Parenting advice is available everywhere! Everybody from your parents, your co-workers, to the cashier at the grocery store – give you suggestions on how to parent. With so much advice, well intended suggestions may cause further confusion. How can you sort through all of the information? Read the following tips for some practical advice others have found helpful!
Although it is a widely debated topic, it is highly recommended that your child get all necessary vaccinations. Some of the diseases that your child can get if they do not get vaccinated could make them sick or worse, even kill them. This holds especially true for children who go to school, where diseases are spread more rapidly.
An important tip for parents is to become acquainted with your children’s friends as well as their parents. By getting to know your children’s playmates and also their moms and dads, it is possible to develop a sense of comfort and confidence in the types of influences to which your sons and daughters are regularly exposed.
If you have a toddler who is throwing a tantrum, make a “safety fort” out of a blanket or towel thrown over a chair. Many times, toddler tantrums are related to over-stimulation, and removing the stimulation by blocking it out can help. It provides your toddler with a safe space in which they can regroup and calm down.
Avoid arguing with your spouse in front of your children or their friends. It is important that the two of you show a united front, even if everything is not pure bliss on the marriage front. This does not mean you must act like the perfect couple, just that you are united in cases regarding children.
While the advice of close friends and family can be very helpful, you don’t need to listen to the unsolicited tips from every aunt, cousin and coworker. Of course they may mean well, but at the end of the day the child is yours. The same goes for parenting tips from any other source, take them with a grain of salt.
If your child becomes upset while traveling in the car, try giving them a magnetic toy to play with. Use a cookie sheet or cake pan and put a variety of magnetic toys on it. This should keep your child entertained even if you have to stop at a light or slow down for traffic.
An important part of parenting is the setting and enforcing of clear boundaries. Consistency is critical, so once a line is drawn on a particular behavioral topic, the consequences for crossing that line must always be upheld. By following this course of action, your child will have predictable rules under which to operate, and will always be aware of what is acceptable and what is not!
The above article, no doubt, provided you some practical advice! Apply what fits your circumstances. Every child is different, as is every parent. With so much advice available, you may have felt a bit confused. Just remember, your parents, your co-workers, and even the cashiers at the grocery store all have good intensions!
