Emotional health and Child Care

1. Give your child security. A sense of belonging. Make him/her feel wanted by your cuddles and coos. Showing love and being loved gives a secure feeling and shows trust.

2. Keep harmony in the household. Arguments and angry talk build up fears. Harmony between parents overflows into security for children.

3. Fathers should get into the picture of family life. Gifted children specially need his guidance and training besides   their mothers.

4. Let the child know that s/he is unique and you accept her/him permanently whether s/he has acted plausibly or naughtily. Avoid criticism, comparison with others and overprotection. Respect them as persons and they will respect you.

5. Don't push your baby. Especially don't force him/her to eat, when you want him/her to. Don't insist or scold when toilet training is on.

6. Give your child significance and personal worth.   Love, but do not pamper. Pampered children make maladjusted adults who often end up as failures. Love, but do not possess. S/he must be free to do what s/he ought, not what s/he likes. Love is a motivation to be good.

7. Encourage the child to learn things for her/himself. Expect her/him to touch and taste.   Listen with ears and heart to what s/he has to say.

8. Do not let your child down. Children live up to the reputation you give them.   Include her/him in any family changes whether it is a new baby, a new house or a long vacation.

9. Do not use shame as a punishment. Constant humiliation may upset his/her whole emotional balance as s/he grows older. Discipline lovingly. A child with unlimited freedom gets frightened. He suspects that s/he is not loved. Responsible parents are called to make some unpopular decisions. Discipline involves total molding of the child's character through encouraging good behavior and correcting unacceptable behavior. Be quick to praise sincerely, the performance and not the character of the child.

10. Let her/him have playmates her/his own age. Accept her/his friends. Children then tend to accept the child who can participate and reject the one who cannot. Learning to participate has to start young.