Raising Children

Information is adapted from Raising Children 'The Australian Parenting Website'

Contents :

Behaviour

Breastfeeding and Breastmilk Benefits

Connecting and Communicating

Development

Family Life

Health and Daily Care

Play and Learning

Safety

Social Media and Digital Technology

Sleep

UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIOUR

About Children and Baby Behaviours

Your child's behaviours depend on whether or not you and other caregivers give them what they need for healthy development, such as warmth, loving and responsive attention, comfort, food, daily care, time for gentle play and learning, and so on.

This means that a lot of your child’s behaviour is about:

bonding with you
communicating their needs for certain things like comfort, sleep and food
exploring the world around them through the senses of sight, hearing, play, touch, etc.

As you spend time with your child and get to know them, you’ll find it to be an easier task to understand your child's behaviour and what it's telling you.

When you respond consistently, gently and lovingly to your child’s behaviour, it builds your relationship and lays the foundation for your child’s development and well-being.

Newborns and Babies Key factors:

Baby behaviour includes making eye contact, crying and looking at or reaching for things.
When you respond to your baby’s behaviour, it builds your relationship and helps your baby learn and develop.
Looking after yourself is important. When you’re healthy and well, it’s good for you and your baby.
It’s OK to ask for help from family, friends and professionals like your GP or child and family health nurse.

Newborn Bonding and What to Expect

Babies are born with very different temperaments. Some may be relaxed, and others may be more intense. Some seem to move frequently, and others are quiet. Some are cheerful most of the time, and others are more serious.

There is no such thing as spoiling a newborn baby. Babies who have consistent and nurturing relationships earlier on in life cope better with stress when they’re older. They also tend to get along better with other children. And they’re more likely to be physically and emotionally healthier as adults.

Babies need warmth, love and care so they feel secure. They don’t understand what consequences are, as they also don’t know the difference between right and wrong. This means that negative consequences, or punishment, don’t assist in babies' learning.

When your baby’s behaviour tells you that they want to explore, (by showing interest in toys, grasping and letting go of things) this is a great time for gentle talking, touching, reading, singing and so on. Newborns learn through playtime, and newborn play and learning is all about the interactions between you and your baby.

If it’s difficult to comfort your baby or you are unsure why they’re crying, make an appointment with your GP or call your child and family health nurse. You can also talk to your GP or child and family health nurse if you’re worried or unsure about other aspects of your baby’s behaviour.

Newborn Parents Support and Help

About Toddlers' Behaviour

Temperament influences the way children handle emotions, regulate behaviour, feel around new people and adapt to new situations
Self-esteem helps children face challenges, try new things and learn and develop well
loving relationships, balanced feedback and encouragement are good for children's self-esteem

About Preschool Children's Behaviour

Preschoolers are curious, easily distracted and are wanting to be independent.
Preschool helps children to learn about getting along with others and orderly following rules
The best approach for preschool children is a positive and constructive approach to guide their behaviour in the right direction

About School-Age Children's Behaviour

School-aged children require guidance in terms of their behaviour as they adapt to new challenges and routines such as school.
School-age behaviour includes lying, swearing, friendships, fighting, cheating, bullying and anxiety.
It's okay to ask for help when feeling challenged by school-age behaviour from educational teachers

BREASTMILK AND BREASTFEEDING

Breastmilk and Breastfeeding Benefits For Newborns and Babies

Key factors

Breastmilk contains important nutrients your baby needs for development and good health.
Breastfeeding is free and convenient. It can also help you bond with your baby.
Women who breastfeed have lower rates of certain diseases.
Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended until around 6 months. This means feeding your baby only breastmilk.
Breastmilk should be your baby’s main source of nutrition until at least 12 months.

Why are Breastmilk and Breastfeeding Advised for Both Mother and Baby?

Breastmilk has developed over centuries to be exactly suited to your baby’s needs. Although baby formula manufacturers try to copy breastmilk as closely as they can, the formula won’t ever be the same as breastmilk.
Breastmilk adapts to your baby’s changing nutritional needs as your baby gets older and has fewer feeds.
Breastfeeding benefits both mother and baby equally decreasing chances of illnesses, and diseases and forming a deep connection between the two in the durations of skin-to-skin contact.
For around the first 6 months of life, your baby gets all the nutrients they need from breastmilk alone. Your baby will grow and develop well if you feed them only breastmilk and nothing else. This is called exclusive breastfeeding.
Breastmilk is easy to digest. It’s easily absorbed into your baby’s system.

Breastfeeding: Why it's Good Video

FAQ's About Breastfeeding

CONNECTING AND COMMUNICATING

Babies, Newborns, Toddlers, Preschoolers and School-Age Children

Key factors

Bonding and attachment are vital to a child's development.
Bonding and attachment happen when you consistently and warmly respond to your child's needs for safety, attention and stimulation.
You can bond with your child through smiling, playing, talking and cuddling, reading, and dancing.
At 3-6 months it is important to warmly respond to your child's attempts to communicate
At 6-9 months the way you bond with your child will influence your baby's developing movement.
At 9-12 months children tend to be very curious about the world and are starting to explore their surroundings.
Toddlers, preschool and school-age children require warm and responsive relationships with parents
Relationships with toddlers, preschool and school-age children change as they begin to develop things such as their independence, language and emotions
This can all be strengthened by listening and talking, doing daily tasks together and providing positive attention to them.

DEVELOPMENT

Newborn and Baby Development

Babies grow, learn and reach developmental milestones through relationships and play.
Developmental milestones are used to track changes in babies as they begin to learn, move, see, hear, communicate and interact with others.

Toddlers, Preschool and School-age Children Development

Children grow physically and emotionally and learn to communicate, think and socialise which helps them develop.
Warm, responsive and positive experiences in the form of relationships in the first 5 years are critical for child development.

In early years, children's main way of learning and developing is through the means of play and interactions with friends, peers, classmates and parents.

Other influences on development include genes, nutrition, physical activity, health and community

FAMILY LIFE

Family Life For Children of All Ages

Positive relationships between parents and children are important for children's development.
Positive and strong relationships with children are based on being in the moment, spending quality time and building trust.
Relationships with children are expected to change and develop as children grow up.
A strong family will help children feel safe and secure as it provides them with the space to communicate safely and predictably.

HEALTH AND DAILY CARE

Health and Daily Care

Newborn and Baby - Care and cleaning for your baby’s nails and umbilical cord

Trim your baby’s nails using special baby nail scissors or an emery board. Have someone hold your baby while you trim. Suggestable times to try trimming are when your baby is asleep, in the highchair or listening to a favourite song.

Remember to wash your hands before cleaning your baby’s umbilical cord. Clean the area with water. Make sure the stump is dry after bathing. To help the stump heal, avoid covering it with plastic pants or nappies.

Fold nappies away from the stump if possible. Avoid anything touching the cord stump whenever possible.

Toddlers, Preschool Children and School Age Children Hygiene

Hand-washing will work to stop the spread of germs. Teach your child to wash hands after sneezing, coughing or blowing nose, before touching food, after toileting, after being in public places, and after being near sick people.

Regular baths or showers keep your child clean and healthy. Bathing at the end of the day can also be part of a bedtime routine. Make the bath fun with games and toys. Remember to never leave your child alone in the bath.

After bathing, gently rub your child dry with a towel or flannel. Dry all over your child’s body. Drying before getting dressed can help to prevent rashes. In warmer weather, your child can air-dry before dressing.

PLAY

Play and Learning For Children of All Ages

Play is KEY to children's learning and development, in particular, their confidence and wellbeing.
There are two types of play, being structured and unstructured play
As children get older, the way they play will adapt and change with them.
Variety in play is important because it helps with all areas of a child's development
Here are play ideas for Newborns and Babies to encourage development
Here are play ideas for Toddlers to encourage development
Here are play ideas for Preschool Children to encourage development
Here are play ideas for School Age children to encourage development

SAFETY

Safety for Children of All Ages

There are many dangers that exist to your child at this early stage in life.
This includes furniture such as their pram, cot and changing table, toys, other persons, car, sun safety, burns, poison, pets and little knick-knacks.
The risks of suffocation, choking, pets, bath/water, burns, fires, poison, sun safety and items' failure to perform as required can all harm your baby immensely.
In case of an emergency, remove your child and yourself from the environment, call 000 and perform CPR or place the child in the recovery position accordingly.
To find out more about all potential existing dangers to your baby, click here.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Social Media Safety and Precautions for Children of All Ages

TV shows, movies, social media content and video games can affect children. The effects vary depending on their ages.
Scary images can upset young children whilst worrying older children
Preschoolers may take inspiration from violent content that they consume, and older children might misunderstand media messages around violence.
Sexual imagery can affect how children see themselves and can hinder their sexual development.

Babies and Toddlers

enjoy watching light, movement activity and sounds on TVs, tablets and phones but for the more, are not able to understand what is going on
are likely to recognise familiar characters or voices after seeing and hearing them a lot
may copy what they see on TV or social media videos like Tiktok, Instagram and Youtube
Can not understand simple plots of the content that they consume
Might react sad, scared, upset in tune with the loud sounds or scary images on the screen
Can not understand the difference between what they see on a screen and what they experience in real life until the 18-month mark
Can't apply what they see on a screen to real-life situations until the 2 years of age mark

For babies, it is very exhausting to watch screens. Some babies will react negatively to screens, shown by turning their heads and if they are too young to, may show signs of distress.

Toddlers also get tired from too much screen-time, and may walk away when feeling so.

As for young children, they are unable to understand advertisments, companies may use this to their advantage with bright colours and happy jingles to make themselves more recognisable and start 'brand loyalty'

Preschoolers: TV, Social Media, Video Games and Movies

Generally, preschoolers will not understand flashbacks or dream sequences
mainly focusing on the visual aspects of what they see on screens and do not follow other aspects such as dialogue or spoken parts
enjoy watching shows that are interactive, such as Sesame Street and Play School where the characters speak directly to the camera
Do not always understand the difference between fantasy and reality, therefore think that what they see is real, specifically if high quality effects are being used.

Scary Visual Images

- Imagery of monsters, nasty animals or horrible faces can remain in a child's head for a long time. This may stay this way despite the other good characters in the story.

- Children can be frightened when seeing a good character transform into a bad one.

- Additionally, scary images or scenes on the news can upset preschoolers. For example, they might be worried by images of war, natural disasters, violence, accidents or fires.

Violent Images

- Preschoolers might copy what they see on TV or in video games, YouTube videos, or TikTok videos, even if they do not fully understand what is wrong. This is an issue as what they are replicating may be violent or dangerous.

- The recovery time and video game nature is something preschoolers may believe to be reality, meaning that they would be more likely to inflict violence and harm to replicate what they saw with minor consequences.

Sexualised Images

- From the age of 5, children will begin to have interests in contemporary music. In the music videos, there may be displays of sexualised images, actions and dance moves which they may feel inclined to replicate.

School Age Children: TV, Social Media, Video Games and Movies.

School-age children can follow simple plots and understand how events in a story are related to each other.
However, they tend to take things at face value rather than deeply understanding what they are watching.
Media trends and role models can influence the way school-age children look at the environment around them. This includes TV characters, social media celebrities and other media figures.

Scary Visuals Images

- School-age children do not depend on imagery as much as younger children do, but scary images can still scare and upset them.

- TV, specifically the News can be very frightening for school-age children. School-age children are capable of recognising that these events are real and can upset them regarding the state of the world.

Violent Images

- Violence shown on TV can have stronger negative effects on school-age children than on younger children.

- It is common for many Heroic children's movies to send the message that using violence to fight against bad is okay. However, children misunderstand this message and think that violence is a good way to sort out conflict or use for getting what you want.

- It is not well understood by professionals what the exact effects are of consuming violent media for school-age children. Some suggest that exposure to violent media can make children less sensitive to violence and might cause aggressive behaviours. But others have also suggested that older children can tell the difference between a game reality, which in turn stops media violence into becoming real life violence.

Sexualised Images

- The sexualised imagery that exists in music videos, social media posts and TV programs can affect how children see themselves and their sexual development as they enter the school years and especially their teenage years.

- Some social media celebrities or influences emphasise specific agendas with their posts in terms of femininity or masculinity, melodramtically, this can reinforce unhealthy body images and inaccurate gender roles with unfair stereotypes.

Social Media Approaches for 6-11 Year Olds

Using Digital Technology with Children: Tips

Playing in a Digitial World: Ideas of Play

SLEEP

Sleep for Children of All Ages

Sleep is crucial for a child's growth, immunity, learning and memory
Babies and children, depending on age all require a different amount of sleep
Sleep routines may vary as children age
Sleep works to restore children physically, helping with learning, concentrating and remembering.
As children get older, the amount of sleep they need will decrease

Babies and Newborns Sleep INFO Pack

Toddlers Sleep INFO Pack

Preschool Age Sleep INFO Pack

School Age Sleep INFO Pack