Nurturing a child’s confidence is one of the biggest responsibilities that parents need to fulfill. After all, a feeling of self-worth makes it easy for a child to approach and interact with others, handle conflict, and avoid succumbing to negative pressures from peers. What’s more, self-confidence sets the foundation for the child’s future development. However, there is a fine line between raising a confident child and one who is overconfident which can result in disastrous consequences in some instances. So, to ensure you get things right, the following are a few tips on how to go about nurturing healthy self-esteem in a child. 
 

Boost Your Child’s Confidence

Give Unconditional Love

For kids, self-confidence comes from a feeling of being loved and valued regardless of their strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and character. When a kid feels loved and valued no matter what, he/she feels important and accepted which is crucial for the development of an unshakable inner self-confidence that will stick throughout the child’s lifetime. So, shower your kid with unconditional love by giving plenty of cuddles and kisses, complementing good deeds, and simply telling your child that you love him/her often for no reason. Also, make sure to give your child your undivided attention whenever he/she is talking to you. This helps to build on your child’s feeling of self-worth, which ultimately helps to boost confidence. 
 

Encourage Your Child to Take Healthy Risks

Just like adults, kids feel good about themselves when they have successfully accomplished a task. When kids succeed at what initially appeared to be a challenge, they tend to develop faith in their abilities. And, with a healthy self-perception comes confidence. For this reason, it is important that you encourage your child to take healthy risks as often as you can. Whether it is taking on swimming, signing up for a school play, or joining a school’s sports team, encourage your child to take on and stick with tasks they show interest in but are afraid to try. 
 

Avoid Consistently Rushing In To the Rescue

For parents, the instinct to step in and help when their little ones are facing some difficulty comes so natural that most parents do not realize how harmful that can be to a child’s confidence. Rushing in to take over whenever your child faces a roadblock causes the kid to become hesitant about his/her own abilities. This in turn can result in the child becoming reliant on those around. Therefore, as hard as it may be, learn to take a step back and let your child solve his/her own problems, finish what he/she starts, and tackle new situations on their own. This will help your child become confident enough to trust that he/she can handle things without always asking for help. 
 

Always Point Out the Positive

 
Nothing kills confidence faster than criticism. Telling a child that he/she is bad at something creates feelings of self-doubt that can easily develop into low self-esteem. So, make it a habit to point out the positive in all situations. For instance, instead of saying “It’s too bad you lost the game”, try something like “well, you didn’t win this time, but you played a good game”. Pointing out the positive in bad situations helps a child to appreciate accomplishments and accept his/her weaknesses without feeling like a failure. 
 
In summary, the trick to boosting confidence in a child is to get them to like and trust in themselves, as well as know what they do well and accept their shortcomings. The above tips help you do just that and are therefore a good basis for raising a confident child.