Young children, especially toddlers have erratic mood temperaments. Experts noted that it is inappropriate to label toddlers as bad or good just because of their mood swings.
Most parents would refer to their child as good or bad depending on the behavior the child displays. According to most experts, however, it is inappropriate to label toddlers based on the traits they display and their reaction towards the stimuli.
Toddlers act the way the situation calls them to. According to Good Therapy, a child's personality should not be labeled through their behavior. A bad behavior does not equate to a bad child. The behavior they would throw at a specific situation is their way of responding to the world around them.
A toddler's reaction is similar to adults except for the fact that they don't know how to manage their emotions yet. They tend to act fuzzy when they're uncomfortable, same as the way adults withdraw themselves when they are shy. If a toddler does not want to kiss or hug a certain adult, they should not be labelled as bad or disobedient, they should be respected as they find in uncomfortable.
"Toddlers are little people trying to learn how to navigate the world," Hannah Callahan of Scary Mommy wrote. " Everything is foreign to them. Their ability to verbalize is rudimentary, at best. When strong emotions are present, it's likely that they won't know how to communicate in any way other than wailing."
Labeling toddlers and even young children can greatly affect their self-esteem. It was cited that instead of directing the label to the toddler, direct it to the bad behavior that the toddler is doing. Instead of calling the child "bad" for disobeying the rules, tell the toddler that "disobeying the rules" is bad. It is not ideal to label toddlers for their behavior as it gives them the impression that they are "bad" as a person.
