I'm Dr. Ari Brown, and I'm talking about style today.
Now, it's not New York Fashion Week.
I'm talking about you and your partner selecting a parenting style.
You have the skills and instincts to be a great parent, and you should trust yourself,
but your parenting style is the foundation for how you approach certain decisions like
where your child sleeps and how you tackle discipline issues.
The style is different in parent's responsiveness and expectations of their kids.
Authoritative or positive parenting is like having a democracy.
Positive parents set up the rules and expect their children to follow them.
These rules and limits guide children in behaving properly both in and outside the home.
This could be expecting a child to say please and thank you to others or to pitch in and
clean up his toys.
But in addition to setting up clear expectations, positive parents are willing to listen to
their children's feelings and concerns and problem solve together.
Authoritarian parenting is more like a dictatorship.
Authoritarian parents also have high expectations for their child's behavior, but they do not
wanna hear the child's opinion of the rules.
Mom and dad know best and they are in-charge of the house.
There's no negotiation in this parent-child relationship.
Permissive parenting is similar to anarchy.
Permissive parents are responsive to their children, but they lack setting limits or
expectations.
Parents play the role of a friend rather than a leader or adviser.
Government analogies aside, attachment parents are highly responsive to children both day
and night.
The priority is to create a secure parent-child bond or attachment, which helps the child
gain trust and confidence.
Attachment parents set limits but try to do so in a nurturing way.
They believe in non-physical discipline.
You and your partner should decide what works for your family and don't worry with what
your friends, in-laws, or random bloggers think.
Have a plan that you're both happy about regardless of whether it's an actual parenting style.
Be flexible and be sure to take a step back every now and then when it comes to your family
life and your relationship with your kids.