Liking the way you are, realizing you are worth while, having confidence to meet new people and rising to challenges, not being phased about failing some of the time and being able to think about your future, are all things that shows a person has high self esteem. Confidence in adulthood is extremely important, with out it we would under achieve and be miserable, so why isn’t it as important for children? Well it is! If not more important.

As a child we learn the most about life and learn skills that we will need throughout the rest of our lives. Low self esteem in children could lead to them having difficulties making friends and decisions, it could make them feel weak and they could become withdrawn.

It is simple however, for a parent to help build a child’s self esteem to the highest it can be, what ever their age.

Children learn that they are there own person usually when they are toddlers, this means that they will start to realize they can make decisions for themselves e.g. What food they like, when they need the toilet. They will try to ask you things and string sentences together. This is easy for a child with lots of confidence. You should:

Tell them as often as you can how special they are and how much you love them.
Praise your child when they achieve something, no matter how small it might be e.g. Asking for a drink you should reply ‘yes of course you can well done for asking so nicely, your getting better and better with words each day’ etc.

Instead of making a comment to your child when he does something wrong like spilling food, you might say ‘your stupid’; just don’t comment at all ignore the behaviour. Name calling, however little intent, can damage a child’s self esteem.

Make lots of time to talk with your child about anything; nursery, playschool, school, friends, the park and pets are just some of the things you can have great conversations about. By doing this your child will know you are interested in what they’re saying and that you have confidence in what they’re telling you.

Encourage your child to join in with others, help others, make friends and to talk to people. Once a child learns that someone out side the family is interested in them they will want to carry on meeting people and being more social which really boosts their self esteem.

For a toddler to feel in control give them decisions e.g. give two choices for meals and let them pick one, if your shopping let them tell you which school bag they like etc.

However young your child may be, don’t patronize him/her. This will knock their confidence. If they do something wrong by accident say something like ‘oops that doesn’t matter, don’t worry, we all make mistakes’.

Try not to let your child get bored, be as interactive as you can. You should see the difference in your child shortly after you start implying all of these simple things.

Don’t forget to have fun with your child and laugh together.