Abstract
The main purpose of the study was to investigate parenting skills needed by
young parents in Enugu State for proper child up-bringing. Specifically, it
investigated feeding, health care, emotional, physical exercise, sleep/rest and
safety skills needed by young parents in Enugu State. A descriptive survey
research design was adopted. The population comprised 625 young and older
parents with 245 young and older parents as the sample size. Questionnaire
was used for data collection and it was face validated by three experts. Six
research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. Mean and Standard
Deviation were used in answering the research questions while t-test was used
in testing the stated hypotheses. The findings include among others feeding
skills needed by young parents: sitting comfortably while breastfeeding the
baby, feeding the baby on both breasts, one at a time, winding the baby at the
end of feeding, giving exclusive breastfeeding for six months and boiling all the
water used for preparation of baby’s food, providing adequate diet for the
baby; washing hands before preparing baby’s food, sterilizing baby’s feeding
unit after each meal, encouraging children to sit comfortably before eating,
monitoring children while eating. Toilet training skills: changing
diapers/nappies as and out when due, detecting when the child is wet and
uncomfortable, supervising the children when they are using potty/toilet,
teaching older children how to clean their buttocks with toilet papers/water and
making toilet areas easily accessible for children. Emotional skills: comforting
or cuddling a child, detecting when the child is wet an uncomfortable,
providing the child with toys, helping the child to sleep through petting,
socializing the child properly and responding promptly to a child’s desire to
ease himself/herself. Physical exercise: choosing, or providing play activities
suitable for the child, selecting the play materials suitable for children,
teaching children how to use the play materials and providing safe play ground
for children. Sleep/rest skills: rocking to make the child sleep off, being familiar
with the baby’s signs of sleep and ensuring that the baby sleeps under mosquito
net. Safety skills: keeping floors safe from dangerous items, keeping drugs,
cleaning agents and tools out of reach of the children, monitoring children in
their everyday activity and keeping children’s surroundings clean. The
researcher generally recommended that young and older parents in Nigeria
should imbibe the various parenting skills in other to bring up well balanced
personalities in the society.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
A child is a person who is not yet an adult. Rakesh, (2009) defines a child
as a minor, or somebody who is yet to become an adult. The African charter on
the rights and welfare of a child (2013) defines a child as every human being
below the age of 18 years. A child in this study is therefore, a male or female
human being between (0-5) years of age and who is provided his physical and
emotional needs by his parents. This implies that child upbringing and rearing
is the responsibility of the parents in the society.
Child rearing means rearing a child from infancy to adulthood and
educating the child in societal morals and values (Berk, 2000). It involves
guiding the child through his life to be a productive member of the society. It is
caring for a child during the early stage of his life. (Douglas, 2002), stated that
what a child becomes has to do with his environment and the nature of training
from his parents. Child rearing is act of raising or bringing up a minor. It is an
active molding of a child’s character, personality, talents, physical and
emotional well being of the child in addition to providing the basic needs to the
child. In other words, what a child becomes in future is dependent to a large
extent on the nature of the child’s upbringing by the parents.
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Parents are the biological mother and father of a child who bear the
responsibility of providing for child his physical and emotional needs in the
society. Parents are the children’s source of information, raising or bringing up
children. It is not just the basic food, shelter, clothing that keep children alive,
but also the active molding of character, personality, talents, emotional and
physical well-being of the child. When it comes to what makes a person whom
he is, the debate of nature versus nurture is a common talking point (Douglas,
2002). The fact remains that much of who a person is, relates to his/her
upbringing by their parents that is why child rearing and the factors that
influence it, are of the utmost relevance. Parents are friends and counselors of
their children. They are the children’s sources of guide, reflectors, feelings,
opinions and ideas, and listeners and active communicators. Ononuju, (2004),
states that parents are love objects. Ononuju further stated that parents provide
security, physical and emotional needs and support for the children both in early
and later life. Parents are models to their children and the home is a teaching
laboratory, hence the need for well-behaved parents as child trainer. Parents
have the responsibilities of transmitting values, moral beliefs, taboos, culture,
rules, and tradition of the society to the children. This implies that parenting has
to do with taking care of the child as well as providing for his needs.
Parenting is the process of caring and nurturing young children from
infancy to adulthood. Kendiora and Leary, (1993) define parenting as anything
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that a parent does or fails to do that may affect the child, and include caring for
physical needs, playing, disciplining, teaching and establishing a pleasant
emotional environment. It involves all the day to day care of children till they
are responsible enough for their own needs. Lamborn, (2002) explains that
parenting is more about parent’s attempts of controlling and directing the
behavior of children. Parenting is a complex activity that includes many specific
behaviour that work severally and jointly to influence development in children.
It means raising a child from infancy to adulthood and educating that child as
well as installing morals and values (Berk, 2000). It involves guiding that child
through his life to be a productive member of the society. Parenting is caring for
children or a child during the early stages of life. As applied in this study,
parenting is the process of caring for children and helping them grow and learn
through application of different parenting skills by young.
Young parents are men or women who are still new in the area of childrearing.
They are in the expanding stage of their family cycle. Expanding family
here refers to that stage when the family includes not only the husband and the
wife but also their children. Young parents include those parents that are below
thirty (30) years of age with their children between (0-5years) of age and those
parents not young in age but young in the area of child rearing. 

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