‘9 minutes that have a big impact on your child’

LUCKNOW: To stay connected to your child, Dr Piyali Bhattacharya of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) suggests a simple 9-minute formula.

Speaking at the three-day UP-PEDICON-2018, the 39th state conference of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics that began on Friday, Dr Bhattacharya explained that parents must spend three minutes when the children woke up and three minutes when they returned from school to know how and what the kids were feeling.

“Another three minutes are needed when the children go to bed. When they wake up, give them a pat and boost them for the day. When they return from school, ask them about the time spent there and at bedtime, ensure they sleep after talking to you,” she said.

A pat was actually a positive connect between two persons, she said.

“Children should be given more time but at least these three minutes thrice a day will ensure

your child remains close to you and shares all that is important to him/her,” said Dr Ashutosh Verma, coordinator of the scientific workshops during the conference.

Separate workshops on 0 to 10 years of kids, adolescence, teenage and the issues of children in these age groups were discussed by experts. “Remember children think differently but they are good observers, hence parents should talk about almost everything openly, particularly about sexual exploitation and against whom they should remain alert at home and outside,” said Dr Verma.

Experts said it had been observed that parents clapped for every achievement of their kids till they were 10 years old and then slapped them for poor marks. This was because parents failed to give time and understand the needs of the children but to escape from the responsibility of giving time and to put the onus on the kids , they treated them differently after a certain age, say after 10 years of age.

“Till 10 years of age, all that a child does is appreciated and the parents clap. As the child grows older, the aspirations go higher and the scale of performance is only marks in school. Then claps are replaced with slaps which is an incorrect manner of parenting,” said Dr Verma.