The premise behind extinction sleep training is that infants (and toddlers) are being taught to "self-soothe"; however, this ignores key points of what self-soothing abilities can be expected from children and how distressed they are at the time of separation. Instead of focusing on these extinction methods, gentler methods that respect where the child is developmentally should be considered.
Catherine Bell talks us through the power of informed birth. As she says, "Not 'wishes' or 'preferences': Informed Decisions".
One woman's experience with responsive settling and the take-home messages she got from that that she can share with others.
New research highlights the effects of light on melatonin levels in preschool children. What does this tell us about our evening habits for all kids?
The following is a talk I presented at the 2016 Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement Conference this past October in Toronto, ON on feminism, patriarchy, and mothering.
March twenty-eighth... There is a friction inside me surrounding this date; a rubbing of grief and celebration, of sadness and joy, of sorrow and thankfulness. March twenty-eighth will always be his day.
I feel like sleep trainers are like a mythical monster where every time you cut off one head with science and reason, two more take their place that are even more dangerous than before. In the last few months alone, the media has highlighted this method of locking your child in a room for 12 hours a day under the guise of “helping” your child and a method of sleep training newborns by not feeding them at night.
Here is a summary of what Evolutionary Parenting stands for. In short, it’s the idea that the way in which we as humans (and other mammals) have parented over hundreds of thousands of years (i.e., the way we’ve EVOLVED to parent) is intricately related to the well-being of our children.
This is for those of you who have gone the cry-it-out route and now regret it. The two biggest questions I'm asked on the topic - have I done irreparable harm and can I fix it? - are discussed herein.
There’s a new article that seems to be making the rounds, gathering shares and likes, entitled How to Tell a Great Lie as a Parent. I suppose the short version of this post is, "You Can't", but you can read more for details.
