Consistency Is Paramount

Consistency is important in all situations, for all children of all ages. Consistency helps children learn to trust adults and know that their needs will be met.

It is the start, the building blocks for appropriate attachments and neurological development. Consistency will help teens be more honest, follow rules, and communicate openly with their parents.

Consistency comes into play with rewards, consequences, schedules, and everything you teach your child.

For instance, children do well with the same routine each day. They do best going to bed, eating, napping and doing chores at the same time every day. They need that routine.

Children learn to trust when they are told something will happen, and it happens. If you say "I need you to get in the car right now or you will owe me a chore when you get home," the child is likely to get in the car because they know you mean business.

If you are not consistent your child won't listen.

When a child's needs are not consistently met, their ability to attach becomes disrupted. Therefore, implementing consistency as soon as possible is imperative to a healthy, well-adjusted child.

A piece of consistency is follow-through. If you say something will happen, it better happen, whether that be positive or negative. If you say you will take her to the park at 2:00, you need to go to the park at 2:00. This helps children learn to trust adults.

Children need to feel safe in their environment. They can only do so if they know what to expect. Children's expectations stem from consistency. This helps the child learn healthy attachments, trust adults, grow, and flourish. Without consistency, we typically see behaviors that are unwanted and the first step to decreasing these unwanted behaviors is to increase the consistency in the home.

For more information on how you can increase consistency in your home, reach out via our contact page.