Do your understand your child’s Fight, Flight, or Freeze instincts?

Up to a certain age children have 4 basic instincts: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fine. When they are fine, you are fine. When they are in any of the other 3 modes, you need to react properly to help them become fine again.

Before they can talk, you have to learn to read your baby’s expressions: Looking away means he is shifting to Flight mode and wants to avoid something; clenching his jaw or crying louder when you try to comfort him probably means he is in Fight mode and angry about something; lack of response or apathy might mean he is in Freeze mode and afraid. With a little time and patience, you will learn what he is saying before he can speak a word.

By their first birthday, most children develop more emotions, and more intricate emotional expressions, but these four instinctual responses are still common to in adults.

Learn more about your child’s different emotions and when they develop in the emotional section of each age group in Raising 4 Dimensional Children in a 2 Dimensional World. Just click on the Shop navigation bar above, then on Complete Books and Chapters to see your options.