Have you thought about incorporating gentle parenting techniques with your children? Gentle parenting can help you promote the character and nature that you would like to see within your children. This can be done by showing compassion and empathy, while also enforcing boundaries consistent with their age (Plant, 2021).
With gentle parenting you can help them learn important life lessons instead of disciplining in a way they will not understand and learn. When choosing to gentle parent, it is important to model the behaviors that you would like to see within your child. Gentle parenting can promote regulated emotions. With this parenting, it is important to foster respect and understanding for how your child learns, understand, and feels.
Are you tired of yelling or getting into arguments with your child? Then gentle parenting may be right for you. Gentle parenting can help children learn empathy and respect, as well as how to set healthy boundaries.
The four principles of gentle parenting:
- Empathy
- Respect
- Understanding
- Boundaries
Tips and Considerations:
Empathy makes sure that you address your child’s needs and feelings. This also shows them how to be empathetic and how to face the real world with a great understanding of empathy.
- Gentle parenting does not mean you cannot say yes
It is important to have rules and boundaries set in place based on your child’s age. Just because you have these boundaries does not mean that you cannot say yes to takeout or an unplanned outing every now and then, as long as they know that this is not an everyday thing.
How can we expect children to show us kindness and respect if we cannot do the same for them? We all get overwhelmed sometimes, but we must be willing to take a step back and think about how they are feeling and understanding.
- Create knowledge from mistakes
When focusing on the age of the child and how they learn from mistakes, you can provide a learning opportunity instead of a punishment. Do not be afraid to ask your child what they have learned, no matter their age, so that they can feel proud for recognizing their behaviors.
- Learn to understand their emotions in order to encourage them to be okay with their feelings
Try not to ignore or allow them to show bad behaviors. Take the time to understand why they showed that behavior and communicate with your children about their feelings.
Benefits to gentle parenting:
- Your child will have better emotional regulation
- You will have a deeper connection with your children
- Children do better socially and later in life
- Children learn life lessons they can use in the real world
- You as a parent may be happier
- You can create a supportive environment
Gentle parenting is not for everyone and that is okay. Understand the process and do what is best for you and your family. What works for other family may not work for your family. In the end, you know what is best for your family and children.
Gentle parenting may be the answer to create a better and long-lasting relationship with your children. Try incorporating the gentle parenting techniques to know if it is right for you and your children. Know that gentle parenting can help your child regulate their emotions and better understand them as well.
It can also help them learn life lessons instead of feeling shamed for mistakes and not learning from them. It is also okay to create your own unique parenting style by incorporating some techniques but not all. It does not matter what age your child is, these techniques can be beneficial for all ages.
