THE IMPORTANCE OF
NURTURING YOUR CHILD
 What does it mean to nurture your child?
 To provide your child with a sense of safety and security.
 To promote a healthy sense of love, belonging, acceptance, and selfesteem.
 To meet your child’s basic needs for food, shelter, safety, and love.
 Why do children need nurturing from their caregivers?
 All human beings need to feel nurtured, loved, and as if they belong
and are accepted in society.
 All human beings need to be respected, to have self-respect, and to
respect others.
 Children start developing their sense of self through their parent’s
eyes—a parent’s words and actions affect a child’s developing selfesteem.
 Without appropriate nurturing, children feel angry, irritable, anxious,
fearful, mistrustful, sad, and unsure about the safety and security of
their surroundings.
 Appropriate nurturing teaches children they are loved and worthy of
being cared for.
 Nurtured children are more likely to extend nurturing and caregiving
to others in the form of empathy later in life.
 How do you nurture your child?
 Safe and appropriate physical touch and proximity to adults—give your
child lots of safe hugs.
 Tell your child you love him or her every day.
 Spend quality, one-on-one time with your child regularly—play with
your child.
 Give your child labeled praises and positive reinforcement—notice your
child being good.
 Be a good role model for your child.
 Be enthusiastic about your child’s accomplishments—hang up your
child’s artwork at home.
 Acknowledge and focus on your child’s strengths.
 Have empathy for your child’s mistakes instead of anger.
 Help put your child’s feelings into words.
 Comfort your child when they are hurt.
 Smile at your child every day.
 Rhyme, sing, and talk with your child.
 Provide for and meet your child’s basic needs for food, shelter,
clothing, hygiene, and love.
 Teach your child how to take care of and be safe with his or her body.
 Set clear limits and be consistent with your discipline.
 Make your primary goal of discipline to help your child choose
acceptable behaviors and learn self-control as opposed to making your
child feel bad about what they did wrong.
 Establish a consistent daily routine that your child can predict and
count on.
 Supervise your child and know what is going on in his or her life.
 Ask questions and take an interest in your child’s ideas/activities.
 Lend your child a hand when needed—help them become independent.
 Be sensitive to your child’s understanding of change.
Trisha R. Hobson, Family Resource Center, 2008