Children are little adorable angels that seem capable of no harm. However, they are not immune to behavioural issues like bullying, biting and hitting amongst them. This is actually pretty normal and that is why providers of childcare in Macquarie Park provide around-the-clock supervision while you are away.
At a young age, children do not know how to handle feelings or react to others. They have big and uncontrollable emotions and have no idea how to handle conflicts.
Before their brain fully develops to allow them to understand the other person’s perspective or why they are not always right, they will resolve every problem thoughtlessly.
In our childcare centre, hitting, biting and bullying are pretty common. The good news is there are many effective ways to deal with this behaviour. To help you go about this well, we share our experience, that of other parents and relevant tips from child behaviour specialists.
Acknowledge the issue
Many parents, especially first-timers, have trouble telling apart bad from good behaviour. Failure to acknowledge that your child has behaviour related issues encourages them to go on with them.
Since they believe they are innocent, your child may grow up bullying others or thinking they have a right over others. However, acknowledging such issues is the best place to start in trying to find a solution.
Show Disapproval
Self-restraint in your child is so foreign. They will not understand why they should not hit others when they feel like. As a parent, your approval or disapproval of any habit they pick plays a vital role in how they interpret their behaviour.
For example, by constantly telling them to stop hitting others, they will understand it is unacceptable. This goes a long way in shaping them even later as adults.
Help with Language Development
According to paediatricians, biting and overall bullying doesn’t always mean your child is violent. It is also their way of expressing their feelings. They want you to feel that they are angry or disappointed, but may not have the right words to put this across.
Centres that provide the best child care in Macquarie Park completely understand this. That is why they dedicate themselves to promoting language development in children.
By learning to construct sentences, your child replaces actions with words which eliminates the bites and blows.
Watch Your Behaviour
Children learn a lot from copying the adults around them. If you are aggressive in passing your message across to others, including adults around you, your child follows suit.
When interacting with your caretaker at home or the staff at a daycare centre, bear in mind that your language or gesture shapes your child’s expressions.
If they see you solve all your problems through quarrels, they take these as normal and won’t hesitate to forward it to their playmates.
Positive Enforcement
Just as you notice their shortcomings, also be quick to acknowledge your child’s good behaviour. If you keep disapproving unbecoming things your child does, like hitting others without applauding their good actions, they can’t tell between bad and good.
Acknowledging both helps your child tell when they are wrong and the repercussions and vice versa. In many centres that provide childcare in Macquarie Park, kids who used to bully others are often rewarded when they stop.
Listen To Your Child
Many parents make the mistake of disciplining their kids every time they misbehave. While this can be effective at times, listening to your child can help you shed more light on the problem.
When you talk to them, you will have a better understanding of what triggered their actions. This will then put you in a better position to find a permanent solution.
This means that if your child is bullying others in childcare, talk to them before warning them. Telling them to stop hitting or biting doesn’t solve the problem as they won’t know what to do when they are faced with the same situation.
Instead, ask them what caused their aggression and provide a possible solution for next time.
Teach Empathy
When your child does not know their environment so well, they will feel entitled at all times. They won’t understand why other children’s needs are placed before theirs and this can cause abrasion.
Having them understand that they are part of a larger society where their needs are not always urgent is an important part of curbing bullying. Teach them empathy and they will understand their peers’ perception and differences.
Act Immediately
Disciplining your child for something they did a long time ago may not be effective in taming their bad behaviours. Any child behaviour specialist will tell you that postponing discipline just cultivates bad behaviour.
To manage behaviour such as bullying, act immediately and let your child know you disapprove of it. Whether they are biting a playmate for a toy or bullying another for the front space, handle it immediately by telling them off.
In summary, understand that a child's behaviour will most definitely get errant when they don't know how to express their feelings. And if left unchecked, bad habits like bullying can develop and follow your child to their adulthood. The above tips can help you deal with all these behavioural issues while your child is still young. Also, make sure they are receiving the best child care in Macquarie Park because this matters too.