3 Ways to Help Your Impulsive Child
Acting Without Thinking
Do you have an impulsive child? Does seem like they always act before they think? Does it seem like they say everything that pops into their head without stopping to decide if they should say it? All children to some extent are reactive (take my toy, I grab it back or hit you), I am talking about just acting on impulsive when an I idea pops into my head I just do it.
I have a child that acts impulsively. Sometimes the things he does just surprise me. I would just never even think to remind him to not {you fill in the blank}.
Acting without thinking is a problem because the child is not considering the consequences of their actions.
3 Ways to Help Your Child Stop Acting Impulsively
Talk through the consequences of their actions
Many times children that act impulsively don’t think or consider the outcomes of their actions. For impulsive children, an idea comes to them and they just act.
To help control your child’s impulsiveness, try taking an action and discussing the consequences. For example, if you jump off the roof of the house, you will not fly like Batman, but you may break your arm or leg. So, jumping off the house is not a good idea.
Try to help your child visualize the outcome of his actions. You can use everyday situations as examples.
Role Play Situations
As parents, we cannot imagine every situation that our children will involved in during the day. But we can role play situations to help them remember what they should do.
Try role playing, if you and a group of friends are together and one friend suggests teasing or making fun of another person, what should you do? Help your child come up with 1 or 2 ways to react appropriately. As your child finds themselves with friends, they will have prior knowledge and examples to guide them with the right behavior.
Recognize How Behaviors Affect Others
Many impulsive behaviors affect others. Children say hurtful or embarrassing things to each other. Words that are spoken without thinking or considering how they affect others are frequently hurtful and unkind. We need to help our children be aware of their words and not to speak without thinking first.
Some children struggle with impulsive behavior more than others. To help them understand the correct way to control their impulses, we can show them the consequences of their actions, role play the right responses and help them understand how their actions affect others.
Your Turn…
Do you have a child that acts impulsively? How do you them control their impulsive behavior?
