Does Gentle Parenting Work?
Gentle Parenting
Gentle parenting is said to be an evidence-based approach used to raise confident and happy children. This kind of parenting style comprises four elements which are respect, empathy, boundaries, and understanding. Gentle parenting entirely focuses on fostering your children’s qualities by being compassionate and also enforcing consistent boundaries.
Unlike some of the lenient parenting methods, the gentle parenting method focuses on discipline in an age-appropriate way. This discipline method teaches valuable life lessons rather than simply focusing on punishments.
Those who opt gentle parenting method work together as a family in order to teach their children to completely express their feelings, but in an age-appropriate and socially acceptable manner. This method of parenting is viewed as a beneficial method in order to raise independent, happy, and confident children.
How to Start Gentle Parenting?
So if gentle parenting seems to be your style of parenting and if you are wondering where to begin, this article may be of help. Fortunately, it is very simple to apply gentle parenting into your daily life and it all just starts with considering & respecting your child’s development and feelings.
Babies and toddlers with whatever capability they have may best express emotions and behavior; it may be seemingly impossible to actually derive any structure. When parents recognize their behavior, they can tailor their response accordingly. They should also keep in mind the cognitive ability of their child to understand their reaction.
For example, in terms of gentle parenting, when you comfort your crying child rather than getting upset you are actually teaching your child about empathy right from an early age.
Let us take another example – it may be frustrating when a toddler does not sleep throughout the night. Here, gentle parents understand that this is not their act of naughtiness. Thereby, they would comfort the child instead of punishing and models empathy; this is indeed a positive trait that they want to enforce.
Also, rules and boundaries are said to be an important aspect of gentle parenting. When you establish clear guidelines about what is & what is not appropriate, your child may acquire a consistent structure. By doing so, your child may also feel assured to explore new environments also knowing that they are being protected. This gives them more encouragement & confidence.
With older children, parents should keep in mind their age before reacting to their behavior. By doing this, it will help them to understand their mindset and help them deal with their feelings in an appropriate way!
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Benefits of Gentle Parenting
For life, gentle parenting creates a strong parent-child bond and a very strong relationship. Also, it is an enjoyable way of parenting with a lot of benefits.
We have listed some of the benefits of Gentle parenting for children:
- They have more self-worth
- They get more intelligent
- They become more resourceful
- They learn to be empathetic
- Their brain development gets better
- They are less likely to engage in risky behavior
- They become more independent
- They will have better self-esteem
- They are less likely to get violent
- They may not develop an eating disorder
- They may not engage in unhealthy habits
Examples of Gentle Parenting
Some of the examples of Gentle parenting are listed below:
- Parents trust their children
- There is no forced affection
- Parents treat children like partners in their family
- Parents do not label their children. They only describe the behavior.
- They follow a playful approach
Gentle Parenting – Pros & Cons
Pros:
Gentle parenting is healthier, creates empathy, eases tension, and builds a bond between the families. Parents build strong boundaries that help children to feel safe & comfortable, it also gives them the space to express what they feel.
Cons:
This style of parenting is at times referred to as lenient or something close to attachment parenting. Also, this style of parenting is considered to be a time-consuming one.
FAQs
1. Why does gentle parenting work?
Gentle parenting works because its main focus is on teaching valuable life lessons and on punishments.
2. What do you do when gentle parenting doesn’t work?
If you feel gentle parenting is not working for you then you should make an effort to understand what matches your child’s age & stage of development.
3. Is gentle parenting the same as positive parenting?
Positive parenting is based on assumption that all children are born good and desire to do what is right. It teaches discipline also builds your child’s self-esteem while gentle parenting promotes relationships based on choices & willingness.