Content Map Terms

Good family relationships help your child feel secure and loved. This is what children need to learn and grow.

Being a parent can be one of the most difficult (and rewarding!) jobs around. It's not something that you can be perfect at. Many parents are juggling work, friends, managing a house, and much more.

But it's worth trying to improve the relationships you share with your child and other family members. Good family relationships are more than just enjoyable for their own sake. They:

make children feel secure and loved, which helps their brains develop
can help to overcome difficulties with children’s eating, sleeping, learning and behaviour

Even for the busiest of parents, there are plenty of easy things you can do to develop good family relationships.

Spend quality time together

Use time together, such as mealtimes, to talk and share a laugh.
Have one-on-one chats with each family member to build and strengthen individual relationships.
Do fun things together as a family on a regular basis.
Make decisions together about what to do for special events such as birthdays.

Communicate in positive ways

Talk about everything (even difficult things).
Listen with full attention to each other.
Make it OK to talk about feelings, including difficult ones.
Encourage each other with praise rather than being critical.
Work together to solve problems.
Discipline with love, patience and understanding.
Show appreciation, love and encouragement through words and affection.

Work together as a team

Create family rules that apply to everyone.
Include older children in decisions about things like family rules and family holidays.
Share household chores.
Think about everyone’s needs when planning family activities.
Let children make some of their own decisions (as long as they’re still within the boundaries you’ve set and within their developmental levels).