5 Ways to Deal with Stubborn Children

The growing phase of every child is special for the parents. As the children learn to crawl, stand, walk, and talk, a milestone is accomplished every time. The way to adulthood lies through unpredictable deviations and sinuous curves. The mood swings, the sudden change in attitude, the change in behavior and practices are some of the common hurdles that every parent faces as their little ones head towards bigger steps in life. Of the frequent traits that appear during this time, stubbornness is the most common one.

Studies have revealed that children these days are becoming more stubborn owing to the several influences that the surrounding conditions and the changing environment impose on them. But yes, careful handling and strategic moves can surely turn the rough winds favorable. Here, in this article, we are sharing with you 5 ways you can try out to effectively deal with your stubborn child.

Do not pay attention

The best way to bring down the stubbornness in your child would be to stay calm at such times and ignore the demands altogether. Thoughwe won’t advise you to start ignoring your child every time he asks for something, paying little or no attention at some of his/her undue demands and stubborn attitude would definitely pay off positively.

Do not say ‘no’ every time

Children often become stubborn over trivial matters. Sometimes they demand to get dressed on their own, sometimes they insist on eating without any help. No matter what the claim is, if it is not something that poses any threat to their well being or safety, you can always show relaxation at times. For example, you can grant them an opportunity to get dressed when there is sufficient time or eat on their own when you have enough time to clean the mess. This way, children will also feel heard and important.  Once they are allowed to do what they feel like, the aggression in their attitude becomes timid.

Know what the child loves

One of the best ways to pacify the intensity of the desire of a child that compels him/her to become stubborn is to distract the mind of the kid with something that interests him/her the most. Once the mind gets diverted, the source of stubbornness is no longer existent. This way, the child immediately tends to forget what he/she might have been urging for and gets caught up by the acts that interest him/her. For example, if your child is demanding for a cup of coffee which is not appropriate for a tender age, you can instead offer the kid a glass of chocolate milkshake, if the child has a strong affinity towards the frothy shake.

Do not surrender to the demands

It might feel tempting to surrender when your child is throwing tantrums in public or private, asking for something. Sometimes to calm the dogmatic behavior, parents give in to children’s demands. But, this also encourages the children to carry on such obnoxious behavior in the future. Therefore, it would be wise to not to surrender to the situation and try to calm the child.

Stay patient

When a child asks for something and screams and cries for it, parents generally get annoyed and start shouting and scolding as well. Contrary to the expected outcomes, this, in reality, encourages the children to repeat the behavior in the future. But, if you can stay patient during this period of stubbornness, pretending that nothing is happening around you, the children will be discouraged in the future to act alike.

At JP International School, ranked as the Best CBSE School in Noida, we have always encouraged children to get involved in more social interactions and group activities that help them develop a flexible and amiable nature. We believe that as children learn to growwith an adjustable attitude, the stubbornness in their behavior decreases gradually. Since parents have a large role to play in navigating the character traits of a child in the right way, it is important that parents remain aware of the most effective ways to handle the behavior of their kids.We, at JPIS, hence, also offer parent sessions where counselors share with them the ways to manage the rigid attitude of the children. Helping the children to develop a strong character void of any biased attitude is what we, at JP international, focus on, and we indeed feel proud of being successfully able to accomplish that.

- JP International School