What is gentle parenting and why should you try it

Parents take different approaches in raising their children. Although these approaches are as fruitful, I think someone should consider a scientific, evidence based method of raising their children better. The approach I am talking about is known as Gentle parenting.

Gentle parenting is a way of raising your children that bestows confidence and happiness. This form of parenting is echoed by many people for the show of empathy, respect and understanding.

What does gentle parenting mean?

Gentle parenting is a way of raising your children, which is different from the traditional authoritarian parenting style. It’s a parenting approach that concentrates on peaceful and positive approaches of raising the children.

The term gentle parenting is used interchangeably with the idea of ‘’attachment parenting’’ though, the two parenting approaches are very different. The gentle parenting confers relationship with the children based on the choices and willingness rather than the traditional commands and authorities.

Gentle parenting teaches children how to approach things from a standpoint of peace, empathy and understanding. The children will obviously learn how to use their positivity and patience when solving issues rather than running to punishment and fear.

Four key principles of gentle parenting

Parents that wants to practice gentle parenting, are advised to follow the below four principles if they want to succeed on the same move.

Empathy

One of the major principles of gentle parenting is empathy. The parent starts by being considerate and aware of the child’s feelings. Most traditional parenting would only focus on the parent’s feelings. In this regard, someone is expected to consider feelings of other people and the child to be specific.

Gentle parenting advocates indicate that most issues between the parent and the child rise because the child wants to be understood. In the traditional methods of parenting, empathy and understanding the kid were not put into practice.

Respect

One thing I am sure about is that a child will only respect the parent and observe all the rules in the house if the parent teaches them respect through practice. One mistake parents make is to demand respect from the children. To raise your child with respect, start by respecting them. Respect their opinions and if they are not good enough make them understand.

It’s actually impossible to command respect from someone. What matters the most is to make them understand why they need to respect you as their parent and in return you respect them.

Being close to your children is a form of unashamed motherhood, which has numerous benefits. Verily, it builds understanding, respect and openness between the child and the mother.

Understanding

Good communication between the parent and the child starts with both parties understanding each other. If you want to solve issues with the kids amicably, start by showing them love and understanding exactly what they want you to understand.

Children can be nagging simply because they feel like you are not internalizing their feelings. They want you to understand them and act accordingly: a virtual many parents don’t have.

Boundaries

We all assume gentle parenting is permissive or lazy parenting which is not always the case. Lets consider it as a form of heart-centered parenting. There should be some discipline and boundaries between the parent and the child. It’s also very important to talk about the boundaries and observe the rules from both sides.

In the case of gentle parenting, the word discipline means teaching the child what they don’t know and showing them where to start. If you have to discipline your child, then you should never go overboard with it.

What is considered good parenting?

The definition of good parenting should start with good deeds. A good parent is the one that will show empathy on the child, the one that will try to understand the child and eventually someone that will set and honor the boundaries.

Good parenting is protective from a parent who cares so much about the wellbeing of the child and their safety. Good parenting is the one that gives the children freedom of making their own decisions. Though, you are supposed to guide the child through the process of decision-making. Support the kid regardless of the mistakes they make. You can choose more motherhood and lifestyle guides from themommycodes.

Why should you try Gentle parenting?

Gentle parenting has a couple of benefits especially to parents dealing with postpartum depression. In such a case, you would think of seeking postpartum support but still have to try gentle parenting to ease some of the stress.

One of the major benefits of gentle parenting is raising social children. Secondly, the children will know how to treat other parties in the society. Gentle parenting doesn’t command and force children to offer respect and observe rules. For that reason, they know how to address problems from a fearless point of view.

Does gentle parenting work?

As a parent that was raised by an authoritative parents or guardian, you might question the effectiveness of gentle parenting. In a modern world where parenting has taken another direction, it’s very easy to deal with postpartum depletion if you try authoritative parenting.

If you have any doubts about gentle parenting, I can confirm it works perfectly for modern busy parents. As a matter of fact, all forms of physiological research greatly supports gentle parenting.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks of gentle parenting. As a matter of fact, it may not work as many of you expect. As a society, we expect quick fixes in the society and parenting is likely to take some new twists every single day. Just remember you are raising human beings and not flat buildings.

Another drawback is that gentle parenting is hard work. Most parents assume that gentle parenting is permissive and letting the kids get away with their mistakes. This is not true; you have to face a couple of issues raising them without commands, authorities and rules.

Parents also require delving into their own upbringings. To understand how the children behave is hard. Parents end up avoiding anything that may raise conflict between the child and themselves. This means that they are very likely to let the children get away with some mistakes for fear of provoking them.