Why are children moody? How to deal with children's moodiness

Sometimes children may be moody or unhappy because they don’t know how to deal with their emotions. As a parent, you should spend more time with them, let them talk and complain, and encourage them to communicate more, express their emotions, and control themselves.

Reasons why young children are prone to emotional

Inharmonious family atmosphere: If the parents’ relationship is not harmonious, or if they are divorced or separated, it can easily cause psychological stress to young children, making them more likely to become emotional and irritable.

Poor academic performance: Sometimes young children feel stressed because their performance in school is not as good as that of their peers. As a result, they are prone to have problems with emotional control, such as irritability, anxiety, etc.

Suffering from mental illness: Some young children have emotional problems due to mental illness, such as bipolar disorder and depression. They need more attention from their parents and may also need medication.

How to deal with emotional toddlers

Nurture your children: How you raise your children makes a big difference. No matter how busy you are, it is important to spend time with your children. This way children feel safe and noticed. Ideally, both parents should spend time with their children.

Self-expression of emotions: Home should be a place where babies can express themselves without any fear. Sometimes children are moody because they don't know what to do. Children will show their dissatisfaction through negative behavior.

Encourage positive behavior: You can sit down with your partner and talk to your baby. You can draw your child's focus to communicating with parents instead of sulking. Let your child know that you will not respond to his negative behavior.

Always stay calm: When your child is moody, don't overreact, or you'll give him more excuses to behave badly. All you can do is ignore him. If you stop ignoring him, your baby will stop behaving that way.

Keep a relaxed atmosphere at home: As a parent, you should keep the atmosphere at home relaxed and stress-free. Children are easily affected by stress and thus become emotional and anxious. Anger causes stress to children, so you should avoid losing your temper.

Ensure proper nutrition: You need to ensure that your child has the right health and that he or she gets all the necessary nutrients. Taking vitamin supplements can ensure that your child's body gets everything it needs, especially B vitamins, which can improve mood.

Schedule a complaining time: Schedule a time for your baby to complain. During this time, your child can talk about anything that is bothering him. If the time is up, ask your child to continue his complaint list tomorrow. In this way, your baby will gradually complain less.

How to teach young children about emotions

Teach feeling vocabulary: Teach children simple feeling language. Preschoolers should be taught basic feeling words, such as happy, sad, and afraid. Older children can be taught complex feelings, such as frustrated, disappointed, and nervous.

Create opportunities for discussion: Show your child how to incorporate these feeling words into his or her life, such as I am sad that you didn’t share your toy with your sister, and then discuss feelings and what affects your child.

Teach how to deal with it: Teach your child how to deal with uncomfortable emotions. Children need to learn that they can't hit others just because they are angry, so they need to learn how to manage their emotions. One of the best ways is to talk about it and pause and calm down.

Strengthen emotional expression: When you find that your child expresses his feelings in words, praise him, praise his excellent vocabulary, and adopt a reward system appropriately. This will make your child more willing to practice controlling his emotions.