It’s Better To Talk To Your Children On Their Eye Level, Child Experts Say

It’s a simple parenting trick that can have a profound impact on your child’s growth and development – kneeling or squatting down to their eye level when you talk to them. According to experts, maintaining the same eye level with your youngster assures them that you are giving them your undivided attention. It likewise makes them feel safer.

Gill Connell, child development expert and author of A Moving Child Is a Learning Child, said it this way:

“Active listening is one of the most important ways you can send the message, ‘You’re important to me.’ Get down on the child’s level, lean in, and make eye contact.”

In fact, this trick is not only beneficial for kids but for their parents as well.

In an interview with Smart Parenting, Anthony D. Koutsoftas, PhD. emphasized that being on the same eye level with your child allows you to see what he or she sees. You experience things from their perspective which, in turn, allows you to understand the child better.

Here’s Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, talking to her son George on his eye level.

By applying this technique during conversations, along with smiling, nodding, and other positive expressions, the child’s self-esteem will grow and they will feel encouraged to communicate more, Connell shared.

Even Prince William, Kate’s husband, and U.S. President Barack Obama practiced the technique when talking to the young boy.

It is, of course, likewise important that parents help their children identify their emotions, whether they’re happy or sad, and, most importantly, be willing to go through them with him.

By saying something like “I can see that you are upset”, parents are able to assure their youngster that it is normal to feel strong emotions and so they would be more ready to share what they feel next time.