What can we as parents do to help our children grow up to trust us…..?

Question by supermartianrobotgirl: What can we as parents do to help our children grow up to trust us…..?
This is kind of a part two to my childhood sexual abuse question.

i have received wonderful answers to that one, so thank you to ALL of you who have taken the time to answer. A few answers were along the lines of,

“you should have told them when it was happening,”

Which is so true in every way, but as a child aged 2 with abuse being a constant until age 7, how can anyone expect that they will just come out and say,

“dad is raping me, help.”

Children of that age tend to act out as a cry for help, and expect our parents and caregivers to notice and do something as a way to ferret out the truth. Especially 28 years ago when families were still quite closed up and emotions were a thing to keep hidden, at least in my family.

What can we do as parents to help our children trust us enough to come to us immediately when things like this happen?

Best answer:

Answer by Zabes
Talk to them often about life, and always tell them the truth (age appropriately of course). Also, when they do come to you with things handle it well – don’t freak out or yell at them or next time they’ll think twice about telling you.

Add your own answer in the comments!