Positive Parenting Tips

Supporting parents to learn, play, engage and parent happy children

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Supporting parents to learn, play, engage and parent happy children

Parenthood, both motherhood and fatherhood, is a divine blessing, considering the family as the most profound human connection. It signifies a shared journey that parents undertake with their children, a journey riddled with numerous challenges, particularly in the rapidly changing world we inhabit today.

UNICEF Oman is delighted to contribute to this odyssey through this platform, offering diverse guidance and counsel on the significance of early childhood development. By promoting positive parenting skills, we aim to construct a bright and promising future for children.

 

  1. Show the child positive feelings and love

There are many ways of showing love, and the ways will vary with the child’s age:

  • Smiling and laughing together
  • Holding, hugging, caressing, tickling, massaging, or other forms of positive physical contact with the child
  • Sharing jokes and silly games
  • Speaking in a warm and loving tone of voice
  • Telling the child “I love you”
  1. Interact with the child
  • Closeness
  • Sharing confidences and “secrets”
  • Rhythmical interaction through nonverbal language
  • Eye contact
  • Imitation and exchanging positive body movements
  1. Follow the child’s lead

In interacting with the infant or young child, it is important that the mother, father or caregiver pays attention to the child’s body language and tries to adjust to and follow the child’s lead. Adults show that they are following the child’s lead when they:  

  • Respond to the child when s/he turns to the parent or caregiver
  • Respond to the child’s cries
  • Follow and verbalize about the child’s activity and actions
  • See what the child is doing, what s/he wants
  • Read the child’s body language
  • Guess what the child wants and feels
  • Respond to what the child wants and feels
  • Adjust actions to the child’s mood
  • Show interest in what the child is doing
  • Praise and appreciate what the child manages to do
  1. Help the child to focus his attention and share his experiences
  • Children often need help to focus their attention. Adults can help by saying things such as: “look at this...” or “look!” “Come here!” Alternatively, parents and caregivers can follow the child’s lead and focus on whatever the child is interested in, so they can share a common experience
  1. Help the child make sense of her/his world
  2. Praise and appreciate what the child manages to do
  3. Help children widen their experiences
  • Talking to the infant or young child about shared experiences, including the daily routines of feeding, diapering, washing, and going to sleep
  • Giving names to and describing what they are both seeing
  • Showing the baby how things work and describing this in words
  • Explaining to the baby how she feels or how the parent feels
  • For young children, to develop confidence in themselves and the courage to try something new, they need to feel that they are valued and capable. Children’s confidence is built when their parents and caregivers respond positively when the child does something well; give praise; and explain what was good and why. For the child’s development of mastery and self-confidence, it is important that the child feels “seen”, that each adult is aware of the child, his/her needs, and the signals that he/she sends. Parents and caregivers may want to use verbal and nonverbal recognition such as: “that’s good, because when you do that...” with an explanation why it was good.
  • Giving explanations, telling stories, and finding reasons why something happens
  • Comparing similarities with and differences from other experiences
  • Making links between the past, present, and future
  • Making and telling stories about experiences together
  • Drawing, looking at pictures, and playing games based on those experiences
  1. Help the child to learn rules, limits and values
  • Positive discipline is the best way to help child learn self-control. Positive discipline is when we pay attention to positive behaviour and reinforce it, often by describing it, while paying little attention when behaviour is negative.
  • Helping children gain the knowledge and skills to make responsible decisions and take care of themselves and others is the goal of discipline. Your task is to explain to fathers, mothers, and caregivers that they need to support children in the process of learning rules, limits, and values. 

 

  1. First 1000 days of life are golden, that’s when the child’s brain develops the most and is most responsive to change, If children are given good nutrition, adequate care and stimulation in a timely manner, they will develop fully both intellectually and physically.  When children are nurtured cared for and stimulated in the early years they will be able to fully develop their thinking, language, emotional and social skills, perform better in schools and become more productive as adults and give back to our nation.
  2. Both parents have an equal role in children upbringing
  3. Enjoy being a parent and spend quality time with your child reading, exploring, singing, dancing, baking, shopping, etc…
  4. Infants and young children develop best through social interactions and trusting and safe relationships with their mother and father and other regular caregiver/s
  5. The early years, especially the first three years of life, are very important for building the baby’s brain. Everything she or he sees, touches, tastes, smells or hears helps to shape the brain for thinking, feeling, moving and learning.
  6. Babies learn rapidly from the moment of birth. They grow and learn best when responsive and caring parents and other caregivers give them affection, attention and stimulation in addition to good nutrition, proper health care and protection.
  7. Encouraging children to play and explore helps them learn and develop socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually. This helps children get ready for school.
  8. Early stimulation is so critical for children mental development, take time to help stimulate your child brain by playing age appropriate games
  9. Children learn how to behave (socially and emotionally) by imitating the behavior of those closest to them
  10. All children grow and develop in similar patterns, but each child develops at her or his own pace. Every child has her or his own interests, temperament, style of social interaction and approach to learning.
  11. Children need a loving, secure and stimulating environment for their optimum growth and development. For this to happen, their physical, developmental, and emotional and psychosocial needs have to be met. As a home visitor you have opportunities to make both mothers and fathers more aware of these comprehensive needs.
  12. Positive relationships with parents, caregivers and other family members, as well as stimulating home environments shape the child’s brain’s architecture and influence development across all domains (physical, social/emotional, language and cognitive). During home visits, you can foster strong relationships between the parents/caregivers and the young child, and the stimulating and safe environment young children need for exploration and learning.
  13. How families support the development of their children has the potential of having a greater impact on developmental outcomes than their socio-economic background. This means that you have opportunities during your home visits to provide families, especially the most vulnerable ones, with the support and information they need to give their children the best start in life, even in situations of social disadvantage. How families support the development of their children has the potential of having a greater impact on developmental outcomes than their socio-economic background. This means that you have opportunities during your home visits to provide families, especially the most vulnerable ones, with the support and information they need to give their children the best start in life, even in situations of social disadvantage. How families support the development of their children has the potential of having a greater impact on developmental outcomes than their socio-economic background. This means that you have opportunities during your home visits to provide families, especially the most vulnerable ones, with the support and information they need to give their children the best start in life, even in situations of social disadvantage. How families support the development of their children has the potential of having a greater impact on developmental outcomes than their socio-economic background. This means that you have opportunities during your home visits to provide families, especially the most vulnerable ones, with the support and information they need to give their children the best start in life, even in situations of social disadvantage. 

  1. No violence against children is justifiable, and all violence against children is preventable (UNICEF, 2013).
  2. Any form of child maltreatment – violence, abuse, neglect and abandonment (including exposure to domestic violence and violence outside the home) -- is a violation of the fundamental rights of the child.
  3. The family has the greatest potential to protect children and provide for their physical and emotional safety.
  4. Being a victim of maltreatment has lifelong physical and mental health consequences for the individual as a child, adolescent, and adult. It affects their self-esteem and confidence, personal autonomy and achievement, relationships, and their own parenting skills.

You can use positive discipline through planning 1-on-1 time, praising the positives, setting clear expectations, distracting creatively, and using calm consequences.

  1. The health sector plays a critical role in positive discipline and prevention of different types of abuse of children.
  2. You as a health provider have a big role in promoting proper ways of positive discipline.
  3. You are the most important source of information for families, and It is your role to increase families awareness in relation to ending violence against children, providing safety and security for children and using positive discipline.
  4. Cousel families and help safeguard children. You can promote the development of positive parenting skills and a secure parent-child attachment, and you can connect families with different services in the local community.
  5. Share ideas with parents on positive discipline.
  6. Encourage parents to help stimulate their children through positive discipline.
  7. Take every opportunity to promote positive discipline and EVAC.
UNICEF Oman