Babies 2 Toddlers - Information and Advice

Parenting Styles – What’s The Best?

February 12th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Parenting is very much trial and error for most people, but it is often based on what the mother or father experienced themselves as children. However most parents are anxious to do the best they can for their children and most children do realize this – even when they are being told off. Hence whichever types of parenting style you decide on bond of love is the defining influence.

One of the most common types of parenting styles is smothering by the mother and criticism by the father. The mother tries to spoon feed her children at every occasion, and is overly concerned about their increasing need for independence as they grow older. On the other hand, the children can do no right in the eyes of the father, who constantly criticizes their appearance, behavior and performance. This is often a throwback back on the insecurities and problems faced by the parents while they were growing up. An overly critical parent may be reacting to stress at work, or other inter-personal relationships, including with the spouse.

Reaction to Different Types of Parenting Styles

Children, who are raised by a smothering mother and over critical father, may react in different ways. This can either make the children manipulative or, if they recognize that their parents actually want the best for them, make them stronger. They can respond to these two contrary types of parenting styles constructively. Instead of growing up manipulating the mother and resenting the father, the children can face up to the father’s criticism and improve themselves or confront his remarks positively. They can indulge in their mother’s over-protectiveness, or learn to take it lightly, and gently chide her for it.

However, not all children respond in this healthy manner, even within the same family. Some grow up as bullies and sullen people who cannot face a real challenge in life. These are options that children face while growing up, and their emotional growth really depends on their response to the types of parenting styles they have experienced

Different circumstances result in different parenting styles, but it is the various influences during the formative years that determine the type of adult the child will become. Other people such as grandparents, teachers or peers exert other influences but generally, children who recognize their parents’ underlying sincerity and love, however misguided they are at times, can grow up to be strong and tolerant individuals.