Admin
April 9, 2022

As parents, we all want the best for our children. And for that to happen we want to make sure that we raise them in the most healthy and supportive way possible using our parenting skills and practice good parenting.  

While each parent has their own parenting style, it is important that they raise their children in a positive environment where they can thrive as successful and happy individuals. For that to happen, positive parenting is recommended to ensure a positive parenting influence on your child. 

 

 

Gentle Parenting: A General Concept

While we understand that a parent's patience can run thin, it is important to remember that a parent's behavior towards their child will more or less affect they way they behave and how they see the world. Gentle parenting has been a concept introduced and practiced by many new parents of the younger generations--especially Millennials--in the hopes of breaking the cycle of the potentially faulty parenting styles of the generations before.

 

With gentle parenting, parents are expected to remain gentle with their treatment towards their children especially when mistakes are made and when trouble ensues. But what if your child doesn't obey, you ask? With gentle parenting, it is important to remain firm and in control while still moderating your emotions when things get bad. 

 

This poses the question: What about the parents' needs? Your child's needs may be met, albeit at the expense of your own. This will certainly pose as a challenge, as parents will often feel drained and encouraging words such as "Your feelings are valid", and "I understand where you're coming from", will feel empty and meaningless. Is there a away to meet the needs of your child as well as your own, to properly foster a healthy relationship in the house with open and honest communication?

 

Positive parenting may just be the answer you're looking for. A type of gentle parenting that truly fosters a healthy exchange of communication between parent and child, positive parenting is a practice heavily encouraged by children therapists and children psychologists to form better relationships with their parents and have a healthy and happy home.

 

 

But what exactly is positive parenting?

Positive parenting seeks a more positive approach and focus that promotes a parenting behavior that would foster your child’s development. It includes caring, teaching, leading, communicating and providing the needs of a child consistently and unconditionally. It uses positive principles, techniques and methods that could result in raising a responsible, happier and contented child. 

 

Positive parenting can start as early as your child being an infant which can eventually result in a secure parent-child relationship. 

 

 

To know more, here are the benefits of positive parenting:

 

 

1. Builds a stronger bond between parents and child

Positive parenting increases the trust between parents and children. This happens because children get to have positive and open conversations with their parents. This eventually builds a strong bond between you and your child and will give them confidence to share more of their problems, questions and concerns as they continue to grow up. 

 

 

2. Better communication

The main principle of positive parenting is to encourage positive and pleasant conversations with your children, instead of communicating in a negative way. This can be done by encouraging your child to openly talk about their feelings and thoughts without any judgement. In the same way, effective communication works best when it is a two-way process. Thus, when your child shares something to you, you also share with them your own thoughts and feelings while guiding them to the right path. 

 

 

3. Higher self-esteem

All positive actions, mutual trust and a healthy communication between parents and their children, will definitely result in a happy environment wherein a child’s self esteem fosters. 

Positive parenting can boost your child’s self-esteem through encouragement and allowing them to improve in life with a positive approach. Remember, a healthy and happy environment means less stress for both parents and kids!

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4. Reduces negative behavior

Parenting and disciplining your children becomes a struggle when children try to get away with bad behavior to avoid punishments. But how to discipline a child through a positive approach? 

As parents, there is still a limit and boundaries between you and your child. The only difference is with positive parenting, it encourages you to discipline your child with positive alternatives and methods to reprimand negative behavior. In this way, you also teach them to be better without the harsh punishments – reducing negative behavior among children. 

 

 

5. Develop mutual respect

Along with a positive outlook and keeping an open mind and communication with your children helps develop mutual respect between parents and kids. For instance, you can still have rules for them to follow but instead of imposing them, allow them to understand why those rules are made and must be followed. For example, they are not allowed to go out without permission and they have to understand that it is for their safety. 

Positive parenting has its benefits, but how exactly can it be practiced at home?

 

 

Here are positive parenting tips you can follow to exercise positive parenting! 

 

1. Keep an open communication

Exercising healthy open communication with your children is one of the many aspects of positive parenting. Allow your child to freely talk about their feelings and thoughts without judgement. In the same way, communicate with them also what you feel, think and believe as a way to impart guidance to them. 

 

 

2. Try to be creative 

It is inevitable for children to be upset and misbehave unintentionally. Instead of punishing them traditionally like scolding them, think of creative ways to reprimand them for their actions and behavior. For instance, instead of punishing them, allow them to talk about their feelings. In this way you can better understand why they reacted that way and help them learn from their mistakes. 

 

 

3. Handle situations with patience

In parenting, patience is a must. Results of positive parenting and long term discipline will not happen overnight. As a parent, you need to be patient with your child if you want to see them morph into a responsible, disciplined child. Repeated positive approach, patience and understanding are needed and will eventually manifest into a rewarding result. 

 

 

4. Set consistent rules and limits

 

As parents, you still have to set consistent limits and set rules for your child to follow. But instead of imposing them, make them understand those rules as a principle of positive parenting. You can also make them understand the consequences of not following those rules: for example, not eating their vegetables can make them unhealthy. 

 

You need to establish these rules for them to follow. 

 

 

5. Avoid taunting and shaming

Lastly,  the one thing positive parenting promotes is avoiding taunting and shaming your children for their bad behavior. Instead of talking to them angrily or reacting negatively for their mistakes, talk to them in a more positive and kind approach. This is also a way to show them that not all negative situations should be handled negatively but instead can be resolved in an understanding and compassionate way. 

 

In parenting, there is no perfect formula to be the perfect parent. But you can still be the best for them by raising them with love, support and understanding through positive parenting. 

 

 

You got this, mommies and daddies!

 

 

sources: parenting.firstcry.com, positivepsychology, brainy-child.com, freepik.com