Creating a Plan for Parenting Your Preschooler, Part Two

As joyous as the preschool years can be, as your child explores the world and forms relationships with themselves and others, you may be dealing with tantrums, whining, and other seemingly out-of-nowhere emotional shifts. In this beautiful but tumultuous time, it’s important that you are firm in your parenting, and in order to do that, you need to understand exactly what your child needs and how you can provide that to them. In our previous blog, we began going over these needs, and in this blog, we will continue.

Downtime

Everyone needs some downtime, but this is particularly important for preschoolers. On a daily basis, they are being stimulated left and right by new things to take in and process. Make sure your preschooler has time to relax and go to a quiet place by giving them plenty of unstructured playtime at home that doesn’t involve screens, which have proven to shorten attention span.

Connection

Your preschooler needs to feel connected, just like everyone else. It’s crucial that you form a relationship with your preschooler by giving them plenty of your time. For the sake of your child’s emotional development, be sure to spend quality time with them when you can. Physical and verbal affection from parents go a long way towards the development of a happy, healthy person.

To Learn How To Express Themselves

Whining is a common tool preschoolers use to get attention, but whining isn’t going to get them far in life. Keep in mind that while whining is annoying, it is how your child is communicating a need to you. You can reduce the amount of whining significantly by meeting your child’s basic needs of food, rest, playtime, downtime, and connection to you. You can also preempt whining by giving your child positive attention without them asking so they don’t have to whine. Sometimes, empathy is enough to stop whining in its tracks, so be sure to listen to the message behind the whining.

As a daycare in Orange, we can help you give your child a stable and safe school environment. Contact us today to learn more about enrollment.