How to Communicate with Children Who Refuse to Listen

Many parents, myself and my wife included have trouble dealing with children that refuse to listen at times. Part of the problem though is we as parents fail to realize each child is different in many ways. Two of the key things to consider are the age of the child, and what motivates the child who is refusing to listen. The age sort of reflects their maturity and ability to adjust to certain types of coaching and parenting. Motivation differs greatly from child to child, but is something that parents must understand about the child that they are trying to teach to listen to them.

Age

Parents can encounter children of every age range that refuse to listen. Some will refuse to listen because they don't understand what is being asked of them and others will refuse out of defiance. Age has a significant part in determining the situation you are facing as a parent. With younger children quite often such as toddlers they really don't understand what is being asked of them. Parents should use demonstrations and acting out what they want their children to learn as a more common tool instead of conversations. Keep in mind even as adults we don't always understand what our colleagues, spouses and supervisors want when it is just explained verbally. Imagine if you didn't understand many of the words the person trying to get you to listen to them was using? This is the case quite often with toddlers. For things like instructing them not to hit, hold their hand and say "no" while shaking your head and the same time and holding the hand firm enough so they can't move it. If they are going to touch something that might hurt them, try demonstrating but then showing them you are in pain so they can see it will hurt (you don't have the experience the actual pain yourself).