Hi Lovelies,
I wanted to start a discussion on my blog, I posted a video a few weeks ago on my YouTube about How to keep our children safe from predators. As a mummy blogger I want to also shed the light on topics that might be taboo and not discussed often. Child sexual abuse is way too common not to be talked about.
As parents we need to know that predators can be male, female or even another child. We need to change our idea that it is the creepy stranger who wants to hurt our babies! Most often it’s someone that we know and the child trusts. Someone who you least expect! Not to alarm you. I haven’t personally experienced this but I have noticed on social media there are so many case every day. Predators can be from any ethnicity, background and religion. It could be someone you admire and look up to.
Firstly, I would like to tell parents who went through this or is going through it, it is not your fault and you shouldn’t blame yourself or your child. Make sure you report it to the police and try to heal as a family by seeking professional help like child phycologist and family therapy. There are many resources out there to help your family during this.
I came up with a few things I will personally start doing and I urge you all to start as well, to make it a little safer for our children. It’s our role as mummies to protect them and keep them safe.
My Tips / Advice
1. Monitor your child: This means not leaving your child unsupervised for long hours with others. I know it’s impossible to watch your child 24/7 because let’s face it some of us are working mummies, some of our babies go to school and as they grow older they go for camps and sleepovers. Of course, no mummy wants to always say NO and let her child miss out on these things however, we need to be more vigilant who they are with and always check up on them.
2. Educate your child about privacy and their body: Let’s start by when our babies are in nappies don’t let everyone change your baby’s nappy. When you are in public or at a gathering excuse yourself and change your baby somewhere else instead of in front of people (I know some mothers already do this). When your child is starting toilet training make sure it’s only the parents that helps and soon they won’t even need any help in the toilet. Once starts to understand things you need to reinforce that not everyone can see their body and that their body is THEIRS alone. Educate them about body parts no one should see or touch.
3. Notice any change in your child’s behavior: you child might start becoming withdrawn or their grades are dropping this is an alarm bell !! it could be a sign of sexual abuse or your child might be subjected to bullying.
If you want to know more tips and advice please watch my video and don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already.
Let’s be mummy friends
Thanks for stopping by,
You can find this post linked to these fabulous blog link ups
This is such an informative post. So true that predators are no longer strangers – it could even be family. In most cases it is people well known to the victim. Children need to be taught to be aware of their surroundings as well and need to be made aware when things are out of the norm. I actually did a blog post “Raising Born Free Street Smart Kids: – where I gave a few tips.#dreamteam
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Fantastic, I will definitely have a read.
I couldn’t agree more with you, it’s usually someone you and your child trust. Thanks for stopping by and commenting xx
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This is such an important issue – one I wish we didn’t have to think about, unfortunately. #dreamteam
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Exactly for the longest time I didn’t think about it (my son is 2) then in the past few weeks I keep seeing stories on my Facebook feed of kids his age or even younger and adults also speaking about what they went through in the childhood which they carried with them for years, absolutely devastating.
Thanks for reading my post and commenting xx
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Hi, thank you for sharing these informative tips, strangely enough there was a piece on the radio news this morning. Such an important topic #dreamteam
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It great to get the conversation started and to alarm other mums so that we can all create a safer environment for our babies. Cases about chid sexual abuse and molestation are on the rise unfortunately so we all need to be vigilant as parents.
Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting xx
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A very good post and we forget all to often that the perpetrators are usually known to us #dreamteam
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Couldn’t have said it better mamma it’s usually someone we trust and leave our kids unsupervised around and they take advantage of that trust. As I mentioned in my post unfortunately it could be anyone! including friends, relatives or even other kids.
Thanks for commenting, I hope you found my post informative
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Very informative post… shared on Twitter too
#DreamTeam
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It is vitally important for kids to know their body is their own and they can say no. Great post. #DreamTeam
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its a scary, scary thought, but we can’t just leave it alone or sweep it under the rug. It’s an issue that we need to be educated on and honestly i think listening to your gut and instinct as a parent is 100% needed in order to protect our little ones. Trust them and listen to them. #dreamteam
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couldn’t agree more, surprisingly more people are now coming out and speaking about it rather than remaining silent which is raising awareness. I remember watching a video over the weekend of a mother who was homeschooling her children and was a working from home mum and barely left her kids alone but unfortunately a family member was abusing both her kids in her home without her suspecting it. Her daughter is only 3, very heartbreaking. we need to be very vigilant as parents because as I mentioned in my post and video it can anyone!
Thanks for reading my post
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Such an important issue that we all have to, unfortunately, have in our minds and be aware of. It makes my heart hurt just thinking about it. Thanks so much for sharing such important tips with the #DreamTeam
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As a parent I wish that the world was much safer place for our little ones, it breaks my heart thinking that some people could be so evil and calculating to continuously abuse little children and take advantage of their innocence and the parents trust.
As parents we need to be more aware that these things happen and to try and protect our children the best way we can.
Thanks for commenting and I hope you check out my video for more tips xx
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This is such an important issue. Even from a young age, I’m teaching my daughter about her private parts. It’s a hard balance isn’t it, to keep their innocence yet protect it at the same time! Thanks for linking up to #fortheloveofBLOG
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