Prince Harry Shared the Easy Parenting Trick He Uses to Stop His Kids From Crying
Prince Harry shared some of his parenting tips during a recent book event, including how he gets a fussy baby to stop crying. The Duke of Sussex said he recenters himself and changes his energy to address the situation.
Prince Harry shared his parenting trick for a crying child
On March 4, Prince Harry spoke with Dr. Gabor Maté, author of The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture for a virtual book event promoting Harry’s memoir Spare.
The Duke of Sussex discussed a number of topics, including his children. He revealed how he has gotten his children Archie and Lilibet to stop crying by bringing calming energy to the situation.
“Your kids pick up on your energy more than you will ever know,” he explained. “If you had asked me about energy, seven, eight, ten years ago I would have said, ‘What are you talking about?’”
His perspective changed when he had kids. “When I had my first child I realized what was going on,” Prince Harry said.
He continued, “It is all about energy. Sometimes I’d have to remove myself from the room, take a deep breath, let it out. And literally try and change my whole energy and go back in there. And all of a sudden he’s falling asleep in my arms.”
Prince Harry believes kids should be allowed to have frustrations
Harry also touched on how kids should experience anger and frustration but parents should follow the moment with a conversation.
“If they have a moment of frustration, allow them to have that and then talk to them about it afterwards,” he explained. “When they start and you say, ‘Do not do that,’ that’s not helping.”
He noted, “more of us as adults should be encouraged to have these outbursts, even if it’s into your pillow.”
The Duke of Sussex added, “Kids having those outbursts I think is part of growing up.”
The Duke of Sussex doesn’t want to ‘pass on any traumas’ to his children
Prince Harry said it’s important not to fight in front of kids. “Do not have those disagreements, arguments, whatever it is… luckily my wife and I don’t have those,” he said. “The idea of having those in front of the kids? I assume that my parents probably had a lot of those [fights] in front of me, maybe that’s where it comes from… that’s not a good idea.”
He added, “If you ever have a disagreement or you realize the energy is off between the two of you… If you have the ability to be able to, take it to a different room.”
Harry shared some insight into how he is raising his children with more affection than he experienced in his childhood.
“It leaves me in the position now, as a father of two kids of my own, to make sure that I smother them with love and affection,” he explained. “Not smother them to the point where they’re trying to get away and I’m like, ‘No, come here I need to hug you.'”
Prince Harry added, “I, as a father, feel a huge responsibility that I don’t pass on any traumas or any, I guess negative experiences, that I’ve had as a kid or as a man growing up, and that’s work. That’s putting in the work and that’s daily being cautious of my behavior and my reactions to both of my kids.”
