Time in a Child’s life
Human beings invented time to help regulate the tasks in a day. But now, the time is our master and we run because of it. We know that the child cannot tell time. Do we know that Time, as it is significant for us, has no meaning for a child? Try telling a child, ‘we are getting late, come in fast!!’ There is no response- because late and fast does not have any meaning in a child’s life.
The child is a human being who is marching to a different drummer. And that drummer is NATURE. Nature regulates the chemicals in the body that helps the body to operate at optimum efficiency. Nature is cyclical. Nature is regular. A child WILL know what time daddy comes home by his body, not the clock. When people return from work at a specific time, and one day he/she is late- we will find the child restless exactly at that time. Nature tells the child.
A child needs regularity in the daily cycle so that the regularity becomes a part of the child. If we regulate the sleeping time of the child(of course you follow the child, i.e. when the child is sleepy) the waking time gets regulated automatically. Unfortunately in this nuclear family world, the child becomes a victim of the adult’s selfishness of ‘I want…..’ A regular sleep pattern is established only when we make it conducive for the child- snuggle in the bed at a particular time with soothing songs or stories. Which in turn is dictated by the supper time. We know how horrible it is to sleep on a full tummy.
How often we have heard- oh, my child does not like to sleep at all. If all the lights are off in the house and there is peace, how can the child not sleep? Yes, the adult will have to work towards it and regulate his/her work. If one of us had to work late, we would make the working room dark by sealing all the cracks with cloth and remove it only when our two year night owl son fell asleep.
Once the body gets regulated to a certain pattern of sleep, everything gets regulated. Nature will wake up the child once it’s job of rejuvenation and revitalising is done. If we can set the pattern for feeding too like this, rest of the child’s day will fall into place. Remember, I don’t stuff the child’s face with food when I have time. Instead, find the child’s cycle and keep as close to it as possible.
One complaint that parents have is- the child does not eat. Does not sleep. The child will not, as long as you are doing it to your convenience. Make the time and effort to find your child’s pattern and follow it. Spending that first three{six is the best} years with your child is a worthy experience as your child grows up to be confident one will pay dividends which far outweigh the loss of pay or position.
By: Sujata R. Kumar –Associate Director, IMTC Gurgaon
