When you are busy raising children, you may think too much about the various tasks you have to do, and it may be difficult to prioritize them or you may fall into depression because you cannot organize your thoughts . Your position as a mother (father), your child's future, finances, your relationship with your spouse, and relationships with those around you... Although it is necessary, you cannot worry, think, or solve everything at once, or even feel happy or depressed. People have an attention function, which can be divided into general attention and selective attention.
Simply put, general attention is paying attention to the whole, while selective attention is attention that you choose to pay to things. When you are talking to someone in a crowd, listening to their voice can also be said to be selecting the sound of their voice.
It is recommended that you switch between general and selective attention when raising your child. To reduce mental stress, selective attention can be used in the following ways:
There are five specific minimum requirements for raising an infant or toddler. (Of course, issues other than the optional ones, such as marital relations and economic issues, are very important in the long run, so it's best to solve them little by little. They are too big to solve all at once.)
- Activity 1: Eating
- Activity 2: Excretion
- Activity 3: Bathing
- Activity 4: Changing clothes
- Activity 5: Grooming
Activity 1: Eating
From the perspective of maintaining life, one of the most important activities in childcare is eating. Infants are breastfed or given formula. Along with physical development, infants also rapidly develop motor skills, fine motor skills, brain and nerve function. The energy and nutrients consumed through food during this period may be significantly different from those consumed in adulthood, as they are not only used to maintain and promote health and for activity, but are also necessary for growth and development.
Activity 2: Excretion
The next important activity in childcare is excretion , which may be changing diapers for infants. Food eaten is digested and absorbed by the digestive system and excreted as feces. If the diaper is not changed at the right time or when the baby cries, the excrement can cause skin problems and discomfort . Depending on the child's developmental stage, some daycare centers and mothers may start toilet training as early as around 2 years old.
Activity 3Activity 4: Bathing and changing clothes
The next highest priority is bathing and changing clothes, which are basic daily activities necessary to keep infants and young children clean. Let your child do as much as they can on their own, little by little, according to their developmental stage , to encourage their growth. Conversely, parents need to be careful not to help too much and hinder their development.
Activity 5: Grooming
Activities that require careful attention in childcare include grooming, such as nail clipping, ear cleaning, and brushing teeth. Even in infancy, children's dexterity is not yet developed, so these are activities that parents must do for them.
Ideas to encourage activity
For infants and young children, depending on their condition at the time, it can be effective to teach them in a way that they can understand and to practice using creative tools .
Important points to note
As a general rule, you should work according to your child's development. In some cases, you may need to arrange for assistance.
What parents aim for is for their children to become independent and improve their mental and social development. However, be careful not to force your child into doing too many activities, as this can lead to a loss of motivation, which will put the cart before the horse .
Supervised by Occupational Therapist
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