First, Last, Only

Parenting a single child takes as much hard work and heart as raising a brood. Experts share with Annabelle D’Costa some great tips to help you along your way

- Annabelle D'Costa

Shraddha and Devdas Kotian are proud parents to their single child, Pratham. Devdas’s rationale will ring true for many parents out there. “I didn’t want to put in extra hours at work and only look after the educational and material needs of the children had we had a second one, when I could instead work fewer hours and spend quality time with my son.”

More and more Indian families are adopting the DISK (double income, single kid) trend. According to findings of the India Human Development Survey of 2004-05, it is “no longer unusual for the urban, educated, middle class families to stop at one child”.

Swapna Ansari, a homemaker from Bangalore, made the same choice. “One has to be emotionally and financially sound to raise a child. Keeping escalating expenses in mind, my husband Mohit and I decided to have just one child. We can provide our 10-year-old daughter, Moana, a comfortable life without compromising on our aspirations.”

Pratishtha Trivedi Mirza, clinical psychologist and counsellor at Inner Hour, a Mumbai-based counselling centre, says, “Late first time pregnancy or the anxiety of going through labour for the second time are factors responsible for the single-child family slowly becoming the norm.”

While families are changing to reflect the realities of modern urban life, some ingrained prejudices still linger. The single child has long been considered a brat. Popular wisdom goes that they’re selfish, and not as social as kids with siblings. While some of these could be true for some kids, these traits can be remedied through proper parenting strategies. In case you have a single child, here are some tips to help you raise your first and only right.

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