Parenting brings many changes and responsibilities including meeting a child's physical, emotional, financial and developmental needs. It requires adjustments in lifestyle and relationships as well as emotional maturity. Prospective parents should realistically assess their readiness by considering factors like financial costs, parenting styles, expectations and the lifelong commitment required. Effective parenting involves nurturing the child, communicating positively, and guiding them to behave appropriately as they grow.
3. New Responsibilities
Raising a child is more than a day-to-
day assignment…
It is LIFE-LONG commitment!!
A child needs - - - -
Physical care
LOVE
Financial care
Guidance
Support
4. New Responsibilities
You have to consider the child’s needs
first.
First time parents can feel
overwhelmed.
Family
Friends
Community Resources
5. Changes in Lifestyle
Caring for a young child takes a huge
amount of time and energy.
Parents have limits placed on their
personal freedom.
Couples are better able to adjust to
these changes in life if they prepare
for them.
6. Emotional Adjustments
Parents feel conflicting emotions such as:
Fear of not being a good parent
Frustration at the loss of personal
freedom and the addition of new
responsibilities.
Worry over money matters
Jealousy of the baby and the attention
Depression due to exhaustion or to the
physical changes of pregnancy and
birth.
7. Changes in Relationships
Some parents feel overwhelmed by
negative emotions and begin to bicker or
fight with one another.
The key to getting past troubled spots is
for the couple to have good
communication.
8. Changes in Relationships
Grandparents feel love and
joy of their own and want
to spend time with the
baby.
New parents may feel that
the grandparent’s advice is
really a criticism and resent
it.
The grand parents my feel
hurt if their suggestions are
rejected.
9. Changes in Work
Working women may quit work or cut back on
their hours to care for their child.
Workers who often put in overtime or
weekends may be less willing to put in extra
hours.
Companies have policies to help working
parents.
On-site child-care facilities
Flexible hour
10. The Rewards of Parenthood
Parents feel happiness, pride, and love.
Parents can see the world with new
eyes.
Enrich an already healthy marriage
Parents experience a great sense of
accomplishment.
11. Making Decisions About
Parenthood
People who are thinking about
parenthood should have a clear
picture of what parenthood is.
They also need to take a realistic look
at themselves to see if they are ready
for parenthood.
12. Emotional Maturity
Emotional maturity – being responsible
enough to consistently put someone else’s
needs before you own
Being secure enough to devote your full
attention
Prospective parents should take an honest
look at their maturity
13. Desire for Parenthood
Our marriage is in trouble. Maybe having a baby
will solve our problems.
I want to give a baby my care and love.
I feel good about myself and believe that
parenthood will be rewarding.
Our parents want grandchildren.
A baby is someone who will love me and belong
to me.
14. Financial Concerns
Raising a child is VERY expensive!!
Couples should take a careful look at
the cost involved over the years
ahead.
p.a.p.a. What Price is It?
15. Parenting: A Learning Process
Parenting – caring for children and helping
them develop
Demands Good Judgment:
1. Requires knowing when to help and when to
back off
2. Parents need to avoid pushing children to try
activities they are not yet ready for.
They have to avoid holding children back out of
fear they may fail.
3. The skills that parents need change as the
child grows.
16. Having Reasonable Expectations
An essential first step in effective parenting.
Caregivers need to be sure to match their
expectations to the particular child.
Caregivers need to respect the differences
between children.
Act your age!!
17. Finding a Comfortable Parenting
Style:
Authoritarian – based on the idea that
children should obey their parents
without question.
Democratic – children have more
input into the rules and limits
Permissive – parents give children a
wide range of freedom.
18. Getting Help
Ways to Build Parenting Skills
Reading books and magazine articles
about parenting
Gaining experience with children
Asking advice from family members
and friends
Observing other parents and children
19. The Tasks of Parenting
3 Basic Tasks
1. Meet the child’s basic needs
2. Nurture
3. Guide children to show appropriate
behavior
20. Meeting Children’s Needs
Provide food, clothing and shelter
Watch over their safety and health
Begin teaching them language
Foster intellectual growth by taking an active
role in their schooling
Teach them to get along with others
Provide opportunities for them to love and be
loved.
21. Nurturing
Giving a child opportunities for
encouragement and enrichment.
Parents are children’s first teachers.
Parents need to give children the freedom
they need in order to learn.
Adults should remove as many barriers as
possible that prevent children from
exploring the world on their own.
23. Communicating Positively
Use words that the child can understand, but
avoid talking down.
Be clear. Think in terms of the child’s point of
view.
Be positive and polite.
Give praise and love.
Limit the directions to those that are essential.
Talk about what’s meaningful to the child.