give him two options, not ten! Thanks to that
your child will develop his own food preferences
and appropriate eating habits. Moreover, eating
independently is also a great opportunity to
practice coordination and movement precision.
imitating parents behavior
The child want to imitate his parents behavior
but he’s small which often is an obstacle. Look
around your house and think how you can
facilitate his daily routine tasks, how to make his
everyday activities more easy. Put a stable step
stool so he could switch the light on and off. The
child step stool will be also useful in bathroom –
next to the sink, toilet and bathtub. You can also
use one in the kitchen, so your child could help
you to prepare meals. Install a hanger for child’s
jacket so he could reach it.
compromises
Before you encourage your child to perform daily
activities on his own (like dressing, brushing
teeth, bathing or eating), set the rules: what the
child does on his own, and how you can help him.
For example, teaching child to brush teeth daily,
can be a great challenge for parents patience.
The child can protest and refuse to brush his
teeth. There are few ways how to deal with such
a situation. Mom can brush the baby’s teeth, and
baby can brush mom’s teeth. You can also tell a
story about a crocodile that brushes bird’s teeth
and make funny faces. Funny child songs can be
also very helpful during brushing lessons.
Article by Zooey Barnett
the child decide whether he want to wear blue or
brown trousers or whether he prefers sweater
with a dog or car.
Remember that child does everything slower
and doesn’t feel the need to hurry. So if you want
to let your child to dress himself for a stroll, you
should start the preparation earlier to give your
child enough time. Thanks to that you also won’t
get nervous you will be late somewhere. Besides,
you can also fool around a little bit and should
your child that dressing can be also fun.
bathing
If your child is trying to show you his
independence, you can use it during teaching
him hygiene rules. To make it more attractive
for the baby, you can buy a soap in the shape of
his favorite animal or a soap that has colorful
pictures on the package. You can also let your
child to take his favorite toy to the bath tub (of
course make sure this toy is suitable for playing
in water). You can also buy a colorful towel with
your child’s favorite animal, car or character
from a movie.
eating
Parents should let their kids to eat independently,
even if they eat using their hands! Even few
months old babies can eat alone. After a while you
can give you child a spoon or a fork – of course
plastic ones and suitable for babies. You can also
let your child choose what he want to eat – just
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