Parenting Glossary
Image Credit: Joshua Hoehne
Are you confused about parenting terms?
Don’t know your Authoritative Parenting from your Authoritarian Parenting?
Have you ever wondered what is the difference between a helicopter parent and a snowplough parent?
Here is a glossary of the commonly used parenting terms, which explains the different styles of parenting and lots more modern parenting terminology.
Glossary of Parenting Terms
- Attachment Parenting
- Authoritarian Parenting Style
- Authoritative Parenting Style
- Co-Sleeping
- Free Range Parenting.
- Gentle Parenting
- Helicopter Parent
- High Intensity Parenting
- Intrusive Parenting
- Non-Confrontational Parenting
- Parental Alienation
- Parenting
- Permissive Parenting Style
- Positive Discipline
- Shared Parenting
- Snowplough Parent
- Terrible Twos
- Tiger Parent
- Uninvolved Parenting Style
A parenting style which focuses on staying close to your child both emotionally and physically. In involves the parent being responsive and empathetic to the child’s feelings and needs.
As a baby, the child may be carried constantly and as the child becomes older they will be given a high level of physical affection.
Authoritarian Parenting is the parenting style where the parent is highly controlling and expects obedience from their children. This can cause a child to grow up to be inflexible and struggle in developing relationships.
This is the parenting style which is widely regarded as the best for bringing up children.
It involves setting clear boundaries while responding to a child’s needs, and allows for some flexibility in the approach to parenting. It also encourages the child’s independence.
This refers to sharing your bed with your baby or young child. This may be something that parents choose to do just through the breast-feeding phase, while some carry on into toddlerhood.
Free Range Parenting involves encouraging a high degree of independence from children by letting them go out by themselves from a young age.
It can also include leaving children to look after themselves in the home for small amounts of time from a young age.
Gentle Parenting, sometimes called Gentle Discipline, is a parenting philosophy which is generally used with younger children. It involves the concept of never saying “no” to a child while still maintaining discipline and setting boundries.
Examples of gentle parenting include using distraction techniques to stop a child from engaging in unwanted behaviour, and using positive statements rather than using shame, guilt or anger when disciplining a child.
A helicopter parent is one who hovers over their child constantly paying very close attention to everything they do, particularly in regards to the child’s education.
They may, for example, be that parent who is constantly at the school questioning the teacher constantly. It is generally used as an insult.
Similar to the parenting style of a Tiger Parent, High Intensity Parenting is sometimes called Intensive Parenting or High Pressure Parenting.
It refers to parents who spend large amounts of time and money ensuring that their child has a constant program of study and organised activities from a very young age. The children are allowed little down time or self-chosen leisure activities.
Rather like Authoritarian Parenting, Intrusive Parenting refers to an excessive imposition of the parent’s values and beliefs, along with control of the child’s feelings and emotions. This parenting style tends to prevent the child from developing autonomy in their thoughts and opinions.
Children brought up in this way lack independence of thought and confidence in their own abilities to solve problems and make decisions.
Non-Confrontational Parenting refers to solving discipline problems by talking to a child and trying to understand why the behaviour happened rather than simply punishing a child for the unwanted behaviour.
For example, the parent may calmly ask the child why they behaved in that way, and try to discuss how the child could handle the situation next time.
This is a controversial concept to describe the situation where a child becomes estranged from one parent, due to the actions of the other parent. The term can refer to alienation for either justifiable reasons (such as abuse or violence) or where a parent manipulates the child to reject the other parent for no obvious reason.
Parenting is term used to describe the way that a child is brought up. There are many different ways of doing this, and the ideas and theories about parenting change on a regular basis.
A permissive parenting style is one where the child is given very few boundaries and little discipline. Children brought up with this style may be more creative, but can also behave in an entitled way as they are not brought up to understand other people’s needs.
Parenting by using Positive Discipline is where a parent, teacher or caregiver ignore all unwanted behaviours and focus on praising the child for any good behaviour that they demonstrate. It also refers to the philosophy that there are no good or bad children, just good or bad behaviour.
Shared Parenting is an agreement between two parents who are no longer in a relationship on how their child or children should be brought up.
Often agreed as part of a divorce or separation custody arrangement, it usually provides a framework for both parents to have an equal say in the child’s upbringing.
This is another term which, like Helicopter Parent, is used more as an insult. Sometimes referred to as a Lawnmower parent, it is the parent who clears away every obstacle that crosses the path of their child. A child brought up with a parent who solves all their difficulties for them, never learns how to solve problems for themselves.
Widely regarded as one of the most difficult stages of childhood, when your child starts to discover their own autonomy, when they learn to walk and talk and become much more physically co-ordinated.
A Tiger parent is one who puts high achievement in the field of academics, often hand in hand with musical accomplishment, above all else. The parent insists that their children spend long hours on perfecting their academic work and practicing musical instruments.
The term was originally coined to describe Asian parents who most commonly expected high academic success from their offspring.
This is where a child is neglected; for example when their parents do not spend time talking to them, playing with them and do not set or enforce any rules or boundaries. This child may therefore grow up to struggle with relationships and self-discipline outside the home.
So what is your type of parenting? Take our fun Parenting Style Quiz and discover your type of parenting.