Habits in Young Children

Habits are automatic behaviours that occur in a predictable pattern. They can be positive or negative, and they can help or harm.

As a parent it’s important to understand your child’s habits and guide them to develop more positive habits and fewer negative ones.

Benefits of Positive Habits in Young Children

Developing healthy habits can have long lasting benefits for your child as they grow and develop.

These can include:

• Healthy eating
• Regular exercise
• Brushing teeth
• Looking at things from an optimistic perspective
• Going to bed at a regular time
• Daily reading
• Mindfulness practices

These small tasks and behaviours can form the basis for other habits which can help your child to better organise their day and create a sense of order and ease in their life.

Common Habits with Negative Consequences

It is not uncommon for children to develop habits that aren’t beneficial for them or those around them.

These habits can include:

• Nail biting or nose picking
• Pulling or twirling hair
• Thumb sucking
• Body rocking
• Chewing objects
• Grinding teeth

In most cases, while these habits might be a source of bother or frustration for you, they’re usually nothing to worry about. These habits will often resolve themselves over time.

How Do These Habits Form?

Habits can often help to soothe or comfort your child, the repetition can provide a sense of control. Habits can also form in response to boredom or anxiety. Or sometimes it’s a simple case of mimicking older family members.

If your child develops a new habit it can be useful to reflect on the reasons for the new behaviour.

Breaking ‘Bad’ Habits

The good news is that most ‘bad’ habits in children will naturally fall away over time with minimal or no intervention.

If you feel that a habit is negatively impacting your child’s daily activities there are some steps you can take to help them break the habit.

1. Talk to your child about why you’re concerned about the habit and the reasons why it’s better not to do the behaviour
2. Point the behaviour out to your child when you notice it happening – this helps especially in circumstances where a child might be unaware of when they’re doing it
3. If you believe a habit might be in response to boredom, or stress, teach your child some simple mindfulness  techniques

If you are concerned that your child’s habit might lead to long term harm or that it’s caused by anxiety or sustained stress, seek support from your GP or other medical professional such as a psychologist.

We hope these tips and ideas will provide some useful guidance in how to help guide your child in developing positive habits.