What is Self-Regulation? Self-Regulation is the ability to have conscious control over impulses. This is a function of the executive center of the brain – or the neocortex – an area that develops later in small children than some other parts of the brain. Development of Self-Regulation There are three main factors that influence the development of the ability to self-regulate: biology and temperament, developmental
I remember my just-hours-old newborn, swaddled up tight, propped on a pillow, fast asleep. Right then and there, I wanted to communicate with him. And it wasn’t long (2 hours when he woke up hungry) before he made his needs known. I learned his language as fast as I could: there was crying (a LOT of crying), smiles, eye and body movements, facial expressions,
My son – all 6 lbs of him at birth – didn’t look like he’d ever have a tantrum. And we were pretty lucky. They were few. But those were enough to send me scrambling for ways to get back in my groove. What can cause a tantrum? Not Being Understood Not Getting What they Want Tired, Hungry, Uncomfortable Not really knowing Who is
If the child cries for what they want, the answer is always “No.” Always? Yep. Consistency is key with this tool. If you’ve ever found yourself giving into a demand made by your child just to stop the crying, this is a good one. We instilled this practice early on in our parenting and we avoided so many of those kinds of struggles with
Parents, Grandparents, Educators, Friends of Parents, and anyone who interacts with children: Welcome to a site devoted to distilling massive amounts of parenting information into nuggets of gold. All with the intent of helping parents get into and stay in their parenting groove. You can start using what you learn here right away. And parenting will become easier, more enjoyable, and even more of
