Learn to Read Your Child’s Behavior to Help Them Grow

When kids are misbehaving, it’s easy to think that it’s a conscious effort to irritate us, but chances are they’re just trying to tell us something.

And maybe they don’t even know what that something is.

Consider a 4-year-old girl, who missed her nap and hasn’t eaten for going on three hours. Every experienced parent knows this is a behavioral timebomb. But a parent, distracted with challenges of getting through the day, might observe bad behavior and neglect to do the detective work to figure out what’s behind it.

Parents often think bad or negative behavior from their child means the child is being defiant or just plain mean. Often, the result is a power struggle that leaves both parties feeling exhausted and sad. But the thing to remember about child behavior is that, for children, it’s the primary way of communicating. It’s how they tell you what’s bothering them because they haven’t yet developed the language and emotional skills to have a discussion about it.

If you think about that, it makes perfect sense. But when your toddler is screaming in the grocery store or bites another child, it can be difficult to remember.

The screaming itself can tell you something is wrong, and a little on-the-spot detective work can help you figure out what that might be. Many parents learn these skills on the job but sometimes forget to use them (likely because they’re tired too and maybe haven’t eaten since morning).

As difficult as it might be, when a child is acting up consider what that child is trying to tell you.

A two-year-old biting is most often not biting to be mean. That’s their communication level. They often don’t understand that it hurts the other child. It’s a release, a way for them to articulate what’s going on for them.

At Kid E Nation, our combined decades of experience with our own children and the ones you trust to our care helps us provide the best environment for your child every day. We work with children to help them communicate their needs but also use our experience to “decode” behavior they might not understand themselves.

Call us today if you have questions about our campus or programs.