Comments on: What do you think are the four most important part in parenting?

By: bluebrancall

bluebrancall — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:08:14 +0000

to always be there, understanding there needs, never to say i told you so, and to be there best friend

By: Heather M

Heather M — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:49:39 +0000

1. Spending Time With Them - Helping them learn, play, etc
2. Patience
3. mnutrition is very important and they carry it with them for life
4. Discipline - they need to know boundaries

All of them are just as important as they other because I think they need everything in balance.

By: gentleman

gentleman — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:05:16 +0000

Breast feed and lot of cuddling.

By: kari

kari — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:06:46 +0000

keeping them healthy, keeping them safe, patience, and flexibility on the parents part.

By: silverbullet

silverbullet — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:33:16 +0000

Patience.

Attention.

By: goodshitlollipop69

goodshitlollipop69 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:05:17 +0000

Hopefully you’re lucky enough not to have a picky eater. Nutrition is very important. If your toddler (like mine when he was one) is a picky eater, make sure he/she gets a multi-vitamin daily (Flintstone with Iron is good.) and make sure the foods he/she eats are mostly healthy. It’s also important to make sure your child eats foods high in protein, calcium, and gets juices and fruits that are high in Vit C. These are good for helping him/her grow healthy and strong.

As far as discipline and rules go, you need to be consistant. Toddlers need set rules that don’t change - especially for really big no-nos. Time outs worked well at that stage, but as your child gets older, grounding and/or taking away privilages is a good motivator as well. In most areas, positive reinforcement (praising is best) is really good because it makes your child feel that you value him/her. It also helps reinforce what you want your child to do and lets your child know you’re glad they made the right decision when avoiding a no-no.

Some people consider holding and affection as spoiling. It’s not. Your child needs love and affection - the more the merrier. The only way a child gets spoiled is when you give them everything they want all the time or let them get away with breaking your important rules. If your child throws tantrums, don’t give in. Walk away until it’s over, even if you have to lock yourself in your bedroom (been there, done that). If you’re in a shopping centre and the meltdown happens there, take your child either to the bathroom or car, or just leave. It’s not worth it to stay in the shop with a screaming kid.

Then there’s the question of development. Some children develop at a faster or slower rate than others. This is where you have to be patient as well as pay attention. You should never force your child to potty train. Just let it happen naturally, but do encourage it and make the potty chair available as well. My son took a long time, but eventually did potty train by the time he was four. If your child hasn’t start talking by the time he’s two and a half, you might want to have him/her evaluated incase he/she needs early intervention for autism, speech delays, and other learning disabilities. Also remember, when it comes to learning and developing, with small children it’s one step forward, two steps back. Just try to be patient and it will happen when it happens. I hope I helped.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:42:42 +0000

Patience is the big one with a toddler. And nutrition, like you said. Also spending time with them, and teaching new skills. Manners would be my last one. I hate seeing kids that refuse to say please or thank you, or don’t share with others. We have taught my son proper manners from when he could first speak, and people are always commenting on them

By: Prof Lisa

Prof Lisa — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:27:22 +0000

1, Showing love and affection
2, Taking time to spend with your child to play and teach
3, Learning to listen and to be patient
4, Not being afraid to discipline a child who behaves badly.

And of course nutrition is important-you could speak to a local health care officer to decide on the right kind of diet for your child.

By: kmhadw

kmhadw — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:44:47 +0000

well instead of just saying nutrition it would be under health I think, cause nutrition is important but so is making sure they get enough sleep and are seen by a doctor when needed and vacinated as required among other things like hygenie too, safety is a big one making sure your child isn’t running out onto the road or opening cupboards that have cleaners in them or falling down stairs etc.., discipline is also a big one they have to learn where they stand in the family and not to let them overrun it, but the discipline plays off of the other 2, cause you make the rules for a reason which is to keep them healthy and they need to learn to respect and abide by it, also education is a very important one, teaching them things about life and acedemic things as well. So lets see we got Health, safety, Discipline and Education. 4 things for ya

By: john112233

john112233 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 07:12:02 +0000

Make time for your children by being an active participant in their daily life
Educating your child intrinsically by instilling the right values in him or her and insisting that he get a formal education as far as possible
Screening the child’s friends and knowing his whereabouts t all times.
Finally offering guidance daily and backing your guidelines up with the appropriate discipline when needed.