Qualities To Nurture In Your Young Child

Being a nurturing parent comes more easily to some than others, but it can be practiced too. What qualities do you want your growing little ones to present in the world? Understanding, empathy, curiosity, patience?

Experts say that successful, happy people — those who do well in their chosen careers and form satisfying relationships throughout their lives — tend to share certain qualities. And parents can help nurture those key traits in their children, even when they’re infants. ~Parents

5 QUALITIES TO NURTURE IN YOUR CHILD, PARENTS.COM:

• Trust
• Patience
• Responsibility
• Empathy
• Self-Reliance

Let’s dive a bit into each one with some tips on how you can nurture these qualities for a healthier and more loving child…

• Trust

ATTACHMENT: BUILDING TRUST IN YOUR INFANT, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

During the first two years of your baby’s life, “attachment” is the word used to describe the relationship you have with him. When your baby can count on you and trust you to meet his basic needs for food, love, affection and stimulation, the attachment becomes stronger and he learns to trust you and the world around him. Teaching your baby that he is loved can help to structure his brain for later accomplishments. As he develops trust, parts of his brain are strengthened to make him feel secure and handle stress better. ~Keep Reading

• Patience

HELPING YOUR CHILDREN BUILD PATIENCE, BABBLE

Brian Gresko’s suggestions for helping young children build patience include- encouraging them when they are waiting patiently, limiting screen time, talking about the future with cause and effect (if you wait, then this will happen), and making time more concrete with a timer.

“…since children can’t understand time, make it concrete by using a timer. If I know my wife is coming home around 5 o’clock, I’ll set a timer so that Felix can see the minutes passing. It’s way less annoying then having him ask me every two minutes if she’s going to be home yet, and it also gives him something to focus on while he waits.”

• Responsibility

9 TIPS FOR TEACHING KIDS RESPONSIBILITY, CARE.COM

“Kids who do not have responsibilities feel entitled and think the world will always do for them.”

Responsibility isn’t just completing a task.

“It’s also about an attitude, the idea of taking action and being proud of doing it, not just always having your mom and dad do it for you,” says Alex Barzvi, Ph.D., co-host of the talk show “About Our Kids” on Sirius Doctor Radio. ~Keep Reading

• Empathy

THE CARING CHILD: HOW TO TEACH EMPATHY, BABYCENTER

Kids don’t have the cognitive skills to truly understand the concept of empathy until they’re 8 or 9. But 5-year-olds, usually highly preoccupied with fairness, are concerned about being treated well, and they want others — friends, strangers, even characters in books — to be treated well too. Here’s how to nurture these budding displays of empathy… Keep Reading

• Self-Reliance

DO IT YOURSELF: TEACHING SELF-RELIANCE TO YOUR CHILD, PARENT SPACE

The idea of teaching self-reliance can only be taught by the parent, because children learn how to rely on themselves from who cares for them.

Self-reliance is being able to take charge of your life, have internal motivation, and performing other tasks that we all have to learn to take care of ourselves. ~Keep Reading

Have some tips on helping children to develop these qualities? Please share them in the comments for our whole community…

For more related articles read our other posts:

• How to Deal With Your Attention-Seeking Children