Uncovering Children's Behavioral Triggers Tips | Moms.com - Moms

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When it comes to children and their behaviors, it is a bit of a mystery. Experts in the field of child development are continuing to look at how children grow and learn and identifying aspects of development that we have no understanding of yet. It is important to learn why children act the way they do, because when we start to understand that, we can start to empathize with their world and what is going on with it. We often think of children’s behavior as a response to a particular event or feeling, but what if we changed how we think?

According to Empowering Parents, the focus should be more on the behavioral triggers of our children and less on what caused the behavior. When a child reacts to something, we need to focus on what a child is thinking at the time instead of what happened. By focusing on our children’s triggers, we can help guide them through these problems.

Can’t Fix The Problem

The main reason why behavioral triggers are so important is because we cannot fix a problem unless we know what is causing it. Once a parent can figure out certain situations or experiences that cause their child to have a tantrum or a meltdown, mom can help either walk their child through the situation or try and prevent it from happening all together.

Triggers are a large part of behavior management, and a trigger is not defined as the situation but rather the child’s thoughts towards the situation. By recognizing your child’s behavioral triggers, you can help them develop self-management skills to deal with their emotions. Once this becomes practice, your child will be able to recognize them himself.

Detective Work

According to Child Development Info, uncovering your child’s triggers may require some detective work on your part. There can be any number of things that may be affecting your child, and it may take time for you to narrow down what exactly it is because you need to watch for a pattern in behavior. There are some basic things that are most commonly found to be triggers that can work as a starting point for mom. Food, lack of sleep, the people around them can all be behavioral triggers. Mom needs to watch for the behavior and see if she can piece together a common theme among the times her child has “acted out.”

Put It Into Perspective

If mom needs an example, we got it. If your child is typically well behaved at home but acts out when you are at a playdate or an event, than overstimulation may be the cause. This could be a result of your child being overwhelmed by the amount of people, noise and commotion and his reaction is to show negative behavior. Remember, the trigger is not the group of large people, but it is how your child reacts to a large group of people. In this instance, once mom works out that this is a behavioral trigger for her child, she can work with them on how to handle large crows and what to do if they need a break.

Define The Emotion

It is quite normal that when a child is reacting to a trigger, they act angry. They could even show signs of aggression. According to The Pragmatic Parent, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your child is angry. Anger is one of the easiest emotions to express, and it tends to get the biggest reaction out of other people. Your child, who is acting angry, could actually be feeling sad, frustrated or even anxious, but it comes out as anger. Try and narrow down the exact feeling that your child is experiencing.

The next time your child acts out in a certain situation, take some time to answer some questions. Instead of asking your child, “Why would you do that?” ask yourself, “Why is this happening.” Try and do a quick run down in your head of all the events that are happening, if they have eaten anything recently or if they got enough sleep last night. This may be enough to allow yourself to calm down, because children who are experiencing a trigger, need understanding instead of discipline, and the only way to get that is if mom and child work together.

Sources: The Pragmatic Parent, Child Development Info, Empowering Parents

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About The Author

Ashley Wehrli (1457 Articles Published)

Ashley Is A Stay At Home Mom To Three Beautiful Children. Having Three Children Under The Age Of 4 Keeps Her Busy. When She Finds Some Spare Time She Enjoys Reading, Writing, Watching Movies And Writing For Moms!