Newborn to Teen and Everything in Between

You probably already know Susie Amy – perhaps from Footballer’s Wives or maybe from Hollyoaks or as a stage actress (we recently saw her in Fatal Attraction).  We do too, but we are also lucky to know Susie via a mutual friend who gave her a gift of some time with Claire when her first baby was born. Susie didn’t feel for a while that she was ready to use this gift straight away – she felt in...

If not, you must listen to this podcast!  We spoke to Bik-ki Wong and Helen Thompson who are both partners at Myerson solicitors  Bik-ki is responsible for wills, trust and probate and Helen heads up the department that looks after contesting wills.  We talked to Bik-ki about:  What happens if you don’t write a will? Doesn’t it just go to my husband / wife?  Not necessaril...

Violet (Katherine’s eldest daughter) was fully out of nappies by 10 / 11 months, but how did she do it?!  Katherine shares all with us in this funny, insightful and informative episode!   Amongst all the talk of poo and pee, we chatted with Katherine about...  The potty training approach Katherine has used –often referred to as elimination communication. She told us how she has used...

There are lots of different ways for children to play, but one of the elements of play is rough and tumble – but what is it?   We spoke about:  What is involved in rough and tumble play?   Respecting when your little one wants to stop and establishing rules / boundaries for when children are playing rough and tumble together and how to do this (perhaps have a word - possib...

Hitting (and any of that type of ‘inappropriate’ behaviour) can be difficult whichever side you are on – either the parent of the child who is hitting or the one who has been hit.  We chatted about:  Why Children (and some adults) do this!  Emotions and how they affect children’s behaviour.  Cause and effect – ‘if I do this what happens’.  How children are attention needin...

Managing the dynamic and using grandparents for childcare  More and more we are using grandparents to help care for our children, but what do we need to think about? This episode goes into it all, the plusses, the minuses and how to approach it.  Some stats – ever wondered how many of us use grandparents for childcare?    Things to think about when asking grandparents if t...

We talked about sleep for babies under 6 months:  How babies don’t immediately start sleeping through the night (and neither do we!).  Why they wake and what ‘sleeping through the night’ actually means.  The transition from the womb to ‘outside life’! It’s quite a change!  Can you teach babies ‘bad sleep habits’?  Starting to look at a sleep routine (6-8 weeks) - if you wa...

We covered so much with Sian including:  Sian’s background and how @moonandrue started with a few weaning videos!  The @moonandrue community – keeping it real.  Baby led weaning – how a child needs to be developmentally ready (and the fact that a baby can still choke on purees).  Allergens and how Rue reacted to egg when she first tried it.  How Rue choked on a piece of ap...

What we want to do instinctively is to jump in and solve it for our children but they need to learn the skills to deal with it and this is what we talked about:    Children can be cruel – it's hard to hear when someone says they don’t want to be your friend or don’t invite you to their birthday party, but as a parent what can you do / say when this happens?  What do we do / say when...

Doula Lou is a mum of 2 children – she originally trained as a nanny and worked with children and families for 8 years.  Following the birth of her own children she stayed at home caring for them.  Once they had both gone to school she decided to re-train as a post-natal Doula.  We talked to Lou about:  A Doula’s role and responsibilities.  Lou’s training as a Doula and wh...

How do you deal with it if you have a different parenting style from your partner, parent, friend etc. and how can we make sure that the way we parent is helping to promote our children’s independence? We chatted about:  How different parenting approaches can impact on children’s resilience.  The fact that we have become very risk averse and have started to always be there (in person or...

Suzanne’s own experiences inspired her to set up the Parenting Mental Health charity – in 2015 when Suzanne’s daughter Issy was 14, she was severely bullied at school leading to a sharp decline in her mental health – she was depressed, anxious and suicidal.     We talked through many aspects of this story including:    Issy’s final trigger, her referral and her disclosure...

A bit of a different episode this week where we introduce you to our parent consultations and give you some information about what they actually involve, including...    How to decide whether a parent consultation is for you.  What a parent consultation can help with.  The fact that each consultation is tailored to each individual family and their situation.   The overwhel...

This is one of our most read blogs on the website (see link to this below) and so we thought it would be a good thing to talk about!    Why does this happen and isn’t it just the same as waking through the night?  Some of the reasons this might happen – can naps have an impact for example? Do you need to bring bedtime forward?   Having a check list as to what the cause mig...

We talked about:   Why Jenny does what she does and how she supports working mums (and dads).  What really thriving means as a working parent.  How to bring yourself up in the priority list in order to bring the best of yourself to parenting.  Where does the guilt come from in doing things for yourself? Remembering that you can have it all but you can’t do it all!  Th...

We talked about:   How the pregnancies were for Stu and how he researched and prepared for each baby to come.   How Stu doesn’t have any real experience with children – with his first child he was always learning and it was all a bit surreal!   Having a second child and how this will change the dynamic from having a first baby.   The key role that dad / the...

This is a topic which lots of people told us they wanted more information about so we went on a deep dive (?!) into night time dryness!    We talked about:  The expectation that once days are dry that nights will automatically follow.  The hormone we need to help us stay dry at night.  What night time dryness really means.   When you might need to visit your...

“We don’t go to a French class already speaking French” was how Sam @SPDTuitionandCoaching started the podcast and this was how she and Charlotte want all parents to approach preparations for school.  They feel that children need to be learning ready – not from what they know already but how they are prepared using emotional balance and communication.  Sam and Charlotte are both mums of...

In this episode we talked about everything you need to know to help you make a decision that is right for you and your children including all of the different types of childcare, financial considerations, the hours you need covered, location, facilities and more!  We also covered:  Planning ahead – how far and what to consider  Different types of childcare and how they operate.&nbsp...

For the first time in a while Claire posed a question in Challenge Becks – what would she do when faced with a monumental meltdown??! How did she answer..?      We also talked about:  Why a tantrum might escalate.  Looking at our own triggers - how it is never easy in the moment especially with so many things are going on for both of you.  Some ideas for strategies to...

Karen has been interested in play for a long time – she finds play fascinating and has a career dedicated to teaching, researching and learning about it. She has a PhD in Play and is now a Lecturer at Bath Spa University.  We covered so much with Karen including:  Helping parents understand play and how it can make a real difference to home life and how it connects children and adults.&n...

Wedding and party season is fast approaching which is so lovely and exciting, but can sometimes be tricky when you throw little children into the mix! In our episode this week we talk about things that might be a challenge and how you can make taking children to events a bit easier for all of you.     We also covered:    How the venues that parties and weddings are held in tend...

*Trigger warning – we talk openly about relationships and sex in this podcast*   Saskia is a sex education and relationship teacher – she delivers classes in school as well as talking to parents about what foundations to put in place at home.   This episode is longer than usual (and we could have gone on talking!), but we had so much to cover on such an important topic.  Amongs...

If you are experiencing this at the moment you will know that it can cause so much upset, not only for the parent or carer that is being ‘rejected’, but also for the parent / carer who is needing to do everything with and for their child.   In this episode we talked about:  Why this happens and typically what age it might be.  The emotions surrounding it and how it can feel for pare...

It was a delight to chat with Elizabeth who has worked in education for 35 years. With suicide being the 2nd highest cause of death in North America, her aim is to build and strengthen bridges between teens and their parents / carers, connecting families through courageous conversations.  We talked about:  ·         The teenage brain and how w...