A mum has come under fire for her parenting techniques as her own family don’t agree with her gentle approach – telling her to just tell him off for his tantrums
As parenting styles differ from family to family, everyone has the methods that work best for them – but this might mean the way you raise your children is a lot different to the ways you were perhaps raised. There has also been a surge in the style of many new parents adopting the ‘gentle parenting’ methods, giving the child a lot of positive reinforcement. A turn away from a still dominant progressive approach known as “authoritative parenting”.
What we would class as ‘traditional’ parenting uses techniques such as punishment and reward that shows authority over the child, whereas gentle parenting sees adults staying calm and never shouting, instead showing empathy and respect for the child feels – allowing them to process their behaviour and hold themselves accountable.
One mum has come under fire from her family as they don’t agree with her gentle approach when raising her three-year-old who is susceptible to a tantrum and has told her she needs to tell him off more. She has shared her dilemma on a Mumsnet forum as she wrote: “Family think we should be tougher and shout more at my son, three-and-a-half for having tantrums sometimes.
“The tantrums are generally better than they were a year ago. But it still happens. For example, when he can’t get his way, he sometimes cries and throws himself on the floor for a bit occasionally. Or when he is having lots of fun and it finishes, he struggles not to lose his temper in those situations.