Reading time: 5 minutes
Suitable for: Families with children of all ages
Do you ever wonder why your child cries every Sunday night before bed? Why does your teen seem angry after they are online? Or why does your child lashes out at other children during visits to the park? Sometimes, our children’s behaviour can be baffling and it’s hard to put our finger on what’s causing them to react like this.
When children behave in certain ways, they are trying desperately to tell us something. They can’t always verbalise their emotions and, in many cases, may not even know themselves how they feel.
Behaviour can take many forms. One child may shout or scream when they feel angry, while another hits and kicks. One child may run away and hide in their room if you ask them to do a chore, while another may ignore you. But when we take the time to look beyond the behaviour, there is always a trigger or reason at the heart of it.
Spotting the triggers behind behaviour
recognise or notice these triggers. All they know is that something doesn’t feel right.
Behaviour rarely happens in isolation or as a ‘one off’. All humans, not just children, tend to repeat behaviours in response to certain triggers, resulting in patterns over time. And once we identify those patterns, we can take action to interrupt them and divert our children away from difficult or distressing situations in the future.
It’s time to turn detective!
Please login or register for FREE to continue reading this content
