What is the difference between parenting and child health?

The core difference between the two is that the scope, core goals and implementation logic are completely different. Parenting is a comprehensive parenting practice that covers the entire growth cycle of a child, while child health is a professional field that focuses on the physical and mental development of children and is the basic bottom line that must be maintained during the parenting process.

When I was stationed at a street parenting guidance station, I often encountered parents asking questions about these two things together. Last week, a mother of a second child asked me if my eldest son should enroll in a calligraphy class when he first entered elementary school. Then he took out the allergen test report of his second son and asked me if I should switch to deeply hydrolyzed milk powder. These two questions happened to be on the edge of the two. In the world - whether to enroll in a hobby class is a typical parenting choice. It should be considered comprehensively based on the child's interests, the rhythm of hand development, and the family's schedule. Feeding adjustments for babies with eczema is a standard child health issue. You must listen to the professional advice of a pediatrician or allergist, and you cannot blindly follow the experience of parenting bloggers.

Of course, the two are not completely separated, and they often overlap. This is why people are easily confused. There are always different voices in the circle: some colleagues in the field of child health insist that all parenting behaviors should be based on health as the first priority, and all choices that may affect the child's physical and mental state should be avoided as much as possible. For example, young children should not go to crowded playgrounds to avoid cross-infection.； However, some colleagues who work in child development psychology believe that parenting is a dynamic process that allows small bumps and bumps. Children should not lose the opportunity to explore in pursuit of absolute health. For example, if they play in the sand and mud, even if they get some bacteria, as long as they clean up afterward, they can not only meet the child's sensory development needs, but also help the child build a better immunity.

In fact, to use a very common analogy, parenting is like driving to a distant scenic spot. You have to plan the route, prepare supplies, play with the children in the car, adjust the itinerary at any time, and even stop and set up a tent for half a day when you encounter a beautiful wilderness. The core is the experience of the entire trip and whether you can reach the destination smoothly.； Children's health is like checking the condition of your car before you set off and at any time on the road. Whether the tires are inflated enough, the brakes are not working, and whether the water temperature exceeds the standard. As long as the car is in normal condition, you can go on the highway or on the country road. However, if there is a problem with the car condition, you must stop and repair the car before driving, otherwise it is easy to cause an accident along the way.

I have met many parents who go to extremes. They either stretch the boundaries of health too much. They are afraid of leaving a psychological impact on their children even if they cry to grab toys from other children. They will let their children do everything they want, which in turn messes up the rhythm of parenting.； Either they completely ignore the bottom line of health, and in order to train the child's ability to resist frustration, they let the child wear thin clothes and stand outdoors in the cold in the middle of winter. This is called "physical exercise", but instead the child will develop pneumonia due to the cold. This is a pitfall that was stepped on without understanding the relationship between the two. In fact, to put it bluntly, if you understand the boundary between the two, you will be less anxious when raising a baby, maintain the health bottom line that should be observed, and make the remaining parenting choices as comfortable as you want.