Autonomy In Children

Autonomy is where the child is trying to become a separate person with a separate will. To help the child through this is by being encouraging and supportive. They are going to try and test their boundaries of rules and acceptable behavior. Important events for them include gaining more control over food choices, toy preferences and clothing selection. They even will benefit from try to put on clothes by themselves and being able to ask for help if they need it. Children who successfully complete this stage feel secure and confident, while those who do not are left with a sense of inadequacy and self-doubt. During this time they are developing their own code of behavior and develop self-control. The parent has to have balance. This means that
Going through this stage successfully gives the child the assurance that their ability to make choices on their own and to tackle new challenges is great because they were supported and successful. The children need the opportunities to develop their sense of autonomy. All the parents have to do is give them choices within the day. Just being allowed to help decide what is for dinner/snack, what games to play, what to watch, what order they have to do something, what to wear, or what to play with are small enough of a choices that it gives them enough feeling of freedom that they feel independent but small enough that it still gives parents control when bigger situations occur. If they children are told what to do all the time or shamed when they do something wrong, they do not have confidence later to be independent and they can stay dependent for a long time after. This also makes them insecure because they are unsure of their abilities. The little choices to you can be big choices for
This makes it hard for the parent to relinquish power to the child. The view is that the child does not have the experience to make the choices. It is highly irritating when children go through this stage because it seems like they are trying to misbehave or not listening to what the parent is telling them. The thing of it is that if the parent helps the child to make the choices in a safe environment, then they can learn. One way to help the children to stay out of trouble is by child proofing the house so that way they are in a safe environment. By child proofing the home the parents offer freedom and safety for the toddler to explore his environment and foster the development of autonomy. A way to help the children through this stage is by giving them choices. The want to be independent so if they are given choices in their clothes, activities, toy preferences, or television show preferences then they are given the ability to feel that independence without causing trouble for the parent. Another thing that is important is to be consistent with the rules and the consequences that belong with it so that the children get a clear expectation of them and as they grow they understand that is still expected of them. This helps them to develop their own code of behavior based off of what was taught to them. Parents have to be patient and