How to Raise a Toddler Without Losing Your Mind

As a new parent you feel like things can’t get harder then bringing a baby home. Little do you know how interesting life will get when they become toddlers. Here’s a fun post with tips on How to Raise a Toddler Without Losing Your Mind.

How to Raise a Toddler Without Losing Your Mind

Life with a toddler is a rollercoaster. One minute it’s pure bliss; laughing, cuddling and peeing in a potty; the next it’s a complete devolution; tears, tantrums and messes (of all varieties) exploding around you like fireworks.

Whether you have your toddlers in bed or out in pushchairs, managing life with a little one requires patience, fortitude, and scheduling. Sticking to a routine, communicating clearly and employing strategies are a great way to manage these rather unpredictable times when the going gets tough.

 

Stick to a Routine

Parenting a toddler means embracing a rigid, ritualistic schedule from which you should never deviate. As your child isn’t really able to grasp what day or time it is, a routine is the only way to let them know what’s going on. Devising a schedule and sticking to it will create a safe, comfortable environment during a time of tremendous developmental change.

While it may indeed be difficult as a parent to observe morning daytime and bedtime as separate and specific entities each day, you and your child will be better for it. For parents routine is a way to maintain a sense of sanity and order in a world that can often feel completely out of your control. For kids it provides a schedule that they can follow and come to expect. This in turn places them more at ease and limits unpleasant surprises.

 

Communicate Clearly

Toddlers are just on the cusp of that magical moment when they make verbal sense. This can be hilarious and charming, but it can also lead to frustrating situations when you still can’t quite understand what your child wants or needs. Toddlers get quite upset if they feel as if they don’t understand them. The result can be a full-blown tantrum (often in public to make life that little bit more difficult!).

Parents are well advised to hone their toddler translation skills to keep the peace at home, and especially in public. This means repeating things, speaking in short phrases, and responding to physical gesticulation and tone of voice as much as actual words. If you can read your toddler’s actions and interpret them, you’ll relieve a lot of strain on them (and yourself!) while they work to find the words to fully express themselves.

 

Be Strategic

For many parents, forcing a toddler to do anything is a bad idea that almost always backfires. Toddlers are just learning to assert themselves, physically and verbally, so to impose strict or unyielding demands on them can often lead to an uprising of one in any number of forms.

Employ a parenting strategy that uses the power of persuasion, the reassurance of repetition and clear communication to best approach the potential pitfalls of temperamental toddling years. With any luck you’ll both make it through these challenging times with your wits about you.

Looking for a laugh check out 20 Memes that sum up what it’s like to raise a toddler.