Every baby is genetically different and has their own genetic and physiological characteristics. These are the issues that will affect the baby's future life. What the baby learns/experiences in the early period will also contribute to his socio-emotional development, which is a later stage. It has been seen in brain research that; people have shown how we progress in not regulating their responses to sensory and emotional stimuli. In the womb of babies, we can see that the right part of the brain, which is responsible for our emotions, develops rapidly. This event regulates the infant's ability to regulate his own emotions and attachment relationships. The baby is given by the caretaker; Thanks to strong bonds and experiences, they can take their self-regulation skills one step further. What is emotion regulation; it is our inner conversations of “stop, calm down” that we say to ourselves and our behaviors that depend on it. In the care of 0-3 years old child; Your behavior towards the baby, your reactions, your calmness and will contribute to meeting his emotional as well as physical needs. You should not ignore them. We should be able to transfer this bond to our baby in a healthy way. Sometimes, our traumatic experiences can cause the child not to know how to calm himself down and not to predict how to behave.
Your child's behavior is not actually related to the problem. There are reactions developed towards the problem. If your child is shy or acting overly shy, it's a matter of his brain. That your brain is under stress; or its manifestation. The physical tension your child experiences manifests itself in two ways; It can be in the form of attacking or in the form of hardening, freezing. It is clear from these events that the child needs to be soothed. Your child cannot do this on his own, the primary caregiver should help him.
Children's reactions are varied: they can react to sound, light, smell; these are sensory stimuli and some children may be sensitive to them. If he is hypersensitive, the child may become stressed. This too; It manifests itself in children with tantrums, crying fits, freezing, being overly cautious, obsessions, and aggressive situations such as opposition. The caregiver needs to regulate and calm the child's emotions. Sometimes children can be insensitive to their surroundings. In this case, the insistence of those who take care of him to interact with him will help to eliminate the problem.
When your child cannot figure out how to solve the situation he is in, his feelings are mixed. In these cases, the caregiver must correctly understand such messages and assist the child. First of all, the child will need the affection and love that he/she will receive from the person he/she takes care of.
Let's take a look at the methods that help regulate emotions in children;
1. Physically hug the child and show your love
Shaking it on your knees, you can sing lullabies. With light music, you can make him relax and calm down, you can also sing a lullaby in a soft voice. You can sing a song. You can massage with cream or powder to help the child relax, but if he doesn't like it, don't force it. Close to bedtime, tickling in bed with the child, you can enter into a little wrestling. This helps her to release her energy.
2. Cause the child to express their feelings
When your child cries, “Okay, don't cry anymore.” Or instead of saying “Don't be so sad, what's there to cry about”, hug the child and listen. “Does it hurt?” “Are you hurt a lot, you?” "I get it, you're very upset." reflect your feelings to your child and let him/her express his/her feelings to you.
3. Give your child physical exercise
You can go to a park or go to a wooded area for a picnic; Let the child run, walk or jump. Let him run, have fun, let go of his energy as he wishes. Acting will lead him to regulate his emotions.
4. When your child is very excited, have them drink a glass of water to calm them down.
5. When your child is very angry; Count from 1 to 10 with him and help him calm down!