Why does she walk away from the table with food?
June 18, 2009 by Alyssa Countryman
Filed under Articles, Practitioners
Infants and young toddlers may not understand the reasons behind many rules that exist. For example, she doesn’t know that it is unsafe or unsanitary to carry food or drinks around with her. She may be too young to know why she needs to sit to eat, but she needs to experience this as a rule. She needs to see and hear this rule many times, and she needs to test the rule again and again to fully understand it.
When we teach and reinforce rules gently and calmly, we can help children to internalize them. Babies have very little self-control. They naturally act on thoughts and feelings without the ability to stop themselves. I want to climb the climber and it doesn’t matter that I am in the middle of snack! With sensitive guidance, verbal reminders, and gentle physical redirection from parents and caregivers, they can begin to learn to manage their actions on their own.
Why does he bite another child?
June 18, 2009 by Alyssa Countryman
Filed under Articles, Practitioners
Children bite in order to cope with a challenge or fulfill a need. For example, he may be biting to express a strong feeling (like frustration), to communicate a need for personal space (maybe another child is standing too close) or to satisfy a need for oral stimulation (maybe he is teething or even hungry). Trying your best to understand the underlying cause of the biting will help you develop an effective response. Giving a child the words he does not yet have is always helpful- you can communicate what he cannot say. This shows that you understand how he feels, and shows him an appropriate way to interact. You seem frustrated right now. Do you need some help? Susie is in your way, you can tell her “excuse me.”
Why does she pull another child’s hair?
June 18, 2009 by Alyssa Countryman
Filed under Articles, Practitioners
Remember, she has not yet developed empathy or an understanding of her own strength. She does not know that it might hurt. She is still developing an awareness of her own body, making it especially difficult to be aware of others’ bodies. Also, keep in mind that many young children don’t have much or any hair of their own yet, making others’ hair especially interesting.
Hair is soft and smooth- a sensory experience to touch. A child who pulls hair may need to stroke a silky blanket or squeeze a stuffed animal for sensory stimulation instead. Hair-pulling is also an experiment in cause-and-effect. Every time I pull someone’s hair, something happens, how exciting!
The child who pulls hair may not have an understanding of a rule or limit about how hair should be touched. Mommy or Daddy or a sibling may allow hair-pulling. We need to model how to touch hair gently and allow the child to feel her head or hair being touched in a gentle way.
