Is Gentle Parenting Right for Every Child?
Most parents want what’s best for their children. They want to provide an environment that is safe, stable, and secure. They want their children to be happy, healthy, and safe.
Even though most parents want the same things for their children, not all parenting styles are the same. There isn’t a right or wrong way to be a parent. There are guidelines, suggestions, and approaches, but each parent typically takes their own spin on it and does what works best for their family dynamic.
Gentle parenting is a type of parenting style that is a fairly new but widely accepted parenting style. Is gentle parenting right for every child? Let’s find out.
What is Gentle Parenting?
Traditional parenting styles focus on a balance of rewards and punishment. Parents usually reward their children when they show good behavior, like sharing, completing chores, or being polite. Punishments such as a time out or spanking are used for bad or undesirable behavior like yelling, screaming, or throwing a temper tantrum.
The idea behind gentle parenting is to focus on helping a child become more aware of their own behaviors. Instead of punishing your child, you’re acting as a coach or mentor to them. A gentle parenting style aims to raise children who are confident, empathetic, independent, respectful, and understanding.
The Positives
As with anything in life, there are positives and negatives to everything. This parenting style focuses on how a child’s actions affect their feelings as well as the feelings of others. This helps children learn how to be more empathetic. Instead of making decisions or speaking before thinking things through, they’ll be more likely to stop and think about how their words and actions affect others, even at the moment. In addition to children being more empathetic, gentle parenting can also be used as a motivational tool. Instead of yelling at them for behaving poorly, you can take a step back and redirect their focus to a more positive outcome again.
The Negatives
While a gentle parenting style has a lot of benefits, there are also some cons to this approach as well. Gentle parenting can be extremely time-consuming. Not only do you need to dedicate the time and patience towards getting to know your child better, but you also have to make sure you take the time, patience, and understanding towards your child and their emotions. Since this type of parenting style is a new type of approach, parents have to adapt and adopt this new type of style. They were probably raised in a different way, so they have to reteach and train themselves to take and implement a different approach.
Is Gentle Parenting Right for You?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to parenting. All children are different, even within families, and each child might respond differently to different approaches. Additionally, what works for your family may not work for someone else. This can be difficult if your family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors parent differently. The idea behind gentle parenting is excellent, in theory. However, each type of parenting style has its own set of upsides and challenges. As a parent, you have to decide what works best for you and your child.
Next Steps
If you’re interested in learning more about gentle parenting or which approach is best suited for you and your needs, as well as your children’s, we’re here to help. Parenting isn’t easy. You’re not expected to have it all figured out or to have all of the answers.
Therapy can be a useful tool for learning more about gentle parenting or getting additional support and resources. Contact Fox Child and Family Therapy today at 913-229-5691 and let’s schedule a time to talk.