ALL | Babies | Behaviour | Bereavement | Co-Parenting | Food and weaning | Getting to know | Grandparents | Health | Lockdown | Nursery | Other | Play | Routines | School | Separation anxiety | Siblings | Sleep | Teething | Toilet Training | Transitions | Travel | Tweens and Teens | Twins
You can also check out all of our practical videos on our YouTube Channel here - these include nappy changing, making up a bottle, topping and tailing and so much more!
Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. If you’ve noticed your child talking to an invisible friend or referring to someone who isn’t physically present, you might be wondering if it’s something to be concerned about. The good news is that imaginary friends are a perfectly normal and common part of childhood development.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Running off is a natural part of early childhood development. It’s often about the sense of freedom and excitement that children get from moving independently and they may not yet have a full grasp of the dangers involved, like cars or busy streets. Running feels like a game, and they may find it fun to get ahead of you or explore areas you haven't yet reached. Sometimes, it’s simply about testing boundaries, pushing limits to see how far they can go before you stop them.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. This is a question we get asked regularly! Do you feel like you're talking, asking, requesting, or even pleading with your little one, only to get no response or action? It can be exhausting, draining, and incredibly frustrating when all you hear is your own voice All. Day. Long!!
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. When your child uses a swear word for the first time, it can trigger a range of reactions. Some parents may find it funny, while others might feel shock, disappointment, or embarrassment (or a mixture of all of these feelings). However, it's essential to understand that children often experiment with language as they learn and grow.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Are you finding that you are asking your child questions or giving instructions to only be told “no”? Does this make you feel like everything is very hard work? When your child finds their voice and the word ‘no’, this can often create times of frustration and annoyance both from the child and from the adult receiving this response!
‘No’ is a very powerful word - it can often really stop us in our tracks. Our children see this and then use the word in order to fully understand its meaning. Our children very quickly realise the power that the word ‘no’ has and use this to assert themselves and their thoughts and feelings.
Read MoreBy Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. When our little ones have meltdowns / tantrums / outbursts it can be extremely triggering for us. It can mean that we respond emotionally and not always in the way that we would want to. We need to be kind to ourselves and understand we are only human and that sometimes our emotions can go into overdrive and make us respond to situations in ways which we don’t expect or plan for.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Trying to get your little one into a car seat can often require a great deal of patience and negotiation at times! This can leave us feeling hugely frustrated, especially when we are in a hurry!
In this blog I look at why this might be happening and what things you can do to help the situation.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. It is likely that if you are reading this blog, you have a toddler or pre-school aged child who has started to say “I’m scared” about one particular thing, or is saying it regularly throughout the day in relation to lots of different things.
The feeling of being scared (or fear being the emotion) is very normal and natural and part of our flight, fight or freeze response. Feeling scared (or experiencing fear) is something which is essential to human survival. This response helps to let us know when we are in danger and can then trigger us to take steps to protect ourselves and get out of the dangerous situation.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. At some stage we will all experience a child telling a lie (big or small) - it is a natural and normal part of development. However, this doesn’t mean that it is right, or something that we ignore, but it is something that we need to appreciate is quite a complicated concept for our children to understand. I will go into this a bit more below, but if you think about lying and what goes around this you will see what I mean when I say it is complicated!
Read More
