Bad habits in a child is a problem that almost all parents have to face. It is very difficult for children to control their actions. Therefore, adults should help them to properly coordinate their intentions and actions. What are the bad habits of children and how to get rid of them, the publication will tell.
Types of children's bad habits
First you need to figure out what bad habits a child may have. Conventionally, they are divided into two categories. These are pathological and non-pathological habits.
The first group includes those rituals that are developed due to lack of parental affection, attention, or very strict education and cruel punishment. The following actions belong to pathological habits:
- Sucking your fingers, your own clothes, bedding and more.
- Biting nails, cuticles, cheeks or lips.
- Picking at the navel.
- Shaking his head.
- Twisting or even pulling hair.
- Manipulations with intimate parts of the body (child masturbation) and so on.
Non-pathological bad habits arise due to inappropriate upbringing. That is, parents do not instill cultural-hygienic skills or demonstrate unwanted behavior by their own example. The following can be attributed to non-pathological bad habits in a child:
- Chomping.
- Picking in the nose.
- Shuffling feet.
- Slouch.
- Excessive gestures.
- Very loud speech.
- Interrupting others during a conversation.
- Obscene speech.
- Reading when using the toilet or while eating and much more.
Causes of Bad Habits
You need to understand that bad and healthy habits in children are formed by surrounding people, primarily parents. As they act, so the little ones will behave. Bad habits most often develop in children in those families in which an unfavorable situation is observed. Adults do not take care of the child or give him little time, so he can acquire unpleasant inclinations.
Neurotic behavior can also occur in a baby from a prosperous family. In this case, the cause of bad habits most often become distrustful relationships with parents. The child does not share his problems and does not discuss topics of concern to him. Such a cold emotional atmosphere compels one to console oneself with bad habits. In addition, their development is facilitated by constant conflicts in the family, which the child is forced to observe. Kids are more sensitive than adults to negative emotions. Therefore, due to regular scandals, they easily have a neurosis, which can manifest itself in the form of a bad habit.
Prevention of bad habits in children
It is easiest to prevent trouble from the beginning than to look for ways to solve it in the future. With the advent of the child in the family, experts recommend adhering to the following line of behavior:
- Love for the baby. Some parents try to educate their offspring in severity. In general, this is the right decision, but it is important not to go too far. Indeed, bad habits more often occur in those children who are notorious or intimidated by the aggressive behavior of adults.
- Breastfeeding In children who receive breast milk for a long time, as a rule, there are no pathological bad habits. This is proved by experts and numerous studies. Such children will intuitively search for the mother’s breast and not perceive the nipples, which can be very difficult to wean from.
- Refusal of the nipples. This must be done very correctly, with the help of affection. Even a three-year-old baby can’t forcibly take away a nipple. Otherwise, the child will find her a replacement on her own. He can start biting his nails, sucking his finger or pulling his hair until adolescence.
- Etiquette training. This item in the prevention of bad habits in children is also important. Even the smallest need to convey how it is possible and how not to behave in society. Some parents do this in a playful way. For example, you can offer your baby to play with an imaginary friend who knows how to behave. However, it is important not to overdo it so that the child does not become in the habit of constantly lying.
- Avoidance of stressful situations. Psychologists, after conducting a series of studies, came to the conclusion that after a strong emotional shock, many children develop pathological habits. This can be overly active gesticulation, swaying of the head, winding hair on the finger. To prevent this, parents and other adults need to monitor their behavior and not to sort things out in the presence of children.
- Personal example. It is foolish to scold the child for what the parents themselves do. If they smoke or drink alcohol, then their children will develop such a habit over time. Only a personal example will show how to behave correctly, and will be more effective than hypocritical notations. Therefore, parents should first of all take care of themselves: do not slurp at the table, do not stoop, do not shuffle, culturally express themselves, and so on.
Ways to deal with childhood bad habits
Psychologists note that children can still correct any negative behavior. There are several common ways to wean a child from bad habits. They can be used if the cause of the negative behavior is unknown.
- Fair punishment. In no case should you ignore the harmful addictions of your child. But the punishment should not be cruel, otherwise it will only exacerbate the problem situation.
- Full load. As people say, a bad head haunts the legs. This wise statement can be applied to some childhood bad habits. So that they do not have time, you need to take maximum free time.
- Relaxing massage. This method will help eliminate problems such as finger sucking, talking in a dream, somnambulism, and more. Specialists first recommend taking a relaxing, warm bath with lavender or chamomile. After it, you need to stretch your shoulders and back muscles. This is best done by an adult. Movements must be gentle so as not to injure the child's body.
- Positive association. Fighting bad habits in a child helps not only a personal example of parents. Many children have at least one favorite animated character, artist, hero from computer games. Then it should be conveyed to the child that his idol does not approve of the bad habits that his fans have.
- Funny example. Psychologists recommend acquainting their children with instructive stories from Grigory Oster's “Bad Tips”. Cheerful and sarcastic poems are best read together with the child and at the same time explain to him the cultural and moral norms of behavior accepted in society.
- Promotion. Children must be rewarded every time they overcome their weaknesses. For example, after such a small victory, you can offer to go to a cafe or to your favorite movie. But in no case should one give money, since consumer behavior can be entrenched in a child.
- Unity in education. To avoid double standards in the child, parents should demand the same from the child. Most often, antisocial bad habits arise in children and adolescents who skillfully manipulate adults. Therefore, the prankster must be reported to both mom and dad so that he realizes the incorrectness of his act.
- Consultation with a psychologist. It can become both an addition and the main way to solve a problem. If the case is serious, it is best to immediately contact a specialist. A good psychologist can competently build a job and help get rid of a bad habit without injuring the psyche of the child.
Specialists also highlight private recommendations that need to be applied in a particular situation. Next, we will consider several of the most common cases.
Finger sucking
As a rule, similar bad habits are most often encountered in preschool children. To a certain extent, this is a physiological need, which weakens over time. If a baby older than five years old still sucks a finger, then parents should pay attention to this. This may be a sign of low self-esteem, excessive anxiety, or emotional distress. Doctors note that prolonged sucking negatively affects the growth process and the formation of teeth. Therefore, this problem must be fought.
Psychologists recommend that parents try the following effective way. Every time the baby falls asleep, mom needs to sit down next to him, grab his hands and calmly, gently talk to him. Such rituals will help the baby calm down and become balanced. If the child is still trying to drag the fist into his mouth, then you need to calm the nervous system in advance. An hour or two before bedtime, you can exclude active games, bathe the baby, give him a relaxing massage or read fairy tales. In no case should you beat on the fingers and grab the child by the hand - this will only aggravate the habit.
Nibbling nails
Usually this bad habit in a child arises during the period when his teeth begin to erupt, and he often holds his fingers in his mouth. Another reason may be constant childhood experiences. Nibbling a nail or cuticle distracts from problems and soothes.
Psychologists recommend paying attention to the emotional atmosphere in the family, perhaps this is the reason. You need to calmly rid the baby of the problem, showing respect and love. It is necessary to talk about the influence of bad habits on the health of the child. The emphasis should be on the fact that many diseases are transmitted through dirty hands. Therefore, they need to be washed more often and not pulled into the mouth.
You can offer your baby to bite pumpkin seeds or dried fruits instead of nails. Some children simply do not know how to care for their nails. In this case, it is worth explaining how the procedure goes. Older girls can make a beautiful manicure. Most of them feel sorry for spoiling such nails, and they stop biting them. If the thing happens during a long trip, it is better to glue the fingertips with colored adhesive plasters. You can also take the handles of a child, offering to sculpt figures from plasticine, play a constructor and so on.
Picking nose
This bad habit occurs in children of school, preschool age and even in some adults. It is not very pleasant to observe how another person is operating in his nose, so you need to get rid of such behavior. First of all, parents and other adults should take a closer look at themselves. Perhaps they themselves are engaged in public cleansing the nose, and the child simply repeats. You can not shout at the child or beat him on the hands, especially if the habit has arisen due to some fears, anxiety or self-doubt. It is better to hold the baby’s arms every time he reaches for his nose. You can give your favorite toy, nuts, dried fruits or pumpkin seeds. It is also important to teach the child to blow his nose, then the reason to climb into the nose will disappear.
Hair twisting
Hair can be called a built-in stress reliever, because it is silky and pleasant to the touch. Therefore, some children wind their own or mother's curls to calm down and concentrate.
How to rid a child of a bad habit? You can give him an elastic band for hair, so that he wound it around his fingers, or a rope to tie knots. Also, beads on a string will fit, which can be fingered. If the girl constantly touches her long hair, she can be offered a short haircut or wear hairstyles, in which the curls are completely removed.
Sometimes this habit develops into trichotomania - a pathological desire to pull out your hair. At the first signs of this psychological illness, you need to urgently contact a pediatrician to prescribe treatment.
Child masturbation
This bad habit in the life of a child begins to form when it is released from the diaper. During this period, the kids actively touch with their hands all parts of the body, including the genitals. Previously, they were not available, so they are of interest. Psychologists in this case suggest following several effective recommendations:
- Talk more with your child.
- Do not leave him alone in the crib. If the baby refuses to sleep, then you need to try to persuade. If this does not help, then it is better to put him to bed a little later.
- Do not put tight clothes on the crumbs and observe hygiene. This will relieve itching of the genitals, and the baby will not need to touch them.
- If the baby was seen masturbating, then it can not be rocked on the knee of an adult.
- Do not allow the child to sit on the pot for a long time. Therefore, it is better to prevent the occurrence of constipation.
Eating with an open mouth
First of all, it is necessary to convey to the child that the sight of a chewing and open mouth is unpleasant and even scares some people. Because of this, they may lose their appetite, so they will no longer want to sit next to such an uncultured person. After the conversation, you can come up with some kind of funny phrase with your child, when pronouncing it, you need to stop chewing with your mouth open. For example: “Caution, open porthole!” Our ancestors got rid of such bad habits of school-age children as follows. They just put a mirror in front of them while eating. Over time, the child realized that he was behaving ugly, so he began to chew with his mouth closed.
Interrupting the conversation of adults
Perhaps all parents are faced with this childhood habit. Kids are very curious and emotional, so they tend to immediately ask a question or share some discovery for them. Most parents usually dismiss the usual phrase like "Leave me alone!" or "Stop yanking me!". But they immediately fulfill the requirement of the child. This is a mistake, because the baby sees that his method gives a result.
For children it is better to establish their own rules. If the child needs something from the parents while they are talking, let him touch with his hand. This must be answered with a similar gesture. So the child will understand that they heard him, and will be able to tolerate a little.
Parents should understand that at an early age all bad and healthy habits are formed. For this reason, it is important for children to arrange small classes on cultural behavior in society. So they will understand how you can and how you can not behave in public. And of course, a personal example of parents is important, because kids constantly copy the behavior of adults. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the emotional atmosphere in the house. Indeed, often bad habits of a pathological nature are developed due to an unfavorable family situation.