How to Handle Crying Kids
Everyone cries, whether they are adults, children, male or female.
People cry when they are happy, sad, angry, hurt, scared, proud or embarrassed.
Children also cry when they are tired, dissatisfied, sick, hungry or just plain bored.
Sometimes children use crying as a means of getting their own way.
Coddling children when they are old enough to know how to manipulate a situation by crying sends the message that turning on the tears is an affective way to get what they want.
The best way to get children to stop crying is by distracting them.
If they forget why they are crying in the first place, they have no reason to continue crying.
You might compare this to adults by thinking of something that makes you upset or worried.
If you keep thinking about it, your mood will not improve; but by distracting yourself and thinking about or doing something else, you will forget that you are worried and be able to move on.
Once you have established that nothing is truly wrong with the child, try to distract them by asking questions like what they had for breakfast or what their favorite TV show is.
If you continue to talk to them and ask them questions, they will be concentrating on your conversation and not whatever led them to start crying.
By the time they realize that they have stopped crying, it will be too late to start up again.
Another way to distract children from crying is to get them to move around or perform tasks that they have to think about and concentrate on.
Turn the situation around and ask if they can help you instead of you helping them.
Whatever way you choose, distracting the child will soon turn off the water works and get them back to their previous activity.
If you continue to practice these strategies when your children cry they will eventually no longer be necessary.
Not giving in to your kids because they are crying will show them that they can not use crying as an easy way out.
If your children cry when they are punished or on a time out, ignoring their tears is the only way they will learn a lesson.
If they are on a time out and you are talking to them or trying to comfort them, you are sending the message that misbehaving equals attention from mom or dad.
Ignoring them will solidify the line between what behavior merits a reward and what behavior deserves punishment.
While crying to express emotion is a part of life, it is important for your children to know that it is not a way to get what they want.
The real world will not coddle them the way mom and dad do, so though it may seem like a harsh lesson at times, it is an important one for every parent to enforce.
People cry when they are happy, sad, angry, hurt, scared, proud or embarrassed.
Children also cry when they are tired, dissatisfied, sick, hungry or just plain bored.
Sometimes children use crying as a means of getting their own way.
Coddling children when they are old enough to know how to manipulate a situation by crying sends the message that turning on the tears is an affective way to get what they want.
The best way to get children to stop crying is by distracting them.
If they forget why they are crying in the first place, they have no reason to continue crying.
You might compare this to adults by thinking of something that makes you upset or worried.
If you keep thinking about it, your mood will not improve; but by distracting yourself and thinking about or doing something else, you will forget that you are worried and be able to move on.
Once you have established that nothing is truly wrong with the child, try to distract them by asking questions like what they had for breakfast or what their favorite TV show is.
If you continue to talk to them and ask them questions, they will be concentrating on your conversation and not whatever led them to start crying.
By the time they realize that they have stopped crying, it will be too late to start up again.
Another way to distract children from crying is to get them to move around or perform tasks that they have to think about and concentrate on.
Turn the situation around and ask if they can help you instead of you helping them.
Whatever way you choose, distracting the child will soon turn off the water works and get them back to their previous activity.
If you continue to practice these strategies when your children cry they will eventually no longer be necessary.
Not giving in to your kids because they are crying will show them that they can not use crying as an easy way out.
If your children cry when they are punished or on a time out, ignoring their tears is the only way they will learn a lesson.
If they are on a time out and you are talking to them or trying to comfort them, you are sending the message that misbehaving equals attention from mom or dad.
Ignoring them will solidify the line between what behavior merits a reward and what behavior deserves punishment.
While crying to express emotion is a part of life, it is important for your children to know that it is not a way to get what they want.
The real world will not coddle them the way mom and dad do, so though it may seem like a harsh lesson at times, it is an important one for every parent to enforce.
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