How to be your child’s confidante

“The child needs to feel heard and cared for to open up about the ups and downs of their day-to-day life and seek help and guidance,” she said.

Here are some tips from the expert to build a trustworthy relationship with your child:

*Express unconditional love: Consistently express love in both words and actions. Avoid making love conditional on behaviour or achievements.

*Validate feelings: Show empathy and understanding towards your kid, even if your perspectives differ.

*Spend quality time: Engage in activities that your child enjoys. Being a dependable companion and confidant is important.

*Establish rules and boundaries: Set age-appropriate rules and boundaries. You must be able to demonstrate values and behaviors for your child to adopt.

*Celebrate achievements: Provide positive reinforcement for accomplishments. Boosting their self-esteem through celebration is important.

*Teach resilience: Guide them to view failures as learning opportunities, and emphasise that setbacks are not something to be ashamed of. Don’t be overcritical of their setbacks and foster a growth mindset.

*Build trust through honesty: Be honest and transparent with your child, as establishing trust is one of the crucial foundations for a relationship.

*Support interests: Encourage and support the interests of your child by appreciating them.

*Consistency, love, and communication: Emphasise that love and communication are fundamental elements in the relationship. Maintain consistency in your actions and responses.

In conclusion, the expert highlighted the importance of adapting your parenting approach to their individual needs and personalities. “Addressing and improving the parent-child relationship often involves self-reflection, open communication, and, in some cases, seeking professional support, such as counseling or therapy, to work through challenges and develop healthier dynamics,” Sharma said.