{"id":2267,"date":"2018-04-16T15:59:16","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T15:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2267"},"modified":"2018-04-16T15:59:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T15:59:16","slug":"what-to-do-if-your-child-just-wont-listen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/what-to-do-if-your-child-just-wont-listen\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do if your child just won\u2019t listen?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/mom-3273202_1280.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2268\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/mom-3273202_1280-1024x723.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"723\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/mom-3273202_1280-1024x723.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/mom-3273202_1280-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/mom-3273202_1280-768x542.png 768w, https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/mom-3273202_1280.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When your child is old enough to know better but still doesn\u2019t listen to you and do as they\u2019re told, it can be more than a little frustrating.<\/p>\n<p>How many times do you have to ask or tell your child to tidy their room before they do it? To come off that video game? To come inside from playing? To say please and thank you?<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of reasons why your child might not be paying attention and doing as you ask, some of these are easier to combat than others, but we\u2019ve put together some tips to help you through these difficult situations.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>They\u2019re only human<\/strong> \u2013 we\u2019re all reluctant to do something we dislike, and just like adults, children will often push-back if told to do something they just don\u2019t want to do, especially if they feel as though they\u2019re being controlled. This can be especially damaging to a child\u2019s sense of self, with stronger-willed children acting out, whilst others can start to lose the ability to stand up for themselves. To try and combat this, you need to choose your battles and above all else, communicate with your child. Explain to them the reasons behind what you\u2019re asking and allow them to make their own decisions and face the consequences. This will encourage them to become self-dependent, making choices based on their beliefs of right and wrong, instead of simply being obedient.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It doesn\u2019t seem important <\/strong>\u2013 when your child is in the middle of trying to overcome a particularly difficult level of a video game, playing with their toys, or any number of other things, whatever you\u2019re asking them to do, be it food, bathing, or sleep, might not seem as important to them. It\u2019s important that you acknowledge what they\u2019re trying to achieve and then negotiate and make it clear that what you\u2019re asking is important and needs to become a priority.<\/li>\n<li><strong>They\u2019re used to raised voices being used to get their attention<\/strong> \u2013 it\u2019s easy to shout at a child when they\u2019ve ignored your repeated request and continue to do so. That\u2019s your child\u2019s way of testing your boundaries, to see what you\u2019ll do next and what exactly they can get away with. The problem with this is that your child will quickly learn that they can ignore you until you start to shout. This is both problematic and dangerous. To resolve issues like this, bring yourself down to your child\u2019s level, make eye contact, and use physical contact before speaking calmly and clearly. There\u2019s no point talking to your child if they\u2019re distracted so wait until they\u2019re looking at you before speaking.<\/li>\n<li><strong>They\u2019re lost in another world <\/strong>\u2013 when you\u2019re engrossed in a good book, a film, or a video game, do you always notice when someone speaks to you? Are you even paying attention? We all get a little lost in other worlds, even inside our own mind, which can make it difficult to focus on the real world. Sometimes, children just need our help. Give them a calm warning with a specific time limit, but also acknowledge what they\u2019re doing i.e. \u201cWow, that looks amazing. You can play for another five minutes and then it\u2019s time for dinner, okay?\u201d Then come back in five minutes with a quick reminder of your deal. \u201cRemember our deal? It\u2019s been five minutes so it\u2019s time for dinner now.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This advice won\u2019t work every time and it\u2019s unlikely that it\u2019ll work immediately, but with time, these tips can help you to regain your child\u2019s attention and make routine tasks less unpleasant for all involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When your child is old enough to know better but still doesnt listen to you and do as theyre told, it can be more than a little frustrating. How many times do you have to ask or tell your child to tidy their room before they do it? To come off that video game? To &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/what-to-do-if-your-child-just-wont-listen\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;What to do if your child just won\u2019t listen?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,16,19],"tags":[80,89,111,373,378],"class_list":["post-2267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childcare","category-nannies","category-parents","tag-child-development","tag-childcare","tag-communication","tag-parent","tag-parents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nannyjob.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}