Most toys inhibit imagination and have a very limited range of play, no wonder that so many parents say “he only plays for a minute or two”. A ‘good’ toy needs to involve an element of control in terms of how a child chooses to play with it, ie: there needs to be more than just one action/motion/use. Ideally it will be gender neutral too.
Author Archives: SarahOckwell-Smith
Using Consequences as a Discipline Tool
Consequences can be an effective discipline tool when used mindfully and carefully. Sadly consequences can also be ineffective and even damaging, depending on how and when they are used. There also seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the use of consequences as a form of discipline. The largest source of confusion seems to be that of the difference between natural and logical consequences, something I hope to clear up in this post.
Getting to ‘Goodnight’ and Go
The goal is to tuck the child in, read them a story, give them a goodnight kiss and leave the bedroom shortly after, with the child still awake. Watch any film, soap or drama on TV and any bedtime will look exactly like this. The child sweetly replies with their “goodnight”, yawns, turns their head over on the pillow, eyes close and not a peep is heard from them until the next morning.
The Manipulation Myth
Believing that babies and young children can and do manipulate us predisposes to parent as two teams. Us against them. It predisposes us to punish and ignore, rather than connect and understand.
The Cry it Out Debate – Is it Safe, or Not?
So what do we know about the effect and efficacy of cry based sleep training based on current scientific evidence? The answer is ‘not a lot’.
When is it Best to NOT be Child Led Regarding Sleep?
Many will know me as an author who advocated being as child led as possible as much as possible, particularly when it comes to sleep. I expect therefore that this post will surprise quite a few.
What Time Should Your Child Go to Bed?
Each and every person in the world, young or old, has a UNIQUE sleep need. We are not all the same and we do not need the same things, sleep included. As individuals our sleep needs change daily, based upon what is happening in our lives.
Gentle Parenting and Me – By Sarah Storey
Welcome to the first of my special guest interviews on why gentle parenting matters to parents around the world. For this special first interview I chat with multi gold winning Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey about breastfeeding, bedsharing, tackling tantrums and postnatal bodies.
The Real Reasons Why You Cannot Teach Babies to Self Soothe to Sleep
The mainstay of almost all baby sleep training is the idea of teaching ‘self soothing’ or ‘self settling’. This approach believes that if babies are put down ‘drowsy but awake’ and parents do not rush in to feed or rock when they wake, that the baby will learn to settle back to sleep without parental input.
How to Stop Cosleeping and Bedsharing….
One of the questions I’m most commonly asked is “when do children grow out of the need to sleep with somebody?”, or in other words – when do children naturally outgrow bedsharing?
Sarah Ockwell-Smith 