Surviving to Thriving with Weldon
To celebrate #emotionalwellness month, this Ask a Specialist episode is with Lynn Weldon, a school psychologist and Head of Care & Co-Founder of Weldon! After her brother Mark integrated and shared Lynn’s advice for managing tantrums, they realized many more parents were wondering the same thing, “am I doing this right?” And so, Weldon was created! In this episode we discuss the common challenges parents face to build confidence in your parenting choices, learn evidence-based parenting strategies, and gain a deeper understanding of your child!
What is Weldon?
Evidence-based advice from experts, a community of parents just like you, and designed for your busy life.
- Weldon is an online community of parents and coaches working towards solving the most challenging parenting struggles.
- With personalized coaching in addition to group sessions, get all of your questions answered when difficult situations arise.
- Designed for you busy life - Find hundreds of solutions to common problems such as tantrums, anxious kids, and so much more.
- Powered by experts with evidence-based insights - the world of parenting advice is overwhelming, Weldon has curated connections to psychologists, therapists, marriage & family counselors, behaviorists, and top rated parenting coaches!
- Typical vs. atypical
- Language & developmental milestones.
- You can download the app here: Weldon App!
Navigating Parenthood - The Most Common Pain Points
There isn’t a one size fits all solution, but Weldon works by helping you understand the psychology of your child’s mind.
- Toddlers - as parents we often forget their world is ever changing and new!
- Problems most often revolve around an increasing intensity or frequency of tantrums, resisting, a routine or sleep, & separation anxiety.
- Weldon helps parents understand these signs of behavior your child is exhibiting and ways to help.
- Learning what emotions are and how to regulate them
- Language can be an area of frustration, not know what to ask or how to communicate fully.
- Behavior is a form of communication - as a parent what are you reinforcing or what is your response to bad behavior?
- Model what you want, ex. For kids to express themselves in the appropriate way, helping your child identify how they feel, help them take problem solving steps.
3 tips for Managing Tantrums
- Age - Is this age appropriate & what could your child be communicating?
- Language is a huge barrier with smaller children, this is often the root of frustration for a child that is acting out.
- Their behavior - What is happening before this behavior & what does their behavior look like?
- Your reaction - what can you do to identify what's happening and de-escalate?
- Helping your child identify emotions, find words for emotions & set routines and expectations - we often forget their world is new all the time!
- Phrases that can help kids handle big emotions:
- "I can see that you are upset. You are allowed to feel that way. I'm here when you're ready to talk."
- "I see that you had a hard time with [x], what can we do to make it easier next time?"
- "It seems like you're having a hard time finding the words to explain what you're feeling. Is there another way that you can show me what is going on?"
- "Your words help me understand you better."
How to Support Emotional Wellbeing - The Color System
At the preventative level - help your child check in when they are experiencing bad behavior
- Green - your child is calm, this is the phase where you want to be proactive.
- Talk about what to do with emotions and how to identify them.
- Books and emotion charts can help as visual aids.
- Ask questions like: “how was your day” & “How are you feeling” - helps pinpoint and connect dots with how they're feeling.
- Yellow - the escalation phase.
- Deep breathes & breathing exercises - you can find some of our favorites in our Yoga for Kids Blog!
- Take a step back - separate your child from the activity or environment.
- Kids are learning how to ask for help - helping the to find words with how they're feeling.
- Focus on communication - Create a safe space to have dialogue and explore problem solving skills.
- More coping strategies that may work for you.
- Give your child control over small things like minor choices on what to do next in their daily routine, what toy to play with, or what snack they would like to eat.
- Replace a frustrating activity with a new one to help them learn a new skill.
