4 Effective Parenting Advice Items

1. Take a CPR and first aid course

Take a course in CPR and First Aid, you never know when these acquired skills are going to be needed. You need to know how to handle stuff when emergencies happen.

When you need to prescribe it to your kid, don’t think you can hop on your phone and YouTube to do CPR. When you don’t have information, fear sets in. By learning what to do when a disaster happens, brace yourself for future emergencies.

Our firstborn son, for instance, went into cardiac arrest one evening. My husband started CPR. Years ago, he had mastered CPR and I had learned it more recently. I coached my husband, as he was doing, about what to do. While waiting for the ambulance, we worked together to do CPR. The CPR that my husband did, according to the doctors at the hospital, held our son alive.

We didn’t know beforehand that we were ever going to do CPR on our own baby. Getting the training on our personal tool belt, however, saved the life of our son that evening. There have been other times where I had to use the Heimlich Maneuver on my kids, so I’m glad that I took the CPR and first aid training courses.

Don’t wait to enroll in a class because your home has not yet witnessed an emergency. If it is choking, a bleeding wound, broken bones, head injury, or some other crisis that needs a level head and the expertise to support your child, chances are that some form of emergency will occur.

Be prepared by taking a CPR and first aid class for such cases. Many are just a few hours away. On their website, the Red Cross has a search tool, so you can locate these classes near you.

When they’re ready, the Potty Train

When they are ready, children will start using the potty. It will probably not result in good potty training if you place excessive pressure on a child to potty train. To make potty training successful, they must be willing and want to use the potty.

When they’re ready, don’t miss their cues. To better prepare them for the act of potty training, there are some things you can do but do not push the issue.

You’ll know when they are ready. They will one day be a willing participant in the process, having to wear big boy or big girl undies and go to the toilet. You are more than likely to waste your time before they express an interest or desire.

Parents prolong the time it takes to potty train in some situations because it has been a stressful experience for them with powerful methods of potty training. Don’t push the baby to go to the potty. It’s not going to support them or you.

Do a favor to yourself and them and wait till they appear ready. If they appear ready, help inspire them to achieve by using sticker charts, incentives, or other strategies that have been shown to work for children in potty training.

Kids desire structure

Kids have an innate desire for rules, structure, and boundaries. They also do better when routines are established. This doesn’t mean that they need or want parents who are dictators with little flexibility. Instead, they need boundaries with rules clearly explained; to help them grow and thrive to be the best people they can be.

Consistency with the rules is also essential. For example, a child who doesn’t have a regular bedtime and gets yelled at one night for staying up too late, while the next night they stay up even later and there is no consequence, results in confusion for the child regarding their bedtime. Letting the child know that their bedtime is 8:00 PM every school night so that they can get the sleep they need, sets a specific boundary and rule that helps them be more successful in school.

Setting a specific time makes the rule known and their bedtime is no longer a guessing game. Kids want to know what is expected of them. They also want to have routines that they can rely to. Routines make them feel secure. Having rules and structure also helps prepare them for adulthood and the real world.

When kids don’t have structure, it makes them feel out of control. This can lead to feelings of anxiety. Teens especially need structure, but many parents think this is when kids need more flexibility and leniency. However, this leniency can lead to teens feeling that their life is out of control.

They need rules and structure, but they also need to understand that the rules are for their benefit because you love them. This is why it is helpful for parents to explain to their child or teen why they have the rules that they have.

For example, you set a midnight curfew for your teen and they ask why, to which you respond “I am the mom that’s why I set the curfew, so you need to obey.” They are likely to rebel to such a parental response. Instead, stating “I set the curfew because I need to know that you are home by that time and safe, because I love you” is likely to help them understand you are setting a curfew out of love and care for them.

Character grows by example

It matters what you’re doing. You’re being watched by your kids. You’re the role model for your kids, whether you want to be or not. Their morality and character are first developed in the home. They watch you and your acts.

Be the person that you want them to grow up to become. If you want them to become healthy, respectable human beings, exercise good decision-making when it comes to character and morality.

If you are playing a board game with them, for instance, don’t cheat. When you cheat, they learn that cheating in board games is acceptable. A slippery slope can become cheating. It may evolve from board games to school or test cheating.

References:

https://www.lifehack.org/799027/child-rearing

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