Six Ways To Cope With A Child Who Prefers One Parent to the Other

In a normal situation children usually show some preference
to one of their parents to the hurt of the other parent.

There have been reports of parents that feel so angry about
this situation that they come to the conclusion that the
beloved parent has done some things to "poison" the mind
o f their child against them.

The parents that are mostly affected are the new parents
who have little or no understanding about parenting.

The truth is that the situation you have found yourself in
is a normal situation and nobody has taught your dear
child to be against you and feel as if you are about to kill
him anytime you stretch your hand towards his direct in
a bid to carry him as every parent usually does.

Here are six ways by which you can cope with a child
who prefers one parent to the other:

1. Give the time child time and don't take the matter personally.

2. Let the parent that is not 'loved' leave home for a few hours
or even days. Surely,by the time the parent gets back, the
child may have decided that the "unloved" parent is not
evil after all.

3. Giving the chance and with the knowledge of one who knows
children very well,l can assure you that there is a likelihood
that within the next year or so the child will bounce in the
opposite direction.That time the so-called "beloved" parent
will be feeling neglected.

4.You should try to understand your child's personality because
children are not alike.If you have another child who does not
behave the way the one you are concerned about does,do not
try to compare the two.They are separate individuals that
would never behave the same way.


5.You may decide to follow the child around everywhere.In
addition, constantly ask him questions.Do whatever he
chooses to do at every given time. If he Is reads a book,
read a book too. If he is jumps, jump.You should,however,
prepare yourself for whatever he may want to do to reject
you such as throwing insults at you, etc.Don't mind. He will
eventually wear himself down and both of you may end up
being great friends.


6. Plan a Daddy/Mummy- Child outing on a weekend.If the
two of them hang out, they may end up forging a strong
relationship.

Coping with dislike is never going to be easy,but try any of the
ways suggested above and see how effective they can be.


Happy Parenting...

Kazeem.