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 Roger Ashelford. After the initial excitement of the news that we were going to be grandparents I started to think of all the lovely things we would be able to do with our grandchildren as they grew up! The very early years were wonderful for the cuddles and watching the development of these small people, the smiles and the start of language but I knew I was going to become more ‘useful’ as they all got older.
Read MoreWritten by Thirza Ashelford. I will never forget the moment I was told I was going to be a grandparent. Our son and his partner had arrived one Friday evening, ostensibly to stay for the weekend and visit friends in the town. We chatted in the kitchen while I made dinner when our son announced that they had something to show us. The “something” was a twelve week scan photograph of our first grandchild. That moment of transition from being a parent to becoming a grandparent was thrilling, exciting and at the same time somewhat overwhelming.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. In these strange and surreal times, we have been and still are facing things that we have never faced before in our lifetimes. Many families have experienced an extremely difficult time in relation to living and working space, finances and family circumstances etc and this is likely to continue as we start to go into some kind of ‘recovery phase’.
We just wanted to take a moment to look at all of the things we are hearing from families about their experiences through the Coronavirus outbreak and what these changes might mean for us and, more importantly, our children, as we come out of it and into our ‘new normal’ - will this experience change our children forever?
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Is your baby or child tricky to get to sleep at bedtime? Do they have multiple wake ups during the night? Are they difficult to get to nap? If any of these things sound familiar, then this blog is for you!
When supporting parents with their children’s sleep there are lots of aspects that we need to look at including routine, their sleep environment and how you put your little down at bedtime and for naps. These points can often be the key pieces of information we need to look at in order to be able to help solve any sleep issues that you might be experiencing with your child.
Read MorePlease note that where I talk about a ‘child’ I am also referring to ‘children’ (and vice versa) and where I say ‘baby’ I am also referring to twins, triplets or more!
We are often asked about how to introduce a new baby/babies to their sibling(s). This experience can be different for each family, there are lots of emotions such as excited, nervous, happy, worried (to name a few) and this can be the case for both adults and children! Some children will be very accepting of a new sibling, but others might not, but please don’t worry about this as it is completely natural. The age of the child will also influence how much they understand the concept of a baby being in the tummy and then being a baby living in their house (they can be very different things!).
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Very often when babies arrive there is a great deal of focus on Mum and the baby and Dads can often be left on the sidelines. The arrival of a baby can be life changing for any parent and so we need to make sure that we are looking out for Dads at this monumental time. The adjustment for Dads can be significant, and there can be hormonal changes (testosterone, oestrogen, cortisol, and prolactin) in men after their baby arrives which can cause them to have baby blues or postnatal depression. I have worked with many families where I have had to actively encourage Dad to take a more active role and to show how important a role he has to play in his baby’s life. We don’t want Dads to be on the sidelines, we want them to feel valued and empowered in their new role.
Read MoreMark Williams from Fathers Reaching Out. In 2004 Mark experienced depression and suffered for years until he had a breakdown. He founded International Fathers’ Mental Health Day and #Howareyoudad campaign which makes sure that the whole family is getting support. Claire connected with Mark on Twitter when researching Dads and Post Natal Depression (PND) and we thought that it would be really interesting to get to know him a bit better.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. There is a wealth of information out there to support babies, toddler and pre-school children, but once they are over the age of 5 the information tends to be more limited and is often focused on school related topics.
Just because our children are getting older, it doesn’t mean that parenting gets easier or that you will have all the answers to the new phases and stages that your child might be going through. It can be challenging and sometimes make you feel like you are having to use guess work to get through it.
Read MoreWritten by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Maybe now more than ever we are experiencing what is like to be together, day in, day out and I think that we can all agree that some days can be lovely and others can be more challenging than we would like.
As we are all spending more time together, sibling rivalry seems to be a topic which many families are having to deal with on a daily basis. Sibling rivalry is a is a natural part of family life, the frustration of siblings can be a real issue, but (if it helps), this is a normal stage of children’s development where they are learning skills such as resilience and tolerance…..along with how to negotiate and problem solve! ;-)
Read More
