What Are The 5 Main Traits In Nurturing A Child

The Importance of Nurturing A Child

As birthday passes, the years seem to be on a race. Six-month-olds become 6 years old in a blink of an eye. This unstoppable march of time that turns every new experience, every word they learn, every behaviour they adopt in a more fruitful future. Every moment brings new growth but the challenges and experiences a child has as an infant can have a definite effect in their life.

We’ve heard about helicopter parenting, slow parenting and attachment parenting. But as children get older, a sort of pruning takes place. We can’t deny the fact that children need to be nurtured and loved from birth to create a trusting bond between them and the adults to enable them to grow and learn. This is because young children experience their world through their relationships with parents and caregivers. When those relationships provide safe, stable, and nurturing environments, children are more likely to thrive physically and emotionally. 

But Whose Responsibility in Nurturing a Child?

Many would agree that parenting today is vastly different from the older generation. In the past, mothers were the ones who stayed at home to take care of the children while fathers were the breadwinner of the family. In today’s society with both parents working, most children are cared for by their caregivers, or left at the childcare. But who should parents depend excessively on guiding and nurturing their children? Today, many daycare centre or school are well equipped with the knowledge in educating a child such nurturing moral values, independence skill and emotion. When children reach the school-going age, they spend six to seven hours a day in school, hence schools are considered as places which provide an appropriate learning environment for a child, but the importance of parents cannot be ignored too. 

Both parent and school attitude towards children contribute significantly to various components of the personality of the child. The pivotal role of both attitude still continues as it has been recognized by the teachers and parents who are essential for the complete development of the personality and career of their children. 

So, What Are The Key Traits That Should Nurture In a Child?

1. Resilience

Resilience has been known to be essential for great learning and everyone needs some level of resilience to get through hard times. When parents nurture such key trait in a child, it helps children think more flexibly and realistically, be more creative and avoid depression or anxiety. Many parents often try to shield their kids from painful situations but teaching them resilience enables them to give things a try. For instance, if they are having a problem in school or with friends, try problem-solving together so they can learn how to manage the problem, instead of just running away. from it. Through this, children will try to look at a wider, more positive picture instead of giving up.

2. Trust

Imparting trust starts right from the time your infant is born. You can bond with your baby in a way that instils in her a profound sense of security and ultimately, in herself. In infancy, that means responding to her basic needs. For instance, feeding a child when they are hungry, changing diaper when needed, singing to her and making eye contact create a sense of safe feeling. Parents nurture a child’s ability to need and to depend, which allows them to grow and develop relationally without fear.

3. Kindness

As parents, it’s our job to nurture and guide a child’s natural inclination to pitch in so it becomes a lifelong habit. It’s important to be a good role model so that children learn to be helpful from watching us. When kindness is nurtured, children are able to control their moods, direct their actions, or show empathy and self-mastery. Kindness can be actively fostered and encouraged by parents with thoughtful encouragement and reinforcement.

4. Empathy

Empathy is an important factor in educating a child what bullying is. The fact that empathy is not something we are born with and is a skill that can be taught, not only boost a child’s emotional intelligence but also confidence. For instance, in order for a child to be able to feel and express empathy for another person, their own emotional needs must be met. Hence, parents are responsible for providing emotional support and helping them to cope with negative emotions. Children who is taught to handle a situation with positivity is more likely to have strong emotional empathy.

5. Creativity

Creativity and imagination are critical in nurturing a child through their early childhood development. It is where imagination and thinking out of the box begin in a child and also learning about the world. For instance, nurturing creativity in a child helps them to express themselves verbally and non-verbally, plan, act, interact and react to different things. Furthermore, it fosters their cognitive and social development where they will need when they join the workforce in future.

Why Nurturing a Child is Important?

A child cannot care for others if she is not cared for first. She cannot nurture another without being nurtured herself. Children who mature without these basic needs become adults incapable of giving unconditional love, support, and sympathy. Parents have the power, the ultimate responsibility for the trajectory your child takes in life is yours. They have everything they need to give their baby what they need. Children don’t necessarily need special lessons, flashcards or expensive things. But what they do need is a supporting, stimulating environment and, above all, specific bonding experiences with you, the parents.

This is because an environment that is deliberately filled with warmth and stimulation fosters the neural connections in his brain responsible for thought, emotion, and behaviour. Meeting a child’s needs, soothing them with your voice and your touch, cuddling, or any activity that involves nurturing, will do much to enhance your baby’s emotional well-being, temperament, personality, and ability to cope with stress, and whether he reaches his overall potential.