To Book an Appointment

The Certain Challenges Faced by a Single Parent

By Medical Expert Team

Oct 13 , 2021 | 1 min read

“Being a single parent is not a life full of struggles, but a journey for the strong” - Meg Lowrey

Child rearing can be a hideous task as much as it can be satisfying and purposeful to a parent. From a biological perspective, both the parents play an equal part in raising their offspring, resulting in a fully functional adult, both mentally and physically. However, due to modern changes in lifestyle, divorce and separation, abusive parents, unwanted pregnancies, etc. single parenting has become a much more common trend lately.

Certain challenges faced by a single parent include poor income in the family, fatigued parent, inability to provide love and attention to the child, workaholic parent, children with low self-esteem and, social isolation, etc. Although these challenges are daunting, one can find many ways to tackle the load that single parenting brings along.

Strategies that can be implemented:

Provide unconditional love and support: Your child requires love and attention most of the time, at least during ages 3 to 12 years. This is because these are their prime growing years and the child learns how to interact with others and form a sense of identity for themselves at this stage of their lives.
Encourage them to pursue a hobby: This allows them to focus their attention away from the lack of another parent, and instead towards something that fulfil their needs and their thinking patterns.
Create a routine for your child: Providing a structure of how the day would look like for your child will keep them from feeling lost and scared. They will know exactly what to expect and gain a sense of control over their actions.
Ensure they socialise: Exposing your child to the outer world (friends, cousins, other relatives, other single parent children) will make them feel less lonely and estranged about having a single parent. They will learn to normalise having a single parent and they will feel more connected with the world around them.
Take care of yourself: If parents don’t take care of themselves they will be unable to provide love and support to their children. Hence, seek social support as and when needed, find close ones you can vent out to, employ a nanny at home while you are busy at work, etc.