COVID SCARE: How to Cope With Your Children Confinement at home

• Posted in heath
• On April 6, 2020
• 12 Comments.

At the starting of 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of new CORONA VIRUS in China. COVID-19 has likely to affect many countries of the world without any consideration of differentiation of ethnicity or At the starting of 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of new CORONA VIRUS in China. COVID-19 has likely to affect many countries of the world without any consideration of differentiation of ethnicity or nationality.

India declared the middle of the March as “National Health Emergency”. Due to COVID-19, all the Schools, Colleges, Play Schools, Dance classes, Gym Spa, Factories, Industries of every field, Hotels, all the other amenities other than basic needs of life like medicine food services and health services are suspended till late April 2020. COVID-19 resulted in the following challenges to the parents who have children below 5 years who are confined at home. The super challenges you must or you might feel are:

-How to incorporate a good healthy routine in your child?
 -How to spend your child’s enormous energy in a useful way?
 -How to prevent exposure to prolonged mobile usage and TV watching?
 -How to involve your child in physical activity?
-What kind of food should be given to fulfill hunger desire all the time? -What could be done to improve mental health and reduce their anxiety? -How to manage household course as your child always want your attention.

While the move of a shutdown to reduce the risk of contamination and the spread of coronavirus infection, normal life and learning of children are disrupted. It’s a big worry, where to make your child play inside the limited space of your flat. This is a time of urgency and to shine a light on how children may be feeling and how parents cope with them.

Problems in children which can be faced during this  confinement are :

Anxiety
Sadness
Stress
Anger
Loneliness
social isolation
Obesity
Panic and fear
Academic disruption

There is a saying that children are free spirits. It’s impossible to keep free spirits between the walls of your house as they are like winds always ready to skip. They are like the fragrance of flower which is always ready to enlighten your spirit. When not get proper enlightenment, care, and nourishment, their body power starts declining.

It’s a very high opportunity given by nature and almighty to spend quality of time as a parent with your children. This is a lifetime opportunity to stop the complaints of your better half for being lacking in the upbringing of your children. Keep your mobile and television aside and gear up to enjoy the five star quality time with family and your kid. Here we are to discuss the various aspects.

How to support your child mental well being at this time:

According to UNICEF, invite your child to talk about the issue, ensure their knowledge to the right facts and explain to them the reason for the long stay at home. Tell your child that this “stay at the home situation” is for their better health and to prevent them from being ill.

At this time when we always say, do not compare your child with others, you can take a break from this and let them view the outdoor environment through the balconies or the window that no child is outside. Angel told them to stay at home. After a timeout the angel will give you lots of gifts, yeah I know it’s little cheating upon but it’s need of the time.

– Tell your child about the situation.
-Children have the right to know the facts of the environment and that too new generation kids are very smart.
– Use appropriate language, watch their reaction and be sensitive to their level of anxiety.
– Teach your child how to protect themselves.
– Teach them how to cover their mouth while sneezing with their elbow.
– Incorporate the habit of hand and face washing opportunity.

How to incorporate a healthy routine in your child:

Your little sweetheart is at home. For them, it’s a really fun time only because they don’t have to go to school. One or two days, it will be super cool for them but after that, it starts irritation. In the current scenario, parents have to be aware and not to expose them outside the environment. As a parent initiates a healthy routine in your child. For this, first, you have to be determined and have self-control as your mind will say no it’s leisure time for me too. But guys for you too, its golden opportunity.

Get up early in the morning, which means it can be a little bit later than school time just to give some relaxation.
-Have a few minutes or half an hour morning bhajan; they will love to enjoy this.
-Ask them to help in wrapping up bedding and arranging the bedroom.
– Finish up with morning routine and ask children to keep all the stuff at a place so that your washroom should be a messy one.

– A good time for toilet training to small kids, fix a time interval of 45 minutes and ask your child every 45 minutes to 1 hour for the toilet. In one or two days you will see they will tell you that they are feeling to go to the washroom. You will win over this problem.
– Incorporate yoga or exercise in the morning routine.

– Have a table time for breakfast. Ensure to have all the lunch and dinner on the table. Now it’s time to give food to our green once that’s our plants. Explain to your kid that water is food for plants so if we need food for our hunger shake, plants also need the same.

– Put the habit of healthy eating. Incorporate fruits and veggies in leisure time instead of chips or fast food

-Make them understand to connect themselves with nature and feel happy like being single pigeon in the balcony help your child in their language about how nature creatures are also a part of our life.

– Teach them to be humble and honest with our family members as well as your domestic helper.
– Pour the essence of kindness towards animals and surroundings.
– Teach them how to feed them keeping his or her safety.

How to  send your child’s enormous energy in useful ways:

Whenever talking about the children’s energy it’s ten times adult. They will be always energetic running from here and there all the time. It’s a big deal to keep your child inside the house to prevent them from COVID-19 infection. Try out these:

– Involve them in physical activities like making them do yoga and exercise.
– Make them listen to instrumental music as it helps in brain development.
-If you have any musical instrument, try out with that for some time every day, it will be a very good time spending as well as skill development.

-Ask your child water all the plants of your house in routine.
-Give them a piece of cloth and ask them to just do dusting over the dining table or chair. It’s just to have your child engaged with you and a household chore.

– Make a play area in your house. It can be one of the balconies or a part of the drawing-room. keep aside unnecessary furniture and make space to let your child play safely.

How to prevent prolonged exposure to TV and mobile:

Digital screening is one of the biggest problems in children. Prolonged TV watching or the use of smartphone isolate the child from social connection so much so that they start understanding and connecting themselves with those of famous cartoon characters. Their ways of talking, gesture, and posture all pretend to be like TV characters. Digital exposure is one of the biggest causes of behavioral disorders in children like Autism.

To avoid children, we also are the biggest culprit. Most of the parents try to engage their children with TV or mobile to finish their work. But it’s hazardous; think how people in olden days manages their household chores with their children when there was no TV and mobiles.

So guys here are the few tips to be followed to prevent prolonged digital screening:
–  Make discipline of not using mobile phones for TV watching While having dinner over the dining table.
–  Fix their sleeping time during the day for at least 1 hour and  7- 9 hours in night. Sleep will improve mental well being as well as physically. The child will be fresh and energetic after a good sleep.

– Put nearly 30 to 40 minutes of instrumental classical songs on the audio mode and ask her child to move your body means dance in any manner, you could be the best dance partner.
– Reading and storytelling should be incorporated routinely

– At least 180 minutes in the form of various types of physical activity at any intensity is important.
– You can encourage them to have a time out period of total 1 hour TV watching into a small section depending upon the situation.

– Ask them to help in kitchen work like arranging dried utensils from basket to kitchen closet according to his or her height.
– Ask them to keep their toys clean and keep them in place after playing. Make them understand that this has been done by them, so it is their responsibility to keep them in place.

– let them sit with toys and ask them to prepare some food and feed them.
– While doing household work adjust your working ways accordingly and encourage them to help in the kitchen.

How to involve your child in physical activity:

You can use the following tips:
– Give them clean wipers and put a clean and unuseful towel and ask them to clean the floor. Most of the children enjoy this doing and giving them star after work is done.
– watering plants.

– arranging small pots.
– keeping utensils in the closet.
– encourage them to clean their room.
– dance on their favorite songs for 10 to 15 minutes or more.
– climbing over small chairs.
–  Crawl over the mat.
– playing Hide and Seek.
– catching each other while running around the dining table.
– playing with glass and ball, stacking them up and making various kinds of pyramid structures.
-skipping.
-play any kind of game

What kind of food should be given to fulfill hunger Desire?

– Always try to balance diet for yourself as well as your child.

– Avoid giving frequent meals in the form of chips, chocolate, candies, etc.
–   make a routine for food.

– For small kids 7 to 8 times feeding is important, but it should be balanced like in breakfast incorporate milk and yogurt, fruits and vegetables. Try for homemade snacks.

-Put the habit of drinking a lot of water.

-Avoid overeating and giving food every time. In the Indian scenario everyone in the family keeps giving food to the child, what happened child is always full. Give them time for the digestion of the previous meal.

How to manage household work as your child always want your attention.

The best way I can say is to involve your child in your work. They will be enjoying it, feels energetic, will be with you, learn to manage domestic work, will be physically active, a very good time pass for them and most important they will learn the value of doing work in the kitchen.

What could be done to improve your child mental health and reduce his anxiety:

-Praise your child for good work.
-Do not always scold for wrongdoing.
-Do not always try to impose your ways of life.
-Understand every child is different.
-Listen to them
– Have faith in your child
– Do not always be straight forward in conveying your message to them.
– Instruct them politely and try to use indirect speech.
– Do not fight in front of kids.
– Respect your elders.

Always remember child are very good receptors. And however, you will behave your child will be the same. They will be your reflection. Blossoms child Wellness Centre, Peer muchalla provides you the best counseling for your kid as well empower and teach parents to track their children milestone. Experts at Blossoms are always with their advance and smart interventions to boost Your child’s development.