How do you want your child to feel about himself? Do you want your baby to grow up thinking he is a good person, able to handle things in life? Do you want him to get along with others and to share his feelings? The way a person feels about himself is called self-esteem. High self-esteem means feeling good about yourself. Self-esteem begins at home. If you want your child to develop high self-esteem, you have to feel good about him and let him know. How can you do this? Tell your baby how important he is to you. Share lots of hugs, kisses and smiles. Give him some of your undivided attention every day, really listen to him and pay attention to him. Allow your baby to be unique and special with his own rate of development. Pushing him to do something that he's not ready to do yet will only frustrate him and cause him to have less self-confidence. Try to help your child be successful in what he does. This helps him to develop confidence. Being confident leads to a positive self-image. Use positive discipline techniques. When your child does something that you don’t like, you can choose to correct him in a way that won’t hurt his self-esteem. Don’t yell at your child or tell him that he is a rotten child. Instead say, “I get angry when you (name what he’s doing that you don’t like).” Your baby will learn, without feeling like a failure. Be fair and consistent. Teach him good choices. Treat your baby positively. Try to point out at least 5 things your baby does right each day. You can say, “I like the gentle way you are petting the kitty.” or “You are playing with your sister very nicely.” or “Look at how well you stack those blocks.” Say please and thank you to your child. When you are kind to him, he learns to respect himself and others.

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