041: When You Can't Meet Your Child's Needs

Sometimes you are just spent and have nothing to give. Sometimes, even if you’d like to be there for your child, you just can’t. Whatever the reason, sometimes we are not there for our children when they need us. Is that a problem?   We’ve talked before about how important it is to take care of your child’s needs.    Getting needs met is a critical part of our child’s development, on many levels. We also talked about the difference between the needs and the wants, so that meeting the child’s needs becomes easier. Meeting the child’s needs takes priority over fulfilling every wish and want they may have, and our responsibility as parents is to take care of the child’s needs, even when we cannot satisfy their wants.    But what happens when the needs of the child are not met?    Does that make you a bad parent? Does that make you neglectful and what consequences does that have on your child’s development? Say your child is thirsty and you have nothing to offer them… Then what? Or they really need your support and comfort, and you are not around… Then what?    Are you failing as a parent?   What happens when we are unable to get our child’s needs met, depends on a few factors. Knowing how important it is to have the child’s needs met, makes us wonder — or worry — about those times when we fail to do that. How bad is it when the child’s needs are not met? The answer is — it depends. It may have negative consequences and it may not. It depends on the situation and how it is handled.    And that is exactly what we explore in today’s episode.             Need more ideas? Sign up here for the Emotionally Intelligent Parenting training.     Host: Julia Pappas, Psychologist & Parent Coach With questions and comments, please reach out on Instagram @theparentingpresence. Additional info is available at theparentingpresence.com