Psychology says inconsistent parenting can affect children more than strict parenting: Here’s why

Suppose a scenario where your child is jumping on the sofa. You saw him and smiled. The next day the child repeated the same, but this time you scolded him. Your genuine concern may be about the sofa’s springs, but in your child’s eyes, it’s inconsistency. The same behavior, for which they once got a smile, is now something they are being scolded over. This confuses the child. To describe it in a sentence, inconsistent parenting happens when rules, consequences or expectations change frequently.

The inconsistency may not be intentional, however, when it becomes a pattern, children start noticing it.