Toddler Bad Behaviour: Red Flags!

“you need to look beyond your rose-tinted glasses and watch out for these behavioural red flags in your growing child. You probably need to have a check on challenging toddler behaviour.”

Once they start talking, they seldom stop. Children have a pure and excited outlook towards life and everything they experience. They will rush home from school brimming with tales and anecdotes. You will probably be on the phone talking an important call or discussing an important decision with your partner while your little one tugs on your sleeves and vies for your attention. At such a time, it is important to gently teach your child to wait for their turn to speak. Allowing them to butt into conversations keeps them from being considerate of others. If you tell them to wait, they will learn to occupy themselves till you make yourself available. Perhaps your little one will go busy themselves with some fun Ghotu Motu Ki Toli nursery rhymes. Of course, you should know when you’re becoming too busy for your child and make sure you spend dedicated quality time with them. Perhaps, while tucking them into bed is a great time to listen to their stories and read them some as well.

Some growing children also tend to show signs of aggressive behaviour. It could be as serious as a fist fight at school or as subtle as pinching their younger sibling. Psychologists say it is imperative for parents to pick up on such signs as rough behaviour can become an entrenched habit by the age of eight years. The best way to deal with such behaviour is confronting them in the moment itself and making them realise what they did was not nice. This is the age to teach them about actions that hurt others and that such actions are not allowed.

When you talk to your child or ask them to clean their room, make sure you do it facing them and not yelling from the kitchen or in between chores. It is also important to get them to respond when you give them a task. Telling them the same thing repeatedly or from the other room gives them the message that it’s okay to disregard what you’re saying. Giving repeated reminders simply trains them that they don’t need to listen at once. So make sure you stop what you’re doing, turn off the television, and face them directly when you’re talking.

Giving your child the attention that they need is important to developing a good relationship and making sure that they are learning good behaviors.

Written By: Chitra Jidesh, a working professional and an auntie to many children.

Also read more about: Helpful Guide to managing your young toddler’s behaviour, Understanding the behaviour of your pre-schooler

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