Parenting Problems and How to Avoid Them

Everyone wants to raise independent adults, however, there are some parenting problems that can deter this process. Knowing how to avoid them is critical in raising children right.

As children grow older and mature into adults, parents find themselves having to make a transition from raising a dependent child to being a parent to an independent adult.

 

Parenting Young Children 

When children are young, there are lots of books telling us what to expect at different age milestones. However, when children grow up, different challenges and problems arise that parents could never have anticipated. 

In the early years, the Parents’ knowledge of how to meet their children’s need to feed, or to be held and soothed as well as of how to read infants ‘ cues, can improve the synchronicity between parent and child, ensuring proper child growth and development.

Parents will always be there for their children through thick and thin, but there’s a definite shift in parenting style as their children become adults. Parenting problems can come up when the parenting style is not modified to fit the age and temperament of the child. 

Parenting requires you to raise a child who is well prepared to realize his or her full potential as a human being. 

Positive Parenting

Positive parenting encourages healthy interaction between parents and children. Parents who know how to cultivate positive and warm relationships with children get the best outcome. It includes positive interaction with children, positive communication, effective discipline and rewarding positive behaviour. It includes the constant relationship of a parent and a child, which includes care, education, guidance, communication and meeting the needs of a child. 

Parenting problems can start from parents who don’t know that learning starts at birth and are therefore less likely to engage with their babies or encourage learning during childhood. These activities include reading to infants. 

Parents need to realise that each child is unique.

Some parenting problems are shaped by parents who do not take this into account. The parent’s own experiences, external influences such as family, friends, culture and other social networks affect the parents in terms of their Parenting. 

The right parenting style will build a child’s self-esteem. In addition, this will support a mutually respectful parent-child relationship; without breaking the child’s spirit. 

Parents can only give what they know, and draw on the resources at their immediate disposal. 

In reality, most parents learn parenting practices from their own parents, both the good and the bad. For busy parents, leaving children to the care of nannies and house helps in their most delicate stage (early childhood ) is not ideal for the child. 

The parents who insist that their children study medicine or law might believe this will ensure success. However, they end up missing out on what the child might really be equipped for. Ideally, parents should encourage their children to pursue their own gifts and talents.

Avoiding Parenting Problems 

Rather than the blame game, parents should be open to learning, to get access to the opportunities and resources they need to raise children the right way. There is no one way to be a perfect parent, but several ways to be a good one.

Life only gets more stressful, therefore a stable relationship between parents and the child in the earliest years provides the skill set necessary for resilience. Early childhood adversity negatively affects a child’s healthy development into adulthood. 

Supportive parenting can significantly affect our children ‘s positive outlook of their lives. This includes their mental health and their self-esteem.

Life Skills Children Need 

Research shows that one of the most important factors that affect a child’s performance in school is parental involvement. When a parent is actively involved in school, the child thrives. In addition, an involved parent is able to recognize when a child needs additional help or might have a learning disability. The earlier challenges are picked up the better. 

According to experts, learning to solve problems, take risks and overcome frustration are crucial life skills, children need to develop. If parents do not let their children encounter failure, they will not acquire the crucial skills to navigate life. 

Today’s generation of young people has not developed some of the life skills. This is because adults swoop in and take care of problems for them. Being a helicopter parent; who is constantly hovering; focuses only on the short term and misses the ability to raise a leader.

When children get used to being rescued, they stop trying, they stop believing in their abilities. This parenting problem churns out children who think there will always be someone to smooth things out for them. This causes a big problem because, in reality, this is not how the world works. We do not want to handicap our children for the future. 

Healthy self-esteem develops when caring adults identify a child’s strengths and nurture this. But also allows them the satisfaction and maturity that comes from persevering. Guide them as they make life decisions with the right level of advice. Teach your children how to think not what to think. 

Teach your children how to think not what to think. Click To Tweet

Adult Children

Parenting young adults can seem more complicated than the toddler years because the challenges of this life phase have bigger stakes. With weightier decisions such as choosing a career or life partner. 

Parents of adult children must learn to step back and allow their children to become more independent. One surprising phenomenon is the millennial trend story where young adults are bringing their parents to job interviews.

Many adult children who are having difficulty ” launching ” tend to rely too much on parents as their source of financial support and more. And this is not helping them, it is actually hindering their independence. 

Many adult children who are having difficulty Click To Tweet

As children get older, parenting style needs to change. A young adult just needs your advice and the parents need to be open to getting feedback from their older children. It is no more one-sided. This is when parents need to deploy their coaching skills.

The Role of the Home

According to Robert Hughes Jr., a professor at the University of Illinois some studies have found children in nonconflictual single-parent families fare better than children in conflictual two-parent families. A home that is not peaceful or nurturing will not enable the children to thrive. Your job is to be the parent your child needs. 

Additionally, Psychologist Diana Baumrind has done years of research about the effects of different parenting styles on children and good parenting skills. Children from loving and low conflict families are happier and more successful in the long run, as compared to children from high conflict homes. 

Read Also: Coaching as a Parent