Parenting in Early Childhood:

1
Chapter 8

• Parenting in Early Childhood
• The Years from Two to Five
• Pages 293 - 307

2
Tasks and Concerns of Parents

• Listed on p. 293
• Early childhood can bring frustrations to parents
  and children in daily routines
• Problems at home can lead to trouble at daycare
  or school
• Important to help child maintain self-regulation
  by
• Getting enough sleep
• Managing temper outbursts and high activity
  levels
• Reducing sibling rivalries, aggressiveness , and
  social inhibition

3
Sleeping

• Sleep problems related to
• Emotional problems
• Behavioral problems
• High activity
• Childrens hyperactivity increases when they do
  not get enough sleep

4
Sleeping..

• Parents report that sleep problems are high in
  preschool years and decrease with age
• Age Needed sleep
• 18 mon.-3 years 11-13 hours/night
• 4 12 years 10 hours/night
• 10-30 of children may be sleep deprived

5
Sleep..

• How to promote good sleep habits
• Establish regular, enjoyable, nighttime rituals
• Bath, songs, stories, brief massage
• Activities should be restful and relaxing
• Children have to learn how to fall back to sleep
  when they awake during the night
• Some going to sleep habits may be hard for
  child to duplicate on their own
• Being held or rocked
• Ferbers method for changing sleep routines
• P. 294-295

6
Sleep..

• Preschoolers may develop fears about sleeping at
  night
• Afraid to go to bed or monsters
• Ferber suggests that children may feel loss of
  behavioral control around various issues
• Reassure the child that you will do all you can
  to keep him/her safe

7
Sleep..Nightmares

• Scary dreams that take place during REM sleep
• Late in the sleep cycle
• Related to conflicts, feelings and stresses of
  the day
• Peak around the time children enter school
• Again around 9 11
• Awakened child needs comfort and reassurance
• Often remembers content of nightmare
• Helping child cope with daytime stress may
  prevent or reduce nightmares

8
Sleep..Night Terrors

• Occur after about 1 ½ - 4 hours of sleep
• Child is not fully awake
• Parents should NOT try to
• Wake child
• Comfort child
• Child may
• Fall asleep naturally
• Not remember night terror
• Night terrors disappear as child gets older

9
Temper Tantrums

• Common responses to parents requests
• Ginott
• Accept feelings
• Direct behavior into appropriate expressions
• Color on the paper, not on the wall.
• If talk doesnt work, take action
• Stop car
• Leave store

10
Temper Tantrums..

• Gordon
• Find substitute activities to head off trouble
• If tantrum starts
• Use active listening
• Provide feedback about frustration the child
  feels
• Use problem-solving to find a solution agreeable
  to everyone

11
Temper Tantrums..

• Dreikurs
• Establish flexible routines
• Be concerned with childs needs and interests
• Be firm about enforcing routines
• When tantrums occur
• Ignore them and/or leave the room
• Behaviorist
• Ignore them
• Give no reinforcement

12
Temper Tantrums..

• Two types of tantrums
• 1.Manipulative
• Used to get what the child wants
• Parents should not give in
• 2.Temperamental
• Some part of the temperament has been violated
• Child who dislikes change has to change a routine
• Parents should use a calm and sympathetic
  approach
• Correct the problem
• Help child deal with the situation

13
Sibling Rivalry

• Based on Ginotts principles
• Parents should consider themselves negotiators in
  situations of sibling rivalry
• Parents dont settle disputes
• Unless childs safety is threatened
• Gordon advocates using active listening
• Children can express their feelings
• Freedom to settle disputes

14
Sibling Rivalry..

• Dreikurs
• Parents should make it clear to all that each
  child is loved for his/her individual qualities
• Dont compare behaviors of children
• When siblings fight, treat them all alike
• Everyone is sent to their room if play gets out
  of control
• Misbehavior involves all children
• They can learn to take care of each other

15
Sibling Rivalry..

• Behaviorists
• Parents withdraw from sibling fights
• Reward cooperation
• Parents must decide which technique to use
• Suggestions
• Help children become aware of each others
  feelings
• Increase communications
• Ignore fights
• Administer consequences
• Reward positive interactions

16
High Activity Levels

• As the brain develops, a childs motor activity
  increases
• From birth to age 3
• As brain matures (ages 3-9), usually
• Childs attention span increases
• Focusing improves
• Motor activity decreases
• The inability to inhibit (control) motor behavior
  is perhaps the biggest single behavior problem in
  boys in the preschool years

17
High Activity..

• Problems occur when
• Great interest in activity continues after the
  toddler period
• This activity is accompanied by
• Excessive restlessness
• Short attention span
• Demanding behavior
• Instant gratification

18
High Activity..

• May not be hyperactive
• Viewed negatively by adults, parents, and peers
• Parents of these highly active children often
  have similar qualities
• Directive
• Intrusive
• Authoritarian
• Engage in power struggles and competition with
  their children

19
High Activity..What Parents Can Do

• Get out of vicious negative cycle
• Spend some positive time enjoying their children
• Establish structures and daily routines
• Child has an active role
• Child puts to use their high energy level

20
High Activity..What Parents Can Do

• Impulsive children can be taught to guide and
  control their behavior through self-instruction
• Parent shows the child what they want done and
  talk through it
• Child then acts and talks out loud to describe
  the action
• Behaviorist
• Reward positive behaviors consistently
• Material rewards seem to be less important to
  active child

21
High Activity..What Parents Can Do

• To increase attention span
• Help child with games and puzzles
• Praise child for completion, not correctness
• Poorly coordinated children are helped by
  activities that develop physical skills
• Fine motor skills helped by drawing and playing
  with construction toys

22
Aggression

• Defined
• Out-of-control behavior that is destructive and
  hurts others or their possessions
• To decrease aggressive behavior, parents
• 1.Must control their own angry responses to their
  children
• 2. Use a consistent set of positive rewards for
  nonaggressive behaviors and negative consequences
  for aggression

23
Aggression..

• 3.Teach children specific social skills and
  skills of emotional control
• Preschoolers have strong interests in concerns
  for others
• Parents can use these traits to teach children
• Need to become more positive in
• Their view of the child
• The emotional tone of their interactions

24
Social Withdrawal and Inhibition

• Social withdrawal and inhibition may have many
  origins
• Temperament of parent and child
• Attachment experiences
• Parenting techniques
• Contextual factors
• High-power, directive techniques usually dont
  work

25
Social Withdrawal..What Parents Can Do

• 1.Express a positive attitude toward their child
  as a person
• 2.Be supportive in teaching social skills and
  encouraging play with others
• Also stand back and permit the child to act
  independently
• 3.Be aware of the behaviors they model

26
How Can Parents Help Children with Disabilities
or Delays?

• Seek professional consultation as soon as
  disability or delay is suspected or confirmed
• Obtain the appropriate services for the child and
  arrange family routines to include these services
• A childs disability or delay affects all family
  members
• Family and family support are the most valuable
  aids in helping children reach their potential

27
How Can Parents Children with Disabilities..

• At all ages, parents must convey that the childs
  worth lies in being who s/he is, not in becoming
  normal or like others
• Child should see him/herself as intact and
  disabled at the same time
• Research supports the importance of
• Family emotional atmosphere
• Parents sensitive and responsive caretaking

28
Parents Experiences in Facing Transitions

• Galinskys Authority Stage
• Parents need to
• Deal with the image of the type of parent they
  want to be
• Change the image to match the behavior
• OR
• Change their behavior to match the image
• Deal with each other as authorities
• Communicate with each other
• Find ways to handle differences

29
ParentsFacing Transitions..

• Must work with other authorities to develop
  consistent ways of handling discipline
• People who provide care for their child(ren)