Your cousin knows you are taking a child development course. She e-mails you asking for advice on handling her 2-year-old. From Chapter 6, you now realize that the child has a difficult temperament

Based on what you learned in Chapter 6, what advice could you give her on dealing with this child?

What will be an ideal response?

Students should apply the information on difficult temperament, explain goodness of fit, and give concrete suggestions for dealing with a difficult toddler.
--Describe difficult temperament in terms of irregular eating and sleeping routines, negative mood, withdrawal from new situations/stimuli, dislike of changes.
--Explain goodness of fit as either matching of child's and parent's temperament or complementarity of child's temperament and parenting style.
--Concrete suggestions for dealing with a difficult child:
-- patient, supportive, nurturing parenting
-- structured routines in daily life
-- allow child time to adapt to new situations/stimuli without rushing him/her
-- as child matures, teach him/her to control expressions of temperament
-- with age, help child gain insight into own temperament and use that insight to adapt to the environment