Tag Archives: gentle parenting

How to Praise Your Children in a Gentle and Effective Way

Posted on April 8, 2017 by SarahOckwell-Smith

Praise is a controversial topic in Gentle Parenting circles. Many mistakenly think that gentle parents never praise their children and eschew any attempt to show children that we are proud of them. In fact, this is simply not true. Praise can and does form a role in Gentle Parenting, however it looks different to the praise that most people know and use.
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Posted in Education, Teens, Toddlers, Tweens | Tagged effective way to praise, fixed mindset, gentle discipline, gentle parenting, gentle way to praise, growth mindset, how to praise children, Parenting, praise, praise research, praising children, praising children research | Leave a comment

Gentle Parenting – You Mean ‘Hippy, Pushover Parenting’? Busting Ten Gentle Parenting Myths.

Posted on December 19, 2016 by SarahOckwell-Smith

…if people ask me to explain gentle parenting in a nutshell I always say the same “treating children how we would like to be treated ourselves”. To this day I don’t understand why it is so controversial, except perhaps that we don’t treat ourselves very well? Continue reading →

Posted in Babies, Mothering, Preschoolers, Teens, Toddlers, Tweens | Tagged childcare expert, discipline techqniques, gentle discipline, gentle discipline book, gentle parenting, gentle parenting book, gentle parenting expert, how to discipline, natural consequences, parenting expert, positive discipline, positive parenting, problem with naughty step, problem with time out | 2 Comments

Gentle Parenting: the Myths, the Misquotes and the Mis-reporting.

Posted on October 11, 2016 by SarahOckwell-Smith

Yesterday I was contacted by a journalist who was writing an article for The Sun newspaper (a large UK newspaper) asking me about gentle parenting for an article. This would have been a good opportunity to present a factual, evidence based article, instead she … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged charlotte burns, gentle parenting, gentle parenting book, gentle parenting doesn't work, gentle parenting expert, gentleparenting, lotty burns, the sun, the sun newspaper, what is gentle parenting | 6 Comments

Gentle Parenting and Me – By Sarah Storey

Posted on April 26, 2016 by SarahOckwell-Smith

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. Continue reading →

Posted in GentleParenting and Me, Mothering, Uncategorized | Tagged bedsharing, breastfeeding, cosleeping, gentle parenting, sarah storey, sarah storey baby, sarah storey louisa | Leave a comment

Aiming for 70/30: When ‘Good Enough Parenting’ is Enough

Posted on March 24, 2016 by SarahOckwell-Smith

All parents make mistakes, all parents have days that they are not proud of. All parents make sacrifices and compromises. No parent is perfect. It is these mistakes that are the most important in terms of our growth as parents. Each time we don’t quite do our best we can learn and we can teach our children how to handle disappointm Continue reading →

Posted in Babies, Mothering, Preschoolers, Teens, Toddlers, Tweens | Tagged gentle parenting, gentle parenting book, gentle parenting doesn't work, gentle parenting expert, gentle parenting rules, issue with gentle parenting, parenting martyr, problems with gentle parenting, self care, what is gentle parenting, what's wrong with gentle parenting | 3 Comments

Why we Need to be More Tolerant of Toddler Tantrums

Posted on March 9, 2016 by SarahOckwell-Smith

All toddlers tantrum. Granted some more so than others, however tantrums and toddlers go hand in hand, you don’t get one without the other. The thing is, they’re not being naughty, manipulative, bad or disruptive (purposefully anyway), they’re just being toddlers. Actually they would probably rather they didn’t tantrum so much too. Continue reading →

Posted in Toddlers, Uncategorized | Tagged gentle parenting, how to manage toddler tantrums, how to stop toddler tantrum, how to stop toddler tantruming, how to stop toddler tantrums, mother asked to leave john lewis, Sarah Ockwell-Smith, the gentle parenting book, toddler calm, toddler expert, toddler taming, toddler tantrum, toddler tantrum john lewis, toddler tantrums, ToddlerCalm | 1 Comment

Can Gentle Parenting and Mainstream Schooling Ever Mix?

Posted on February 3, 2016 by SarahOckwell-Smith

Is it possible to parent gently and send your child to mainstream school? A question I’m often asked by parents. What should parents look for when choosing a school? How should they handle homework and behaviour policies that go against their … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Preschoolers, Tweens | Tagged Alfie Kohn, benefits of homework, democratic schooling, downsides of homework, Forest School, gentle parenting, golden time, home education, how to choose a school, john holt, michael gove, montessori school, nicky morgan, OFSTED, questions to ask a school, sats, school behaviour management, school cloud system, steiner school, taking holiday in term time, traffic light system, unschooling | 7 Comments

The Epidemic of Baby Sleep Training

Posted on January 17, 2016 by SarahOckwell-Smith

The same sleep patterns that have been handled without trouble or ‘expert advice’ for thousands of years have now become a source of big business. It is in the benefit of industry for babies to be seen as having sleep problems. Continue reading →

Posted in Babies, Mothering, Uncategorized | Tagged baby sleep epidemic, baby sleep expert, baby sleep problem, baby sleep trainer, baby sleep training, cons of baby sleep training, controlled crying, gentle parenting, gentle sleep training, problems with sleep training, Sarah Ockwell-Smith, truby king | 5 Comments

My Top Five Posts of 2015

Posted on December 26, 2015 by SarahOckwell-Smith

2015 has been a great year for all things gentle parenting and I really feel that we are nearing the point of mainstream awareness now, a trend I honestly believe will continue to build in 2016. I will certainly be trying my hardest to make it so and I know many of you are super passionate about spreading ‘the word’, so a big thank you for all of your efforts and support too! Continue reading →

Posted in Babies, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Tagged attachment parenting, baby sleep expert, best co-sleeper, best cosleeper, controlled crying, cosleeper cot, cosleeper crib, does pick up put down work, gentle discipline book, gentle parenting, gentle parenting book, how long should babies nap for?, how long should babies sleep for?, how to make a floor bed, how to make a montessori bed, how to make toddler share, how to sleep train baby, how to stop toddler tantrum, how to teach baby to self settle, how to teach baby to self soothe, how to teach self soothing, montessori bed, montessori nursery, Sarah Ockwell-Smith, self soothing, toddler expert, when should my baby go to bed?, when should my baby nap?, why your baby's sleep matters | Leave a comment

What Is Gentle Parenting and Why Should You Try It?

Posted on August 20, 2015 by SarahOckwell-Smith

Gentle Parents are ‘mind minded’, that is they raise their children in a manner that they are aware and considerate of the child’s feelings. Too many parenting styles consider only the parent’s feelings when resolving problems, yet research shows us that the best way to raise an empathic child, or what many would call “a kind child” is to be empathic towards them. Continue reading →