh with your child. Allow them to have positive attention. Ride with an emotional tantrum with them. Solve a problem together with an optimistic attitude.

These positive experiences produce good neural connections into your child's brain and form the memories individuals that your child carries for life.

With regards to discipline, it seems difficult to remain positive, especially when dealing with behavior issues. But it is possible by using positive discipline and avoiding strong discipline.

Being a good parent means you have to teach your child the morals of what is right and what's wrong.

Setting limits and being consistent is the golden rule to good discipline. Be kind and firm whenever you establish rules and implement them. Focus on the reason for the child's misbehavior. And make it an opportunity for them to find out for the future in a good way, instead of to get penalized for the past.

 

 

#4: Be a Safe HAVEN FOR YOUR CHILD

Let the child of yours realize that you'll always be there for them if it is responsive to your child's signals and vulnerable to their needs. Support and accept your child as a person. Be a warm and safe place for the child of yours to explore from and go back to.

Children raised by parents who are constantly responsive have much better emotional regulation development, interpersonal skills development, along with emotional 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 as well as listen to them carefully. By keeping an open line of communication, you'll have a better connection with your child and your child may come for you when there is an issue.

But there is an additional reason behind communication. You help your kid integrate various parts of the brain of theirs, 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 different parts of the brain are integrated, they can function harmoniously as a whole, which means fewer tantrums, more good behavior, more empathy, and better mental well-being​​.

To do that, talk through troubling experiences. Ask your child Parentinghowto to describe what happened and the way they felt developing attuned communication​​.

You do not need to offer solutions. You do not have to have all of the answers to be 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 want to parent differently from our parents. Even people who had a good upbringing and a happy childhood may wish to alter some aspects of how they had been brought up.

But really often, when we open our mouths, we speak the same as the own parents of ours did.

Reflecting on the own childhood of ours is a step towards understanding why we parent how we do. Make note of things you would like to change and think of how you would get it done differently in a real scenario. Try to be aware and change the behavior of yours the next time those issues come up.

Don't quit in case you don't succeed in the beginning. It will take practice, lots of practice to consciously change one 's child-rearing strategies.

 

 

#7: Focus on Your personal WELL-BEING

Parents need relief too.

Give consideration to your own well being to prevent parental burnout.

Oftentimes, things including the own needs of yours or the overall health of your marriage are kept on the back burner when a kid is born. If you don't pay attention to them, they are going to become bigger problems down the road​. Make time to enhance your relationship with your spouse.

Stressed-out parents are more vulnerable to fighting. Don't hesitate to ask for parenting help. To have some "me time" for self-care and stress management is crucial to rejuvenate the brain.

How parents take care of the child of theirs mentally and physically will make an impact in their parenting and family life. In case these two areas fail, your child is going to suffer, too.

 

 

#8: Don't SPANK, NO MATTER WHAT

No doubt, for some parents, spanking can result in short-term compliance which occasionally is a much needed relief for the parents.

Nevertheless, this method doesn't teach the kid right from wrong. It simply teaches the child to fear outside consequences. The child is then motivated to stay away from getting caught with inappropriate behavior.

Spanking the child of yours is modeling to your kid that he/she is able to resolve issues by violence​​. A child who is spanked, smacked, or maybe hit is more prone to fighting along with other children. They are more apt to become bullies and to use verbal/physical aggression to resolve disputes.

Later in daily life, they are also more apt to result in delinquency and oppositional behavior, even worse parent-child relationships, mental health problems, along with domestic violence victims or abusers​​.

There are an assortment of more effective options to discipline that have been proven to be much more effective​​, like 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 kid?

When you are like the majority of parents, you want your child to do well in school, be prosperous, be independent and responsible, be respectful, enjoy good associations with you and others, be caring and compassionate, and have a happy, healthy and fulfilling life.

But how much time do you spend working towards those goals?

If you're like the majority of parents, you most likely spend the majority of the time simply attempting getting through the day. As authors, Siegel and Bryson, point out in their book, The Whole-Brain child, instead of helping your child thrive, you spend most of time simply attempting to survive!

To not allow the survival mode dominate the life of yours, the next time you're feeling frustrated or angry, step back. Consider what frustration and anger can do for you or the child of yours.

Rather, look for ways to switch each bad experience right into a learning opportunity for them. Even epic tantrums could be transformed into priceless brain sculpting moments in case you concentrate on teaching the child of yours, not attempting 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 your child with tricks. What I mean is to take advantage of what is already known by scientists.

Parenting is one of the most researched fields in psychology. Lots of parenting strategies, traditions, or practices were scientifically researched, refined, verified, or refuted.

For optimum parenting advice for increasing a child and information that are supported by science, here's one of my favorite science-based parenting guides, The Science of Parenting.

Making use of scientific knowledge is of course not really a one-size-fits-all approach. Every kid is different. Even within the best parenting style, there can be a variety of good parenting practices you can choose based on your child's temperament.

A very good example is using spanking to discipline. You will find numerous better alternatives, e.g. redirection, reasoning, time-in, etc. You can choose a non-punitive discipline method that actually works ideal for the child of yours.

Naturally, you are able to also decide to utilize "traditional" or "old school" parenting styles (e.g. punishing or maybe spanking) and may nonetheless buy a "similar" outcome.

Differential susceptibility has shown us that kids with different temperaments react to the quality of parenting differently.

Those people who are more susceptible to parenting quality will have much better outcomes under good parenting but even worse outcomes under bad parenting.

Those who are much less prone may "turn out fine" no matter how strong their parents treat them. But it does not mean those practices are great. These children are simply fortunate. They can thrive despite poor parenting, not because of it.

Why take a possibility 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 simplest way to parent. It may require much more work on your part in the temporary but can save you lots of agony and time in the long run.

 

 

Final Thoughts On Parenting

The good point is, that although parenting is hard, it's also very rewarding. The bad part will be the rewards usually come later than the effort. But if we try our best today, we'll eventually reap the rewards and also have nothing to regret.

To Happy Parenting!