Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes, even raising our children, which is anything but an easy task. In today’s article I focus on 3 very common aspects that you or your friend doesn’t remember about or you just haven’t noticed.
The three common mistakes most parents do:
1. Lisping and talking to the child using “its” language
2. Not paying enough attention to child’s small ears, that can be easily deformed
3. Allowing a child to sit in a W-shape position
What should we do to avoid the consequences of such mistakes?
1. SPEAK NORMALLY
I hear often that parents are talking to their kids in a childlike manner such as lisping. Sometimes it’s even hard to tell what they’ve said. Of course, a child needs caring and hearing your familiar voice, but lisping doesn’t have desired influence on the child’s development. What it actually does is delaying the speech development and possibly inducing difficulties to access the adult world. Kids are learning from us all the time, and the more often they hear normal language, the easier they will learn how to speak properly.
Speak normally when talking to your child. Make a use of diminutives from time to time, but don’t lisp. Speak as often. Tell them what you are doing at the moment, no matter if you are peeling potatoes or walking through the forest. Step by step tell them what you are doing and seeing. It tremendously expands the child’s vocabulary and perpetuates the right pronunciation pattern.
2. TAKE CARE OF THOSE SMALL EARS
Small ears are like playing dough. If you allow them to bend during sleep or when you put on a cap or headband in a wrong way, the ears will stick out more and more. The sticking out ears might be caused by the position of a child during pregnancy and the abnormal development of the convex cartilage parts.
I don’t recommend the band-aids that can be bought to avoid bending the ears. The longer the Band-Aid is put on, the more probable is that it will irritate the skin, because chafes and possibly allergic reaction, that will ultimately result in child’s discomfort. In my opinion, the best resolution is cotton headbands and caps. We used to have them when Celina was little, because she slept on her bend ear all the time. I put on her head a very light, 100% cotton headband, which adhered to her head, didn’t come off and was harmless during sleep. Celina slept like this for a few months, until her ears stopped bending.
It is very important to remember about that. It is not only a physical matter, as the sticking out ears can influence the psychological development as well. Kids in nursery or school can be really mean and give your child a hard time because of ears sticking out, that can affect the its self-esteem. So pay attention to those small ears.
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- The headband does not hold ears so they are exposed to deformation.
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- The headband holds ears tight and they are not exposed to any danger.
3. WATCH OUT THE SITTING POSITION
Sitting in a frog-like or W-shape position is very common for children. You should notice it and tell the child to sit differently.
What is wrong with this position? The spine may result in weakened postural muscles and the child can slouch. Even the slight asymmetry during growth may caused scoliosis. Therefore, it is very important to get the child used to lying on a fairly firm mattress, instead of spending hours in a soft babysitter or surrounded by fluffy cushions such as a couch or bed. Children that spend a lot of time in bad positions are much often exposed to sprains. The usual consequences are muscle tensions and shortened muscles, which affect the development of motor skills, especially balance and coordination.
A child that usually sits in the W-shaped position doesn’t need to develop the stability and the posture control as much as its friends. As a result, the wrong sitting position during playing unbalances body weight distribution. It leads to weakened torso muscles and affects its development.
The only solution to this problem is being consequent and keeps reminding your children about the correct sitting posture. Encourage them to sit cross-legged position. If for example your child likes drawing on the floor in an incorrect position, then it will be a good idea to buy an additional small table with a chair and put it in the living room or in the kitchen, wherever you spend the most time together.
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- “W” shape position – incorrect
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- Cross-legged position – correct
Sometimes we are too ashamed to reprimand somebody, because we don’t want to hurt our friend’s, cousin’s or anybody’s feelings, but if you do this gently and in a private conversation, this person will be actually grateful for your tips. We learn one from another, after all nobody is perfect.
All the best!
