Parenting can be a trying experience even during the easier days. We all come from different walks of life and could be juggling work and bringing up kids, might work from home and struggle to find a spare minute between work and looking after the little ones or you could even be a stay-at-home mom, which let’s face it, is a full-time job in itself.
We always welcome any advice we can get from moms and pops around the globe which can help our readers out. Today, with the help from our friends over at thegoodestate.com, we’ve put together some top parenting tips that our neighbors across the pond swear by.
Sleeping Tips
This one is definitely for the new moms and dads out there who are struggling to get a good night’s sleep. Hannah loves playing an old radio in the background when putting her baby to sleep, she says it acts as the perfect white noise generator and sees her little one falling asleep in no time, meaning she can go for a quick nap too.
As they get a little older, it’s also a good idea to use triggers to signal bedtime that they will become accustomed to, and, after some time will make them feel tired. It could be a lullaby, some light piano music or even a gentle guitar. The key to this trick is doing it at the same time every single night to create a routine.
Maintain a Social Life
It may seem a little selfish to want to leave your child, especially if they’re a newborn, and hey, we’re not recommending you just throw them to the nearest person. However, maintaining a strong relationship with friends will help incredible amounts for your sanity. You can even bring the kids along with you for most meetups, who doesn’t love a playdate? If you’re on a tight budget we have some great ideas to still keep the kids entertained. Having other moms around you in similar age groups will also allow you to discuss parenting tips and tricks and enjoy some adult talk too.
Being Firm is Great, But Be Open to Negotiation
Being a parent isn’t always as fun as you’d like it to be. Sometimes you have to be strict and set some ground rules. But what about hearing their point of view? Allowing them to communicate their opinion on a specific topic such as bedtimes or curfews can lead to a much more pleasant parenting experience. Agreeing to test the waters around certain things will make you more approachable as a parent and they’ll see you as a reasonable human being. It will also really help them out later in life when it comes to things like debating in class.
Honesty is the Best Policy
This is one for the older kids going into teens. Remember when we were kids and we got up to no good? Most of us have been there. It’s important to encourage your kids to not lie to you, even if they make a mistake, we all make mistakes and it’s a huge part of learning and growing up. I’ve found personally, that the more I encourage my kids to be honest with me, the less they actually sneak around. A conversation in the early years discussing the importance of good communication and honesty will be sure to save you a lot of headaches later in life. I have friends who are so strict with their kids, which means they tend to be more deviant and get up to no good right behind their parent’s backs. No good. Here are some great tips on how to encourage your kids to be honest.
thanks for the sleeping tips, suffering without sleep since 2 months