Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Curious...

Doctor shares secrets to calm your child

A doctor who has written a book about soothing babies and toddlers says this in the above interview:
Q: Do you have any ideas on how to have the happiest teenager on the block?

A: I can't tell you the whole secret approach, but I can tell you part of it uses a lot of duct tape. In a lot of ways, they're like toddlers - they want a lot more authority than they're prepared to handle, and they've got a lot of immaturity. A lot of the communication techniques that work with toddlers works with them as well. What hasn't been acknowledged is how important the nonverbal part of communication is. The way you acknowledge someone's feelings is actually more important than what you say. Even with the right words, if it's done in a very flat, psychiatrist voice, it makes you want to be more distant and find someone who does understand you. These books deal with discipline as well, but it turns out that 90 percent of getting your kids to behave well is respectful communication.
I can't quite tell if the duct tape bit is a joke or not.

1 comment:

Geoff said...

I'm wondering if the whole article is a spoof.

They mention settling children on their stomachs, which I agree often helps, but is nowadays forbidden because it increases cot death.

It also says children aren't overstimulated - well they are when parent keep rocking and walking and patting the poor things.

If what he says works then it is proof that is all a matter of keeping parents occupied with some plausible nonsense while the child settles itself because it is the opposite of programs which also "work" and are used by parent educators all over the world.