Sharing The Best Resources & Tools

CAROLE AND NADIM SAAD, CO-FOUNDERS OF BEST OF PARENTING

As the parents of three children, struggling like so many others to find a balanced and effective parenting style, we turned away from all the parenting fads and studied the hard scientific evidence on what really works. The techniques we learnt were so life changing, yet so straightforward, that we made it our mission to convert them into powerful step by step tools and make them available to parents world over. Read more about the philosophy behind Best of Parenting.

Sharing The Best Resources & Tools

CAROLE AND NADIM SAAD, CO-FOUNDERS OF BEST OF PARENTING

As the parents of three children, struggling like so many others to find a balanced and effective parenting style, we turned away from all the parenting fads and studied the hard scientific evidence on what really works. The techniques we learnt were so life changing, yet so straightforward, that we made it our mission to convert them into powerful step by step tools and make them available to parents world over. Read more about the philosophy behind Best of Parenting.

Refusing to take a bath or to be washed

December 17th, 2013 | 3 to 6 years | Short Tips and Quotes | Bedtime |

Bathing our kids can be the sweetest time of the day, but it can also be the most challenging: add a fatigued child to water and soap and the results can be distressing. Yet there are some very useful tricks to turn a ritual to be ‘got through’  into something to be savoured.

Here is a sample of some of our easy and effective tools for solving this issue

This works really well:

GIVE A CHOICE

  • Rather than dictating the terms to your child, allow him or her to feel some control over bath time by offering a choice between two options (that suit you).
  • For example: “Would you like to take your bath now or in five minutes?” or “Would you like to take a bath or a shower today?” (or for younger children “Do you want to get in the bath on your own or shall I help you?”)
  • Empowered by having made a decision, children are far more likely to be obliging.

Here is another suggestion:

“I” STATEMENT

  • “I read a story to children who have finished their bath” is a non-negotiable “I” statement, a declaration which your child can’t argue with.
  • An “I” statement must begin with an I” or “my” (and if speaking for the family or couple, it starts with “we” or “our”) and must be a statement that you can enforce.
  • Remember that your “I” statement is a ‘matter of fact’ rather than a threat and therefore needs to be delivered with empathy.
  • It must also be a statement that you are always able and willing to enforce.

 Then you could try:

PLAN AHEAD:

  • Devise a bath time routine with your child and refer to it during future bath-times (it can help to draw – or encourage your child to draw – the different steps in the bath time routine which can then be referred to).
  • In this way the routine, rather than you will then become ‘the boss’.
  • You will also find that your child will become much more empowered and motivated if he or she devises this plan together with you, particularly if the routine includes a bit of fun!

 

These are just a few examples of our Best of Parenting Tools. You can find more ideas and solutions to typical parenting challenges in our book ‘Kids Don’t Come With a Manual – The Essential Guide to a Happy Family Life‘. 

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Refusing to take a bath or to be washed

December 17th, 2013 | 3 to 6 years | Bedtime |

Bathing our kids can be the sweetest time of the day, but it can also be the most challenging: add a fatigued child to water and soap and the results can be distressing. Yet there are some very useful tricks to turn a ritual to be ‘got through’  into something to be savoured.

Here is a sample of some of our easy and effective tools for solving this issue

This works really well:

GIVE A CHOICE

  • Rather than dictating the terms to your child, allow him or her to feel some control over bath time by offering a choice between two options (that suit you).
  • For example: “Would you like to take your bath now or in five minutes?” or “Would you like to take a bath or a shower today?” (or for younger children “Do you want to get in the bath on your own or shall I help you?”)
  • Empowered by having made a decision, children are far more likely to be obliging.

Here is another suggestion:

“I” STATEMENT

  • “I read a story to children who have finished their bath” is a non-negotiable “I” statement, a declaration which your child can’t argue with.
  • An “I” statement must begin with an I” or “my” (and if speaking for the family or couple, it starts with “we” or “our”) and must be a statement that you can enforce.
  • Remember that your “I” statement is a ‘matter of fact’ rather than a threat and therefore needs to be delivered with empathy.
  • It must also be a statement that you are always able and willing to enforce.

 Then you could try:

PLAN AHEAD:

  • Devise a bath time routine with your child and refer to it during future bath-times (it can help to draw – or encourage your child to draw – the different steps in the bath time routine which can then be referred to).
  • In this way the routine, rather than you will then become ‘the boss’.
  • You will also find that your child will become much more empowered and motivated if he or she devises this plan together with you, particularly if the routine includes a bit of fun!

 

These are just a few examples of our Best of Parenting Tools. You can find more ideas and solutions to typical parenting challenges in our book ‘Kids Don’t Come With a Manual – The Essential Guide to a Happy Family Life‘. 

Loading...

Refusing to take a bath or to be washed

December 17th, 2013 | 3 to 6 years | Short Tips and Quotes | Bedtime |

Bathing our kids can be the sweetest time of the day, but it can also be the most challenging: add a fatigued child to water and soap and the results can be distressing. Yet there are some very useful tricks to turn a ritual to be ‘got through’  into something to be savoured.

Here is a sample of some of our easy and effective tools for solving this issue

This works really well:

GIVE A CHOICE

  • Rather than dictating the terms to your child, allow him or her to feel some control over bath time by offering a choice between two options (that suit you).
  • For example: “Would you like to take your bath now or in five minutes?” or “Would you like to take a bath or a shower today?” (or for younger children “Do you want to get in the bath on your own or shall I help you?”)
  • Empowered by having made a decision, children are far more likely to be obliging.

Here is another suggestion:

“I” STATEMENT

  • “I read a story to children who have finished their bath” is a non-negotiable “I” statement, a declaration which your child can’t argue with.
  • An “I” statement must begin with an I” or “my” (and if speaking for the family or couple, it starts with “we” or “our”) and must be a statement that you can enforce.
  • Remember that your “I” statement is a ‘matter of fact’ rather than a threat and therefore needs to be delivered with empathy.
  • It must also be a statement that you are always able and willing to enforce.

 Then you could try:

PLAN AHEAD:

  • Devise a bath time routine with your child and refer to it during future bath-times (it can help to draw – or encourage your child to draw – the different steps in the bath time routine which can then be referred to).
  • In this way the routine, rather than you will then become ‘the boss’.
  • You will also find that your child will become much more empowered and motivated if he or she devises this plan together with you, particularly if the routine includes a bit of fun!

 

These are just a few examples of our Best of Parenting Tools. You can find more ideas and solutions to typical parenting challenges in our book ‘Kids Don’t Come With a Manual – The Essential Guide to a Happy Family Life‘. 

Loading...
Related articles: