HELP!

Asking for help is an essential skill for everyday life. It is something you and I do on a daily basis. But, there is something about human nature that make us, even the super tiny humans, what to do things ourselves. Unfortunately, when you can’t independently succeed it can be very frustrating. Teaching your baby/toddler to ask for help is one of the best ways to help alleviate that frustration.

🌟 Struggle and perseverance is also very important... so I always evaluate the situation and the frustration level of the child at that moment... then I decide if I should step in.

🌟 To help, means to assist. So, I always make sure, that when I do help, I assist, not take over.

At 9 months, I started to model asking for help with Maeve. She had no concept of what HELP was or what I meant when I talked about help. But, the more I used the term and the more I modeled the concept of help, the more she understood and the less frustration we saw.

Here is a scenario with 9 month old Maeve:

M loved her push walker. Her walker would often get stuck on the furniture and she can not move forward. I would let her struggle for a few second and see if she can problem solve. If it wasn’t working....

Mom: “It looks like you need help. Can you say ‘help please’.” (I would also model “help“ in ASL

Maeve:”please”

Mom: “Good job asking for help. I can help you.”

(I help)

Mom: “There you go. Say thank you mama“

Maeve: Thank you

“Help” turned out to be one of Maeve’s first 20 words. One of the most useful and important things we’ve taught her. As much as it is our job to teach our children to think and act independently, it is also our duty to teach them to ask for and accept assistance.