Parents' mistakes make children stubborn

Nutritionist Anh Nguyen (Member of the British Association of Clinical Nutrition, Department of Pediatric Nutrition, University of Worcester) shares about the actions parents may take incorrectly when their children are angry, making the situation worse.

These are not good positions to release your child’s emotions, especially if you include hand gestures (e.g. pointing at your child). The best position is to be at eye level with your child, which will dissipate the energy of anger and make it easier for your child to listen. It is recommended that you sit down or hold your child in a high chair so that you can make eye contact easily.

When your child shows signs of opposing you, it is time to stop the conversation or argument. You need to give your child time to think, stop arguing, keep a straight face and ignore the child's behavior.

Parents should reward themselves with a cup of tea or coffee and time their baby’s thinking time. If the baby is too stubborn and crying, you can put the baby down on the bed or let someone else hold him.

Throwing is a behavior that can be easily corrected if the mother does not pick up the things the child has just thrown. If the mother picks up the things at the time the child throws, it will transfer the emotion called "satisfaction", which is fun like a game with the mother. The child learns this and each time he is angry, he will throw them for the mother to pick up.

Child psychologists advise that you do not need to pick up when your child has this behavior. Wait until your child calms down, then you take out the cardboard box and play a game of sorting toys on the floor and putting them in the box. Gradually, your child will stop the habit of throwing things.

Children lying on the floor crying when being stubborn often happens in families. Do you remember the innocent image of little Claudia lying on the White House floor crying in front of President Obama 3 years ago?

This story caused a lot of controversy and consumed a lot of ink from major newspapers at that time such as Salon, the Daily Mail, the Huffington Post, CNN, the Washington Post, the Telegraph, the New York Daily News, Time about the tantrum behavior of the little girl. However, if you are a parent, you will understand the normal behavior of a 2-year-old girl.

Parents should not try to pull the child up when they want to throw anger on the floor. Wait 1-2 minutes depending on the situation and the level of anger of the child. Before learning to regulate emotions, children are sometimes confused and need time to express. After expressing emotions, you gently sit down low or put your knees on the floor and ask: "Do you want to stand up and talk?".