Mothering a toddler is both enjoyable and challenging. It consists of small wins, overwhelming feelings, and a lot of learning. If you are worried about how to get through this formative stage with care, confidence, and love, you are not by yourself.
How to Be a Good Mother for Toddler
Here are the top eight tips to become a better mom for your toddler.
1. Avoid Self-Centered Thinking
To center yourself means to focus on someone else's behavior and how it impacts you. For instance, if your son is screaming at the top of his lungs, 'I want to eat the candle!' to center yourself means to basically think 'I cannot believe he is making life so hard for me.' This self-centered thinking is one way to view things and it is normal to some extent, but when parenting toddlers and building relationships, it's unhelpful.
Your toddler's behavior has little to do with you and everything to do with what they are thinking and feeling at that moment. Your instant reaction will be to analyze their action in the context of your personality but try to think otherwise.
2. As an Example Set the Boundaries You Expect
Just like telling something to a friend as you mark a text with a highlighter, parents too can draw limits. Tell preschoolers what tasks they must accomplish in order to receive a reward of their choice. They will be happy to do things that interest you knowing that it brings them closer to the thing they treasure more than anything. When a parent tells the child, as well as they show them, they create firm limits and clear expectations.
As a parent you will notice your little one expressing boundaries. Allowing children with parameters might make them angry sometimes but without these parameters, they actually feel insecure. You are the one who decides what boundaries to set. The most important part here is that you must be clear on what those boundaries are and make sure that you follow through.
3. Allow all feelings of any nature, even the difficult
Surely emotions cannot be graded as good or bad. Every emotion, even the most uncomfortable, remains valid. To be disturbed, anxious, worried, scared, disappointed, or even angry is alright and perfectly normal. Try imagining your child is trapped in a pool of feeling (a pool of sorrow, for example). Instead of trying to forcibly drag them out of the pool (“You are just fine, there is no reason to be sad”), dive into the pool with them and support them (“It’s perfectly fine to feel sad at times”). Just like every Hindu name carries a story, a meaning, and a purpose, every emotion carries its own message—an invitation to connect, listen, and understand rather than correct or suppress.
4. Schedule PNP Time (Play No Phone)
PNP time stands for play, no phone, and as self explanatory as it may sound, it means when you’re spending time with the kids, you completely focus on them and block everything else out – including your phone. The reasoning is that phones can pull us out of the moment, and when we need to be present with our children, this can negatively impact our relationships.
You can test out varying lengths of time, set different routines and see what suits you best. What matters most is that you stick to it. What you also need to do is take the time out without your phone so that you can pay full attention to your child. They need it.
5. Raise your baseline of frustration tolerance
Frustration tolerance is how long you can tolerate being frustrated without losing your mind. The key is to expand this distance from valuing the emotion and rather resisting it by trying to eradicate it.
Know your frustration. Know what it feels like in your body. This is all the protective work done at the body level and answers the question of why I need to escape when specific feelings arise in my body.
6. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is the ability to return to what truly matters. It’s the quiet strength of noticing your thoughts, emotions, and actions—without judgment—and gently setting aside the mental clutter that builds up through the day.
It means creating space. Choosing, with intention, what you want to think… what you want to feel… and how you wish to respond.
Because the goal of life is not to force constant positivity. The real goal is inner power—the kind that holds steady, even when the world doesn’t.
This is the foundation of the Mother Toddler Program by Mom and I—where mothers and their little ones begin a journey of presence, connection, and emotional grounding. It’s not just a program; it’s a mindful first step into life, together.
7. Fix your mistakes
Try to make things right if you are dealing with a situation that is out of control. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple “I’m sorry” or much more complicated. You can’t act like it never happened or disregard it and simply brush it under the rug. You have to apologize for it, and not beat around the bush.
This is so hard for many of us because it takes additional effort to disassociate the negative feelings that come with the act. If you raise your voice at someone, the worst part is feeling ashamed after.
8. Plan some time for self care
This might sound cliche, but everyone has to deal physically and mentally with toddlers. If you’re so preoccupied that you don’t have time scheduled for self-reflection outside your own bubble, then it’s time you halt and reflect internally.
Instead of waiting for your mental and emotional state to deteriorate, you should proactively manage your free time by allocating it for self-care, base it around journaling privately or more social activities such as girls’ night out or even buying a day at a spa. Self-care might differ for different people.
There are many tough moments of motherhood, especially when parenting a toddler, but remember that you are exactly the type of mother your toddler needs. If you've taken the time to read this, it speaks volumes about how much of a caring mother you are.
The Bottom Line
Envisioned by the Honorable Director of Mother’s Pride, Ms. Sheena Gupta, Mom & I is committed to empowering parents in their parenting journey through thoughtfully designed toddler programs, expert child-nurturing tips, and enriching wellness sessions.
