With work pressures mounting and the cost of living going up, many families are moving towards a single child option. The number of children that one has is purely a matter of personal choice, however when it comes to a single child, there are certain issues that do arise. This is also the reason why it is often said that while you have the first child for yourself, you have the next one for the first child.
Below are some issues that a single child tends to face and also how you can overcome these problems:
- Loneliness- Most single kids tend to suffer from loneliness and this can affect their personality too. Just like you need adult interaction, similarly the children also need to interact with other kids. Coming to a house where there are no other kids can get to be lonely for single kids. They have to sleep alone, eat alone and worse even play by themselves when other kids cannot come over. As a parent you will need to ensure that your child gets all the peer company that he/she requires. Right from organizing play dates from an early age to having pajama parties, you will need to do it all. The central idea being that the child should not be lonely when he/she is alone in the house but instead relish that alone time.
- No concept of sharing - Another problem with single children is that they rarely have a concept of sharing. Since they have not had to share their toys or parents with anyone else, they can grow up into adults who have a difficult time sharing with others. Of course this can lead to some serious problems. Again here it is up to the parents to teach the child how to share and not only the material things but relationships. Bring in nieces and nephews, talk to your kid about how grandparents are to be shared, toys are to be shared, etc. Helping a child develop sharing is very important to help raise a kid who is not selfish.
- Aloof from peers - Since a single child is used to staying alone, over time the kid can grow to becoming very aloof from his/her peers. Since the child plays a lot with video games or reads books, etc, the kid is likely to enjoy these activities more than socially interacting with others. This can lead to a problem no doubt. This is why it is important that as parents we ensure that the child is not drifting into a parallel world and help the kid to enjoy the company of others much more than staying in his/her own shell.
Of course it is not necessary that every single child will face the same set of issues, but the ones discussed above are common in kids who do not have siblings. Just keep the suggestions listed above in mind and you will be able to combat the problem with ease.
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