PARENTING SKILLS NEEDED BY YOUNG PARENTS

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to investigate parenting skills needed by young parents in Enugu State for proper child up-bringing. Specifically, it investigated feeding, health care, emotional, physical exercise, sleep/rest and safety skills needed by young parents in Enugu State. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population comprised 625 young and older parents with 245 young and older parents as the sample size. Questionnaire was used for data collection and it was face validated by three experts. Six research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. Mean and Standard Deviation were used in answering the research questions while t-test was used in testing the stated hypotheses. The findings include among others feeding skills needed by young parents: sitting comfortably while breastfeeding the baby, feeding the baby on both breasts, one at a time, winding the baby at the end of feeding, giving exclusive breastfeeding for six months and boiling all the water used for preparation of baby’s food, providing adequate diet for the baby; washing hands before preparing baby’s food, sterilizing baby’s feeding unit after each meal, encouraging children to sit comfortably before eating,
monitoring children while eating. Toilet training skills: changing diapers/nappies as and out when due, detecting when the child is wet and uncomfortable, supervising the children when they are using potty/toilet, teaching older children how to clean their buttocks with toilet papers/water and making toilet areas easily accessible for children. Emotional skills: comforting or cuddling a child, detecting when the child is wet an uncomfortable, providing the child with toys, helping the child to sleep through petting, socializing the child properly and responding promptly to a child’s desire to ease himself/herself. Physical exercise: choosing, or providing play activities suitable for the child, selecting the play materials suitable for children, teaching children how to use the play materials and providing safe play ground for children. Sleep/rest skills: rocking to make the child sleep off, being familiar with the baby’s signs of sleep and ensuring that the baby sleeps under mosquito net.

Safety skills: keeping floors safe from dangerous items, keeping drugs, cleaning agents and tools out of reach of the children, monitoring children in their everyday activity and keeping children’s surroundings clean. The researcher generally recommended that young and older parents in Nigeria should imbibe the various parenting skills in other to bring up well balanced personalities in the society.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

A child is a person who is not yet an adult. Rakesh, (2009) defines a child as a minor, or somebody who is yet to become an adult. The African charter on the rights and welfare of a child (2013) defines a child as every human being below the age of 18 years. A child in this study is therefore, a male or female human being between (0-5) years of age and who is provided his physical and emotional needs by his parents. This implies that child upbringing and rearing is the responsibility of the parents in the society. Child rearing means rearing a child from infancy to adulthood and educating the child in societal morals and values (Berk, 2000). It involves guiding the child through his life to be a productive member of the society. It is caring for a child during the early stage of his life. (Douglas, 2002), stated that what a child becomes has to do with his environment and the nature of trainingfrom his parents. Child rearing is act of raising or bringing up a minor. It is an active molding of a child’s character, personality, talents, physical and emotional well being of the child in addition to providing the basic needs to the child. In other words, what a child becomes in future is dependent to a large extent on the nature of the child’s upbringing by the parents.

Parents are the biological mother and father of a child who bear the responsibility of providing for child his physical and emotional needs in the society. Parents are the children’s source of information, raising or bringing up children. It is not just the basic food, shelter, clothing that keep children alive, but also the active moulding of character, personality, talents, emotional and physical well-being of the child. When it comes to what makes a person whom he is, the debate of nature versus nurture is a common talking point (Douglas, 2002). The fact remains that much of who a person is, relates to his/her upbringing by their parents that is why child rearing and the factors that influence it, are of the utmost relevance. Parents are friends and counsellors of their children. They are the children’s sources of guide, reflectors, feelings, opinions and ideas, and listeners and active communicators. Ononuju, (2004), states that parents are love objects. Ononuju further stated that parents provide security, physical and emotional needs and support for the children both in early and later life. Parents are models to their children and the home is a teaching laboratory, hence the need for well-behaved parents as child trainer. Parents have the responsibilities of transmitting values, moral beliefs, taboos, culture, rules, and tradition of the society to the children. This implies that parenting has to do with taking care of the child as well as providing for his needs. Parenting is the process of caring and nurturing young children from infancy to adulthood. Kendiora and Leary, (1993) define parenting as anything that a parent does or fails to do that may affect the child, and include caring for physical needs, playing, disciplining, teaching and establishing a pleasant emotional environment.

It involves all the day to day care of children till they are responsible enough for their own needs. Lamborn, (2002) explains that parenting is more about parent’s attempts of controlling and directing the behavior of children. Parenting is a complex activity that includes many specific behaviour that work severally and jointly to influence development in children. It means raising a child from infancy to adulthood and educating that child as well as installing morals and values (Berk, 2000). It involves guiding that child through his life to be a productive member of the society. Parenting is caring for children or a child during the early stages of life. As applied in this study, parenting is the process of caring for children and helping them grow and learn through application of different parenting skills by young. Young parents are men or women who are still new in the area of child rearing. They are in the expanding stage of their family cycle. Expanding family here refers to that stage when the family includes not only the husband and the wife but also their children. Young parents include those parents that are below thirty (30) years of age with their children between (0-5years) of age and those parents not young in age but young in the area of child rearing.