In this article, we will talk about Positive Parenting Tips for Toddlers. Toddlers are cute, sweet, holy terrors. Just kidding. Sort of. Toddlers are growing into their personalities and selves, and it can make for a bumpy ride. However, parenting with positivity at the forefront is key to getting through these years. They do not last forever.
Toddlers are growing quickly and learning like you wouldn’t believe. As a matter of fact, some of the things they are learning, they cannot express. This creates a volatile tiny human. Here are some ways to cope with and offer positive parenting to these children. First, though, I want to talk about punishment vs. reinforcement.
Positive or Negative, Reinforcement or Punishment, Positive Parenting
Before we talk about Parenting Tips for Toddlers First, let’s chat a moment about what each of these terms means in the context of parental discipline.
Positive
If something is positive, as it refers to discipline, you are giving your child something. Positive, in this case, is not necessarily something they like. For example, you can give your child his favorite ice cream. You could also give your child an extra chore or scoop of peas at dinner.
Negative
As you might imagine, negative is taking something away. This concept, again, can apply to something they like or dislike. For example, taking away the pea requirement for kids who do not want to eat peas is not a bad thing to them. However, taking away their favorite truck may be torture.
Reinforcement
This concept is something done to increase a behavior. Negative reinforcement is a good thing sometimes. For example, you may tell your child, “I won’t make you finish your peas tonight if you clean your room.” You want the child to increase the behavior of cleaning his or her room. Therefore, taking (negative) the peas increases (reinforces) the behavior. Likewise, you can give them something to reinforce the behavior. I will give you ten extra minutes of television if you clean your room. Giving (positive) increases (reinforces) the behavior in the child.
Punishment
On the other hand, if you wanted to stop a behavior, you would do something to or for the child. For example, giving your child an extra chore after dinner for belching and not saying excuse me is giving (positive) something they do not like (punishment). In turn, taking (negative) their television time for hitting their sibling (punishment) would decrease the behavior.