Parenting

“I feel like such a failure.” I hear this every single day from mothers. The saddest thing is that every time I hear these words, the mother is doing a wonderful job: she is intelligent and responsive with a beautiful connection to her baby. Her baby is proof that she can’t be a failure – alert, animated and engaging. So why is her confidence so…

Dr. Elise Bialylew, is bestselling author of, The Happiness Planand founder of Mindful in May, the world’s largest online global mindfulness campaign that teaches thousands of people to meditate, while raising funds to build clean water projects in the developing world. She shares 6 ways to bring mindfulness into your busy day.

While it is awful watching a friend suffer with depression, especially if she seems to be pushing you away, there are ways to show your support. Here are some suggestions from mums who have been there. Consider which steps you can take, start small and please don’t take it personally if your efforts don’t seem appreciated right now. Remember,…

“I was incredibly stressed and I knew something was very wrong but I thought, I am a mum, I should be able to cope,” says Sandy, a Melbourne mother of two who was diagnosed with postnatal depression when her first baby (now three) was three months old. Sandy’s bubble of pretence burst when, after a few days in a mother baby unit, she was told it…

It is all too easy to feel overwhelmed by pressure to make this time special for everybody around you, often at the expense of your own well-being. After all, just because it’s ‘that time of year’, you don’t have any more hours in each day. The ‘silly season’ can be enough to try the patience of the most well-intentioned super-mummy and instead of…

Parent preference is a normal stage of development for babies, toddlers and preschoolers and it isn’t just about exerting control. At this stage, the frontal cortex is not yet fully developed and they can only manage to focus on one relationship at a time.

"I believe that with every baby that is comforted instead of abandoned to self-soothe, every toddler that is gently guided instead of reprimanded, and every kindy aged child who is supported through their separation anxiety – we CAN change our world – one responsive, accountable, intuitive decision at a time."

If you are all played out, but your child isn’t, and you don’t want to resort to TV, it’s OK to cheat. If you are feeling desperately in need of some time out (for yourself, you cant lock your kids in a cupboard) , try these:

I'm not talking about exhausted parents, reaching out for help. Im talking here about rude, self entitled a'holes who talk about their babies as though they are objects – inconvenient objects at that. They use words like ‘stubborn’ and ‘manipulating’ to describe tiny helpless infants. 

While we learn very quickly how helpful a calming bed-time routine is to encourage restful sleep, we don’t always consider that waking is also a major transition. And if we are staggering around in a morning stupor, struggling to get kids out the door, it could be the last thought in our minds to worry how the sensory experience of waking affects…