There is something children cannot bear, and that is being ignored. They need their parents' attention every time they do something new or good. To get your parents to pay you proper attention They try to attract the attention of the elderly in all the ways they have, and sometimes it will not be in the best way. We give you some guidelines to calm the calls of attention of children in the best way.
Children need attention
Children, in addition to needing love from their parents, also need your attention. They need to feel loved and protectedAnd when they feel like they don't have the attention they need, they get frustrated. Being so young they do not have many mechanisms to get what they want, and they behave as what they are: children. Tantrums, crying, screaming, jealousy, ... the way to get your attention it won't matter as long as he achieves his goal. If we punish him, scold him or yell at him, we are giving him what he wants: attention.
A child who tries to get your attention is not a bad child. In just a child who tries to get your attention in any way, even if it twitches your nervous system. Especially in children between 0 and 3 years old, who do not have enough developed language to express themselves properly. So if your child misbehaves, we shouldn't ignore him.
It is not personal, nor is your child trying to drive you crazy, nor is he trying to make you angry. They want to be happy with you but they feel bad. You are afraid and your goal is to regain your safety. Instead of focusing on the emotion that is seen (rage, anger, pain ...) we should see what is behind. He is afraid? Do you feel underserved? Do we spend enough time on it? Do you need more love and attention from us? Children have no strategies to regulate their emotions and they need you to do so. Let's see some tips to calm the calls of attention of children.
How to calm children's calls for attention
- Pay attention when the child behaves correctly. If we only pay attention to him when he behaves in an inappropriate way, we will be reinforcing those behaviors. Paying attention to him when he is well is a way of confirming that we are paying attention to him and that you can count on us. Praise him when he deserves it and let him know how much you love him.
- Ignore inappropriate behavior. As we saw before, if we pay attention to the behavior that we want to avoid, we will be giving it more power. We must just do the opposite and ignore him, tell him that when he calms down we will pay attention to him. Get all your patience because you will need it.
- Spend time. Make time during the day to play with him, go to the park, talk to him ... make it quality time. That is, even if it is not much that it is a time in which you are one hundred percent focused on your child without interruptions. Do this will make them feel loved and loved, and it will prevent bad behaviors from happening to a large extent.
- Take an interest in their things. Children spend many hours a day away from home. Something may have happened to him at school or in the park and he is worried. You may have gotten into a fight with a little friend and are sad, or have trouble adjusting in your class. Get involved in what happens to your child. Ask them specific questions, rather than generic ones, to find out what happens in their day to day. We give you some sample questions to find out how your child is doing at school here
- Help him express his emotions. From an early age we can teach you emotional education. This will help them identify their emotions, name them, and learn to manage them.
Because remember ... there are no bad kids. There are children eager for attention, who will try to achieve their goal in any way. He needs your help to learn to regulate these emotions.