How to nurture a grumpy kid?

Introduction:

It is the 5th temper tantrum to happen this morning. Your child wanted to have chocolate milk and you made a strawberry one. Your kid huff past you with an irritating face – and you are fed up.

You don’t know how to make them happy, as most of the time they are grouchy kids. You are trying your best but still, there’s something which makes them irritated. Have they developed this grumpy behavior lately? Do they find faults in most of the things you do for them? Mood swings?

Even the happiest kid can be grumpy; they are child mood swings. There’s no parent out there who has not dealt with a grumpy kid. Relax moms, this stage too shall pass, as they grow older they get less grumpy. This is because when they grow their abilities to communicate and convey their emotions is much better and improved.

Younger kids do have grumpy behavior primarily because of the lack of communication skills to convey their parents of what they are feeling. There are other significant reasons why a kid has turned out to be a moody child.

Tips to deal with grumpy kids:

1. Talk to him:

When your child is grumpy, sit down with him and try your level best to know what is hindering him. Patiently work towards the way where he opens up in what is bothering him.

This way you’d be able to figure out the solution for him, rather screaming or scolding your kid won’t help. Instead of getting into one on one talk about his feelings, his concerns will help you reach a conclusion about the problem and how easily it can be dealt with it.

2. Give him attention:

Lately, you are seeing your 4-year-old is whining a lot, also more tantrums. You have a job which takes up most of your time. Your busy schedules are not able to let you spend quality time with your child. Hence, your child has developed into a grumpy kid.

With small changes in your schedule for e.g. when you are home, talk to your child about his day. This can help them tone down his grumpy mood. The idea is to give full attention to your kid, and trust me it works.

3. Imbibe the personal touch:

Sometimes hugs and cuddling can make everything feel better. If you have tried scolding, screaming and punishing your child for its moody and irritating behavior and seems it is not working. Now is the time to cuddle and give that warmth and care which will snap away from the bad behavior.

It might feel counterintuitive like you are rewarding for a grumpy mood but, it works. Parenting tips experts suggest that things can be improved by giving hugs; your child will be less sulking.

4. Give them some space:

The idea is to let him settle down first by giving some space. You don’t have to jump to a conclusion or give a remedy to it. That’s ok if your child is taking 10 more minutes to be normal again.

Especially with the teenage kids, this tip is effective, this way you are giving them some time to prepare to come up to you and discuss what is bothering him. Letting your child sit in a quiet place can help in calming and soothing the process of the emotions.

5. Use humor:

At times your child needs is a good laugh to get over the grumpy mood. This trick has worked wonders for the parents who have tried and they have witnessed an upswing in their kid’s behavior.

You can play a funny face or tell jokes or make do some fun activity together. This will lighten up the situation and your child will forget of the instances that made him grumpy.

6. Let your child play and have fun:

It’s human psychology – we don’t enjoy being around who is in a foul mood. In a family, where one person is disturbed or is already irritated it is natural that the entire house does get affected. You are faced with nasty behavior especially if your kid has become a defiant child.

Instead of mulling over the cranky behavior, turn on the music and sing loudly to lighten up the mood. Tickle him a bit to get you a smile, just diverting his focus from the bad mood can help. The bad mood does affect the child especially those who are sensitive.

7. Figure out why he is angry:

To figure out what your child is angry and in an irritable mood, most of the time may take time but it is worth to know. Know what makes him trigger his mood.

Start thinking about what has happened before the incident and after; you’ll eventually see that the puzzle matching of why your kid is having such bouts. Some of the common triggers where kids react are:
• Tiredness
• Hunger
• Told to do chores or homework (basically the tasks they don’t like doing)
• A sibling getting more attention
• Told to behave
• Asked to follow the time schedule

8. Break the tasks:

It’s natural for your child to not to like all the tasks that you have made a list for him to do. So, what you can do is break them into small, simple ones one thing at a time.

For e.g. he has been asked to fold his clothes which is now a huge pile, you can ask him to start folding the t-shirts first, then the shirt and this is how the task gets done.

Closing thoughts:

Parenting is tough. Dealing with a grumpy kid is even tougher for any parent. With the above-mentioned tips, you’d be able to get through some of the behavior issues and eventually see the improvement.