When I have a child who is acting out of control, I often will go through a "check list". Is my child:
#1 - Thirsty?
#2 - Hungry?
#3 - Tired?
It was with Natasha that I really recognized the importance of water in a child's life. She needed more water than any of my other kids as a toddler, and it took me a while to figure it out! Once I did, however, it was amazing to me how much better she cooperated once she got the fluids she needed.
Hunger. I know that even for me, when I start to feel hungry, I can get really cranky really quickly! Therefore, I try to feed my little ones regular snacks, and if they start to act out that is the second thing I try to help them. I also try really hard to only feed my kids healthy snacks when they are hungry, and save sweet snacks for special treats or desserts. If a child is acting out because they are hungry, and then you feed them a sugar filled processed snack, you are just asking for them to have more uncontrolled energy! I like to give fruit, cheese, yogurt, crackers & cheese, or similar items. And believe it or not...for a movie snack...my kids love frozen peas and corn!
And finally exhaustion. Our kids need far more sleep than we may realize, and if they don't get that sleep they have a much more difficult time functioning. Here is a sample chart of how much sleep kids need from www.sleepforkids.org.
Age | Hours Of Sleep |
| 0 - 2 months | 10.5 - 18 |
2 - 12 months | 14 - 15 |
1 - 3 years | 12 - 14 |
3 - 5 years | 11 - 13 |
5 - 12 years | 10 - 11 |
I know for my kids, if they start getting less sleep than they need they start fighting more, become uncooperative, and in the case of toddlers...whine all the time!
I know that there are more factors that can impact a child's behavior, however, these are the top three that I try to address if my child is uncharacteristically out of control. If I can keep these under control, then my girls tend to be well behaved. Well...sometimes anyway. ;)
Interesting post for many reasons. I honestly have never thought that lack of water makes a difference in behaviour.
ReplyDeleteIn our last Stake Conference, the visiting General Authority talked to the adults and said that we need to be aware of and avoid "HALT" and that we are more susceptible to influence from the adversary when any of the factors of HALT are at play in our lives at any one moment. Those factors are:
Hungry
Angry (or Anxious)
Lonely
Tired
Probably a true principle for adults and children as well, as your post helped illuminate.
I REALLY like that! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete