Behaviour

Behavioural development From Birth to One year. Babies at this age are incapable of understanding rules. They only respond to their feelings of hunger, tiredness etc by alerting you. Babies are incapable of ‘bad’ and ‘good’ behaviour they are act on their instinct. They are unaware of the world around them. By the age of six months, they understand displeasure. ONE TO TWO YEARS Children in this age group are able to learn about behaviour through examples. At around the age of two years your child will enjoy saying the word “no” Your child must learn they cannot get your attention while you’re doing a job unless they are helping you. This will take time for the child to learn this. Your child may refuse to co-operate with you so you must withdraw your attention. Most children are desperate for attention so they will change their bad behaviour to good. TWO TO THREE YEARS A child of this age is more likely to understand more about what is acceptable behaviour. They are more willing to help you with jobs. This is when the famous terrible twos start, and you could be facing your first tantrums. The tantrum will alarm your child as much as you. How you react to these tantrums will determine how often these will happen. When your child reaches the age of 2 ½ years they will become bossy and moody. They find it hard to fit into a group and sometimes don’t get on with other children. Children of this age may bite you must tell your child this is unacceptable behaviour and move them to other room for a few minutes THREE TO FIVE YEARS Between these ages your child changes a lot in their pre-school behaviour. They may be calm and co-operative with you sometimes and other times not listen to you at all. Your child will be able to understand simple rules e.g. taking shoes off. You should remember to always reward and praise your child for good behaviour. When your child does something wrong, you must tell them it was wrong and why. Remember to be patient with your child no matter how bad the behaviour is. Sibling rivalry becomes more of a problem at this age. Your Child will start to care about the feelings of others. You must explain to them what is right and wrong. FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS Your child will begin to develop and gain more independence. They will start school at this age. Your child may develop school child behaviour which they may copy from their friends; you may not always like this behaviour. Your child may find starting school exciting and may adapt well it this new situation. You may find when your child comes home from school they will let of steam and push boundaries. This is due to the fact they must follows new rules while at school. You must be consistent and have a routine for after school which your child understands. Your child will push the boundaries more and you may find more unacceptable behaviour being showed in the school holidays. You must remember to always stick to your routine. SEVEN TO ELEVEN YEARS Your child, as more of an understanding of the world and relationships. You may find that your child is easier to reason with. This is the age when the sulking stage begins this is typical behaviour for this age group. No matter what you ask them to do they will dig in their heals and act as if your being unfair. This sulking is usually your child’s response to feeling the loss of being in control or loss of freedom. ELEVEN TO NINETEEN YEARS Your child will begin to notice they doubt your beliefs and are more easily influenced by their friends. When your child starts puberty they behaviour will change. By the time your child is fourteen years old they may stop hugging and kissing you in public. They will rebel against your rules and routine. As your child hit their teenage years you may find them moving further away from you and are independent and more likely to push boundaries. They copy behaviour from their peers much more now. This may including smoking drinking and staying out late.