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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!

Why does my child keep interrupting me?

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Do you have a toddler or an older child who, every time you are speaking with other adults on the phone or in person, or even to your other children, continually interrupts you or generally doesn’t let you speak to anyone else?

This can be a very common situation and can lead to frustration from both sides when it is happening frequently. However, we also need to keep in mind that this can be a skill which even some adults can struggle with ;-).

BehaviourRebekah Frankcom23 June 2021parenting, families, parenting tips, top tips, frustration, keep calm, attention needing, attention, why does my child keep interrupting me, interrupting kids, egocentric children, role model, behaviour, behaviour and emotions, toddler behaviour, kids behaviour, children's behaviour

The Fourth Trimester - the first 12 weeks with your newborn

Written by Emily Darwell, Family Consultant. The Fourth Trimester is often used to describe the time after your baby is born when you and your baby/babies are getting used to your new lives together. As with the other trimesters this is around 3 months.

There is a lot for a baby (and you) get used to in this first 3 months not least learning how to be together! This is also a time for babies to develop their senses and get used to all the noises, smells and sounds they encounter outside of the relatively quiet, dark, warm womb.

When reading the blog, particularly if you have older children, or multiples, there are lots of useful pieces of information to help you to support your baby / babies during this time, but in lots of cases it might be difficult for you to devote this time solely to your baby /babies with so many other things going on. The important thing, during these first 3 months in particular, is that you recognise that this is a period of adjustment for everyone and that your baby / babies, their siblings and your partner have plenty of love and support during these first 3 months to help make this whole transition easier for everyone.

Is your little one ready to drop a nap?

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Looking at our little one’s naps can be a huge focus for the first few years, from things such as ‘are their naps too short?’, ‘too long?’, ‘are they napping too much or not enough?’ – it can be all consuming. We then finally feel that we have got the nap timings nailed and it is all going well, and then we start to notice that things are changing again. This is when we have to prepare for what is often referred to as a ‘nap transition’ so this might be going from 3 naps per day down to 2, 2 naps to 1 and then (sadly!) the day when it goes from 1 nap to no nap!

My baby/child hates bath time!

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant.It is very often the case that your child, who loved having a bath all of a sudden stops wanting to go in! We often see bath time as that ‘wind down’ opportunity before bedtime and when our little one refuses to get in or gets upset we can worry that this might affect bedtime etc.

Please be reassured that some children will go through this phase, it can be normal and it is all about their stage of development at the time.

What to look for when choosing a nursery and how to prepare your child/ren (and you) for their first day!

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. There are lots of different types of nurseries to choose from – large, small, independent, chain, attached to a school, forest school, Montessori etc. You need to think about what type of nursery will best suit you and your child. Another key thing to consider is location – will you, for example, have enough time to drop off and pick up before going to work? Can you walk to the nursery if this is something that would work for you?

Using white noise for your little one’s sleep

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. White noise is something which is mentioned a great deal when talking about sleep and especially the sleep of babies and young children.

It’s important to note that while white noise can help to settle your little one for sleep it often needs to be used alongside other approaches such as a pre-sleep time routine, which white noise can form a part of. Have a look at our other sleep blogs which include lots of information about sleep for young babies, sleep associations, early waking, naps and much more.

Sleep, BabiesRebekah Frankcom16 May 2021parenting, children, families, nanny, childcare, babies, sleep, baby sleep tips, baby sleep, white noise, pink noise, using white noise, weaning off white noise, white noise machines, white noise machine recommendations

Travel or motion sickness - how to help (and get rid of the smell from the car!)

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. In the last year, while we have been in lockdown, we haven’t been travelling long distances or using transport as much as we might have previously. This means that a lot of our babies and children are not used to travelling in a vehicle and we have recently had lots more parents asking us about motion sickness. As this is a situation lots of families are dealing with at the moment we thought that we would put a blog together all about it!

Tummy time!

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Tummy time is something that you have probably read about or seen mentioned when it comes to your newborn. In this blog I hope to give you some ideas on how to do this and discuss the benefits of tummy time for your little one.

BabiesRebekah Frankcom5 May 2021parenting, families, parenting tips, baby, new baby, baby development, tummy time, tiger in the tree hold, bonding, crawling, lullaby trust, safer sleep, mirror play, water pat mats, eye level, tummy time resources

My child only wants me!

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Our children can be very set on things at times and this can even be in relation to wanting one parent to do everything for them and to be with them all the time. We can often find in these situations that we have one parent who seems to be favoured over the other.

This behaviour can be extremely draining for the ‘preferred’ parent at the time and can be very difficult (and upsetting at times) for the other parent (the ‘rejected’ one) who feels that they are not wanted or, sometimes, not even liked or loved.

We must remember that this is not about who your child does or doesn’t like, it is all about your child learning and developing, which includes learning what relationships feel like and how to manage them. They are practicing something that they will have to deal with for years to come through friendships, relationships and also with work colleagues. It is all about making sense of how and why we feel what we do!

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