Supporting Our Children

Supporting our Children to Heal with the Balance of Attention

A central aspect of supporting healing with aware parenting is offering our children the balance of attention. This means that we are offering emotional safety AND a reminder from the past to reconnect with the feelings from the past stressful experiences, all whilst they experience a deep sense of emotional safety in the present. As Marion Rose […]

Aware Parenting in a Nutshell

Aware Parenting is a philosophy and approach to parenting that emphasises understanding and responding to children's needs with compassion and awareness. It was created by the developmental psychologist and author Dr Aletha Solter. Some of the main aspects of Aware Parenting include: Attachment and Connection: Aware Parenting emphasises the importance of secure attachment and building […]

Helping Children to Stop Thumb-Sucking

It is really common for children to suck their thumbs and for parents to find it frustrating to know how to support them when we want them to stop. In authoritarian parenting styles, children might be punished or shamed into stopping. In more permissive parenting styles, children might just be left to suck their thumb […]

The 4 Basic Assumptions of Aware Parenting

What does science tell us about children? Dr. Aletha Solter first outlined the 4 assumptions of Aware Parenting in her book The Aware Baby. These assumptions are so helpful for parents to counter some of the misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions about children in the wider culture and to support parents to become really clear about […]

How our Childhood Affects our Parenting

What we can do when we are activated by our children's behaviour. How do our childhood experiences impact us as adults? Unless you grew up in a family where your feelings were welcomed, where you got to express your needs and know that they would be consistently met, where you felt unconditionally loved regardless of […]

Dealing with our Children's Challenging Behaviour

The most unenjoyable moments in parenthood are often when our children are behaving in challenging ways. We may feel powerless, frustrated, angry and stuck when our children are uncooperative, emotional, demanding or aggressive. Old styles of parenting in our culture tell us that difficult behaviour is because children don't know how to behave properly and that […]

Parenting Together in Partnership

Conflict and struggles between parents are part of almost every Aware Parenting consultation I offer. Whatever the unique circumstances of a family, it is inevitable that there will be times of disagreement and disaccord. Clients often want guidance and support on how to get onto the the same page in parenting with their partner or co-parent and […]

Why I am so passionate about Natural Learning.

This blog is not about Aware Parenting and is not the Aware Parenting perspective. It is my personal opinion about school and the impact schooling has on societies all around the world. I fully respect everyone’s right to choose for themselves what is right for their children and their family. If you or your children […]

Supporting our Children to Release Accumulated Feelings

When Feelings Seem to Get Stuck. When we discover Aware Parenting, it often immediately makes sense that children have challenging experiences and are able to release and heal the stress and trauma with our support using their natural healing mechanisms of crying with loving support, play and laughter. We understand that children know how to […]

Helping Children to Learn to Use the Potty or Toilet

Frequently, supporting our children to learn to use the potty or toilet can be really difficult and frustrating for parents. The widely-used term 'Potty Training' implies that our children need to be trained in using a potty or the toilet, and there is a lot of cultural conditioning about when children "should" be using the […]

How to Stop Siblings Fighting: Bringing more Harmony to your Family.

Conflict between siblings is a common struggle for parents - when I was researching this article, one of the suggested search terms was "How many times an hour do siblings fight"! It is often something that parents find extremely painful and exasperating and parents often feel deep sadness that the relationships between their children is […]

Happy Mother's Day

It is Mother's Day this weekend in Australia. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. I send you lots of love and acknowledgement. Motherhood is hard work and showing up with loving care for our children everyday deserves respect and admiration, every day! Mothers day is often a gorgeous day of connection and appreciation and […]

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