SarahOckwell-Smith

Two Under Two? No Problem! The Real Difficulties of Welcoming a Second Child

When my children were small, I had four children under four years of age. My first and second were both 15 months apart, my third followed 14 months later and my last 2 years after number three. Adding a new baby into the mix of a toddler is exhausting, especially if the firstborn is stillContinue reading “Two Under Two? No Problem! The Real Difficulties of Welcoming a Second Child”

How Long Should Babies and Toddlers Sleep For? (Infographic)

The following infographic provides a realistic look at baby, toddler and preschooler sleep. Including average night waking, need for night feeds, sleep regression and average amount and timings of naps.

One simple way to improve your baby or child’s sleep today!

Did you know that millions of parents around the world are making one very simple, but huge, mistake that is potentially inhibiting their child’s sleep (no matter their age) and contributing to difficult bedtimes and frequent night waking. This mistake is perpetuated by thousands of nursery product manufacturers around the world. In fact when youContinue reading “One simple way to improve your baby or child’s sleep today!”

Ten Common Toddler Parenting Myths You Likely Believe (and Why you Shouldn’t!).

There are so many parenting myths in circulation in society. I’m sure you’ve come across many yourself. Many are obviously myths and therefore easy to ignore. Others however seem far more ingrained and sound far more plausible. The plausibility and popularity of some of the top parenting myths cause a great deal of misunderstanding, and oftenContinue reading “Ten Common Toddler Parenting Myths You Likely Believe (and Why you Shouldn’t!).”

Why it’s OK to let your baby or child cry (sometimes).

If you follow attachment or gentle parenting principles, you should never willingly let your child cry, right? Wrong. If you follow attachment or gentle parenting principles, you should never willingly make your child cry, right? Wrong. You can very much be an attachment or gentle parent and both allow your child to cry and (shock horror)Continue reading “Why it’s OK to let your baby or child cry (sometimes).”

The Self Soothing Babies who are not Actually Soothing Themselves at all

One of the top criticisms I get of my disdain for ‘experts’ who insist that babies should learn to ‘self soothe’ in order to sleep through the night is those who comment “but my baby DOES self settle and I’ve never done any sort of sleep training” (those who ‘self settle’ after sleep training areContinue reading “The Self Soothing Babies who are not Actually Soothing Themselves at all”

The Problem With Stickers and Reward Charts

Reward charts are a mainstay of modern parenting, popularised by experts, such as Supernanny Jo Frost. Stickers are commonly used in order to tame toddlers, stop tantrums and encourage kids to eat up their food and tidy their rooms. After all, children love stickers and surely if experts advocate the usage of reward charts theyContinue reading “The Problem With Stickers and Reward Charts”

Ten Common Baby Parenting Myths You Might Believe (and why you shouldn’t).

There are so many parenting myths in circulation in society. I’m sure you’ve come across many yourself. Many of them are obviously myths and therefore easy to ignore. Others however seem far more ingrained and sound more plausible. Their plausibility and popularity cause a great deal of misunderstanding, and often stress, for vulnerable new parents.

How to gently night wean a breastfed baby or toddler

Breastfeeding is an amazing tool to help settle children at night. As a mother of four I have found that by far the easiest way to get my children to sleep at night was by breastfeeding them (well into the toddler years). Similarly when my children woke at night breastfeeding was by far the quickest and easiestContinue reading “How to gently night wean a breastfed baby or toddler”

Why The Testosterone Surge in Young Boys is a Myth (and what really causes their behaviour to change!)

It’s almost guaranteed to pop up on every parenting related discussion forum, website or chat room you visit. “Did you know that young boys, around 3, 4 or 5 have a HUGE surge of testosterone? That’s why their behaviour is so difficult at this age” Seems like a great explanation for the difficult behaviour many parentsContinue reading “Why The Testosterone Surge in Young Boys is a Myth (and what really causes their behaviour to change!)”