Tag Archives: attachment parenting

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 Real Reason Parenting is So Hard

What do you think makes parenting so hard? Is it the sleepness nights? The constant physical demands – changing nappies, making food and drink, the housework, the laundry? The financial implications? Separation anxiety and growth and developmental spurts? Tackling toddler tantrums? Coping with teen moodiness? I don’t think it’s any of those. You know whatContinue reading “The Real Reason Parenting is So Hard”

What is Gentle Parenting?

What is Gentle Parenting? In my opinion it can be summed up with just four words: 1. Empathy 2. Respect 3. Understanding 4. Boundaries 1. Empathy Parenting with your child’s feelings in mind as much as possible. Using empathy (or what some psychologists call ‘mind-mindedness’) to gain insight into your child’s behaviour and using empathyContinue reading “What is Gentle Parenting?”

When Gentle Parenting Doesn’t Work

It seems like everyday I come across a comment from a parent proclaiming “gentle parenting doesn’t work”, that their baby “still cries all the time” or their toddler “tantrums constantly and still hits his brother” – this despite all of their effort to understand and practice gentle parenting, which can be so much more timeContinue reading “When Gentle Parenting Doesn’t Work”

What is ‘Gentle Parenting’ and how is it different to ‘Mainstream Parenting’?

I use the term ‘gentle parenting’ a lot when I write and a lot of people ask me what exactly I mean by it. “What is gentle parenting?” they say…… Often they confuse the ‘gentle parenting’ terminology with the idea of Attachment Parenting (or AP is it is commonly known), which isn’t strictly true. AlthoughContinue reading “What is ‘Gentle Parenting’ and how is it different to ‘Mainstream Parenting’?”

Bedsharing & SIDS – Why We Have it All Wrong

So today Carpenter et al published a horribly unreliable and flawed analysis of bedsharing. This scaremongering piece of ‘science’ (I use that term loosely) does not add to public understanding of the safety of bedsharing – far from it, it shrouds it in more myth and mystery and, in my opinion, is incredibly dangerous. WhyContinue reading “Bedsharing & SIDS – Why We Have it All Wrong”

Why Gentle Parenting is NOT Permissive Parenting

It’s a common misconception, those who parent their babies and children with respect and compassion are deemed “permissive parents”. These gentle permissive parents are seen as always letting their offspring get their own way, thus creating future selfish ‘me, me’ and ‘I want it all – NOW’ adults. Many describe gentle parents as being “too childContinue reading “Why Gentle Parenting is NOT Permissive Parenting”