Toddlers can be challenging and can equally be a lot of fun once you know how they think. Discovering some key tools and strategies to help through toddler times is all you need to enjoy this short time. Remember before long they will be on to the next stage with different challenges for you.
There are many parenting tips for teaching your toddler. The list is endless. However there are a few basic principles that can be really helpful.
These are my five top parenting tips for teaching your toddler. With these baseline factors, teaching your toddler will be easier.
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- Make sure your toddler has enough sleep. We all function much better when we have had enough sleep. Think about how you feel when you are overtired. It is hard to concentrate, you feel awful and try as you might, sometimes you just can’t function properly. Toddlers are learning so much every day. They will enjoy it more and be happier with good sleep.
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- Make sure you have enough sleep. This is pretty self explanatory. You may have to re think your family’s sleep habits and routines plus it may take a little while to get it to be routine, however the rewards will be worth it. How you as a parent feel underpins how you think and feel and ultimately how you treat you toddler.
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- Have realistic expectations of both yourself and your toddler. This means be aware of the developmental ability of your toddler. Sometimes we can expect a little too much of them and they just aren’t ready for it yet. Sometimes we also expect just a little too much from ourselves as parents too. Be gentle on yourself and remember being a parent is a learning experience too. This is a job you will be learning for the rest of your life.
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- Look after yourself as a person not only as a parent. It is easy to get caught up in just being a parent. For many, all of a sudden their toddler is the focus of all they do. It is important to remember that you are a person in your own right. By looking after yourself and taking time out from your toddler regularly, you will feel refreshed. You’ll even appreciate them more. It is a bit like taking a holiday from your job. When you come back you are more refreshed, motivated and enjoy it more. It is very important that you model self care to your toddler. This also reflects self respect. If you don’t respect you self, you can’t expect anyone else to. Be a good role model for your toddler and help them grow into self respecting, confident adults.
- Be a united front with your partner. If you back each other up it teaches your toddler that they cannot play you off each other and undermine what each of you say. If you don’t agree in the moment, support each other and talk about it afterwards. Toddlers are very clever and can learn to be manipulative very early on. Remember they know you better than you do and know how to push your buttons to get what they want.
These are the baseline parenting tips for teaching your toddler. When you implement the other strategies for teaching your toddler to build on these, they will be more likely to be effective because these basics are in place.
