How to Instill Healthy Habits in Your Child
It begins with you, Mom. Whether you like it or not – whether you notice it or not – your children mimic your actions. As we both know, this can be positive, but it can also be a bad thing. If you want to know how to instill healthy habits into your child, you’re in the right place. I’m going to give you 4 ways to help your child stop bad habits and 7 ways to help him or her replace them with good ones.
You want to pass on the positive ones and avoid passing on unhealthy habits.
Here’s the good news, Mom – you don’t have to try very hard to have an impact on your children’s’ habits. The nurturing role of a mother automatically impacts the habits a child displays.
We can both agree: habits are important. And as you’re about to see, many of the tactics you use to develop healthy, sustainable habits for yourself are the same things that will help your child.
Healthy habits are powerful. Instilling them into your children will allow them to accomplish more in life.
The impact of a mother: Trickle-Down Nutrition
The basic philosophy behind trickle-down nutrition is that your eating habits as the mother influence the rest of the family’s eating habits – for better or for worse. This means that if you eat your veggies, your children and even your husband are much more likely to eat theirs… But if you’re more likely to indulge and enjoy lots of junk food, so are they!
It’s true that a mother sets the tone for the home.
While it may seem like a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, it also gives you a great opportunity to help your family grow healthier together.
Think about the nutrition goals you set for your kids, like eating their fruits and veggies every day. Do you meet these same goals yourself, and do your children see you doing so? Modeling good behavior is the perfect way to use trickle-down nutrition as a tool to help your child eat healthier!
You might think your children don’t really notice what you eat. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! In fact, mothers’ eating habits are the main influence on toddlers’ eating habits. As it turns out, it’s not just what you say about food; it’s what you do.
Just like most situations, actions speak louder than words when it comes to trickle-down nutrition!
There are some very easy ways to implement trickle-down nutrition into you and your family’s lives. Begin with something simple like eating three meals a day. It’s as easy as that! Then, begin to model other positive eating habits such as providing a variety of healthy snacks to eat between meals and encouraging your family to drink water rather than juice or soda.
Remember, it’s important for you as the mom to set a good example of these habits!
How children learn and understand
When trying to teach your children to engage in positive, healthy habits, it’s essential to have a basic understanding of how children learn and pick up behaviors.
Young children learn by observing, listening, exploring, experimenting, and asking questions.
You know how curious children are – you’re probably used to hearing dozens of questions every day like, Mom, why is the sky blue? How much salt is in the ocean? Why do I have to do chores? Children are intrigued by the world and want to know how everything works!
But as smart as kids are, there are still limits to what they can understand. One thing to keep in mind is that they live for instant gratification.
For example, they want dessert now, they don’t want to wait until after dinner. It’s difficult for children to understand the concept of the future or delayed gratification; they’re focused on the present. Thinking for the future is a skill that takes time to develop!
Habits: What they are and how to make and break them
A habit is defined as “an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.” In other words, a habit is something you do so often that you hardly even notice you’re doing it anymore.
Whether that’s your morning cup of coffee, brushing your teeth, or looking both ways before you cross the street, they’re all habits. And habits can be good or bad – we can eat healthy and keep up a regular exercise regimen, or we can overindulge in sweets when we get stressed out.
So once we have a habit that’s ingrained in our daily schedule, how do we get rid of it? How can we break the cycle? Well, there are a few strategies! The best part is that these strategies will not only help you kick your bad habits, they’re also tricks you can pass down to your children to help them stop unhealthy habits as well!
How to stop bad habits
When it comes to bad habits, like letting the laundry pile up or putting off a dentist appointment, it can seem like they’re easier to get into than to get out of. It’s true, you do need to use your willpower if you really want to make a change.
But just think about all the positive effects you’ll have on yourself and your children if you stay determined! As a mom, you always want the best for your kids. Knocking out your bad habits is a wonderful way to show them how far dedication can take you!
Here are some tips to help you say goodbye to your bad habits:
1. Make your habit unattractive.
One way to do this is to surround yourself with people who don’t condone the habit. For example, if you’re trying to stop eating junk food, join a group with a focus on health. Their positive influence will help you to avoid temptation!
You can also make a habit seem unappealing in other ways. Maybe you want to start going to bed earlier. Scheduling an early start to your day can help you make the decision not to stay up late so that you won’t feel exhausted in the morning.
Finally, whenever you’re tempted to fall back into your bad habits, remind yourself of all the negative things or consequences that come along with them. Going back to the junk food example, maybe you don’t like that unhealthy food makes you feel sluggish, or that your energy level tends to crash after you eat it. Giving yourself a reminder of this before eating that bag of chips can help you decide whether it’s really worth it or not.
2. Replace bad habits with good ones.
As a mom, you’re pretty familiar with swapping bad choices for good ones, like offering your child a snack of fruit rather than cookies, for example. This is the same concept! Whenever you feel like going back to your bad habits, choose to do something that benefits you instead.
3. Change up your environment.
When you always stay in the same place, it’s so easy to keep doing what you’ve always done. We all know how much simpler it is to get comfy on the couch rather than hopping on the treadmill! But if you actually switch up your surroundings by going to the gym, it’s much more likely that you’re going to exercise rather than sit around.
This definitely doesn’t mean that you need to do anything drastic in order to ditch your bad habits, like moving to a new house. Small changes can make a huge difference! Say that you want to stop losing your keys. Putting a key hook or dish near the front door changes your environment and encourages you to stick with your new habit! If you’re trying to teach your kids to clean up after themselves, set up an organization station where there’s a place for everything. This makes it a lot easier to establish new habits.
4. Reward and encourage positive behavior.
Don’t hesitate to tell your family members when they’re doing a good job! Who doesn’t love hearing that you’re on the right track and that the things you do are appreciated? It’s a huge confidence boost and encourages you to keep doing what you’re doing! Be generous with your encouragement and watch your children flourish.
Instilling healthy habits
A habit is made up of a pattern with three steps:
The reminder – whatever provokes the behavior
The routine – the behavior itself
The reward – what you gain from the behavior
When you break it down this way, it’s easier to have control over your habits. Recognize the reminder, and switch up the routine! But when you’re trying to instill positive habits in your children, it’s not quite as simple.
So, here are a few tips and tricks to help you along the way:
1. Don’t forget that it begins with you, Mom!
Your kids look up to you in every aspect of life. So, demonstrate the habits you want your children to engage in. If you want them to read instead of watching TV, make sure they see you curled up with your favorite book.
2. Make disciplined behavior the norm.
If you always enforce rules like cleaning up after yourself and making your bed in the morning, your kids will be used to discipline as a way of life. It won’t come as a punishment because it’s just the way your household runs.
3. Make the switch to a positive habit less overwhelming by breaking it down into smaller steps.
For example, don’t cut your family off from unhealthy eating all at once – instead, start by adding in some healthier meals. Then, move on to replacing the unhealthy snacks. Take it step by step until you and your family reach your goals!
4. Recognize the small gains.
Progress is progress, no matter how small! Don’t start off by setting your expectations too high. Provide plenty of encouragement and rewards to your children, even for small steps towards healthier habits.
5. It’s okay to slip up occasionally – we’re all human, after all.
But do your best to get back on track quickly! Put any fallbacks behind you and put your best effort into returning to your healthy habits. Encourage your children to do the same.
6. Celebrate the progress, not just the end result.
You’ve probably heard it before, but life’s all about the journey. And switching out bad habits for healthy ones takes a lot of time and discipline. Appreciate the changes your family is making together and all the effort you’re putting in as a team.
7. Be patient and don’t rush the process.
Enjoy it along the way! Taking up healthier habits requires dedication, but it’s absolutely worth it.
Top takeaways
As a mother, everything you do has an effect on your children! This gives you the opportunity to shape their behavior in a positive way by engaging in healthy habits yourself. They’ll follow your lead, and you’ll all benefit from the process.
Just remember to be patient! Ditching your old habits and developing new ones takes time. Break your goals down into smaller chunks, reward and encourage even the small steps towards progress, and enjoy the journey. Habits stick around for a long time; your children will forever appreciate the positive and healthy behaviors you helped them to gain!
Resources:
https://www.lifewelllived.fitness/blog/trickle-down-nutrition
https://www.lifewelllived.fitness/blog/how-to-develop-healthy-habits
https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/school-learning/learning-ideas/learning-school-years
https://jamesclear.com/three-steps-habit-change
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/habit
https://lawsonblake.com/how-to-break-a-bad-habit/
https://www.mentorist.app/action/how-to-break-bad-habits-by-making-them-unattractive
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/habits-not-hacks/201408/want-change-your-habits-change-your-environment