Conquer the Early Development Years

Having trouble dealing with temper tantrums from your toddler? Well, your little ones are at a period of great emotional, intellectual and physical development. They are taking in a lot and are often unable to express themselves appropriately.

TOUCH Family Services offers five tips to care for your child's healthy development:

#1 Start with the end in mind

• Have a clear idea of what virtues or values you want your child to learn.
• Play an active role in your child’s life.
• Focus on WHY something is done rather than simply teaching HOW it is done. For example, explain that throwing a tantrum would not help your child solve a problem as you would not know how to help. Instead, explain that asking for help nicely would enable you to lend the support your child requires.

#2 Be in touch with ALL aspects of your child

• Prioritise taking care of your child’s heart, soul, mind and body (moral, emotional, intellectual and physical capacity)!
• A child’s emotions should not be the sole focus of your parenting.
• To achieve this, you need to consistently spend time with your child to better understand and nurture him/her.

#3 Set age-appropriate structure and routine       

• Implementing activities with positive learning points and making it a routine will help your child develop patience and trust.
• The repetition of the routine helps to build expectation of what’s to come, encouraging them to self-manage their behaviour.
• This helps to establish healthy learning patterns for your toddler!

#4 Master the skills of Instruction (I), Correction (C) & Encouragement (E)

• Give clear instructions instead of suggestions. If no instructions are given then obedience cannot be expected.
• Motivate good behaviour with encouragements!
• Identify and correct errors to instil a sense of right vs. wrong.

#5 Work together with each other when parenting

• Teach your children virtues through practice! Be the role model they can watch and learn from.
• Don’t neglect your relationship with your husband/wife – a harmonious relationship helps the children feel secure and stable.

Be open to ask for help if you are facing problems when caring for your child. For counselling services, contact TOUCH Family Services at 6709 8400.

This article is adapted from 1st 60 Days.

TOUCH Family Services aims to build strong and fulfilling families, and promote the well-being of individuals and families in need. It impacts over 12,500 families and individuals each year through family-based services and programmes, and strives to provide a holistic integrated service to serve the needs of every person and family at every stage of their lives.