Parenting – Stressed Children Are Rarely Happy Children

How many times do you hear of happy contented babies and toddlers, often or not so often? Well in my work as an online counsellor and previously with the NSPCC working with children and families, it seemed to be an exception rather than the rule.

It wasn’t always difficult to see why, families and parenting is a minefield of emotions and feeling, both for parents and for children.

One issue, ‘stress‘ more than any other seems to be responsible for unhappy children and their behaviours, and as you know unhappy children are much more difficult and challenging to parent.

The question is, what to do about it?

I don’t claim to have all the answers to helping you make your children or teens lives stress free, but I give credit for my own child’s, (now a 21 year old young man just finished university and on his way to the states for a working and learning adventure) apparent immunity to the effects of stress to how he was parented and how he was taught to express himself.

I learned how to minimize stress beginning in the early, formative years. I feel the real secret to helping children to develop stress busting techniques and strategies is all about helping them communicate their feelings and to encourage them to express them openly, nurturing their natural ability to cope with stress by teaching them to process their feelings, express them and move on. Too many children carry it around, not having been taught the skills to deal with it. and offload it.

So how can you steer a child to a stress free life and make parenting more of a joy?

• Be responsive and communicate effectively:

Tune in and communicate with your baby from the moment you learn of your pregnancy, children can hear and recognise familiar voices and they probably know more than we currently understand. Observe their behaviours sensitively and learn to interpret their cries and signals. Communicate with your baby and tell them what you are doing with them (like feeding them or changing their nappy) before you do it. Begin this two-way communication with babies at birth, they will learn to communicate much more effectively and the bond will be much more positive. Invite your baby to participate in their care from the very beginning.

• Keep it simple, safe, peaceful, predictable and age appropriate:

Becoming a parent is the best excuse you’ll ever have to slow down and simplify your life. recognise that infants and toddlers are sensitive, absorbent and easily over-stimulated, unable to screen out stimulation the way their adults can. Less is more, safe and best.

“No matter how simple an environment is, a baby may be overwhelmed by too much stimulation, this can be stressful to them, remember they have only just entered a brand new world.

As adults we can be much less sensitive to stimulation, over-stimulation is not something we easily detect. A babies wide-eyed stare may appear to be surprise or  interest, but according to some child development professionals, the child may in fact be saying “back off”.

Children feel calmest, happiest and most confident when they can learn at a slow pace initially, when they know what to expect and understand the things they are exposed to. Before asking your child to participate in lessons and classes, check out if they look calm and relaxed.

• Protect your child’s developing brain:

Now for a little  a controversy and a guilt-inducing subject, Many parents have been duped into believing that TV is the best or only way to get a break from caring for their children. The need for TV is not only a lie, it actually creates dependencies which work against getting those much needed breaks. Perhaps it’s too tempting to follow what others are doing, or the influence from friends and relatives who want you to do what they’re doing, is just a little too difficult to ignore, especially for first time parents.

If you want a child who can spend long hours entertaining themselves, then educational toys are much more effective than TV or videos, babies who learn to self stimulate develop better attention spans than children who are plonked in front of a TV.

I’m not saying that you should keep your child away from TV completely, but you need to know, it’s no different than putting them on drugs, it will become an addiction and a learned behaviour,  It’s an effective, but not a harmless way to buy yourself a little peace and quiet.

‘Research strongly indicates that