Nurture Parenting

Nurture Parenting Nurture Parenting has created a world class online Nurture Sleep Program from newborn to five years o She has recently relocated back to the North of England.
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Nurture Parenting is an infant sleep, toddler behaviour, parent support education service. It was established in February 2011 by Karen Faulkner, a Registered Midwife and Community Specialist Practitioner/Child & Family Health Nurse. Karen emigrated from the UK in 2002 and gathered a heap of experience, skills and qualifications working in Community Health in Melbourne and Sydney. Our Mission
We

want to help parents everywhere get more sleep and spread the love. Our Vision
Nurture Parenting wants to challenge and change the current parenting paradigm and treatment models of sleep training and introduce parents to baby sleep learning. And to inspire and provide confidence in all parents to become the best they can be. We help with children from newborn to 5 years old (0-5 years). Our sleep training methods are kind and based in attachment psychology. We believe in conscious parenting.

19/06/2026

mirimika_art 💜🥺
1. Many parents see boredom as a problem that needs an immediate solution. Psychologists see it differently. When a child has nothing to do, they face an important question: how can I entertain myself? One builds a blanket fort, another invents games, while a third draws or daydreams. In those moments, children learn to find interest within themselves instead of relying on constant entertainment from others.

2. One challenge of modern childhood is that boredom rarely gets a chance to appear. The moment a child feels bored, a phone, tablet, or cartoon is often available. Technology is not the problem itself. But when every uncomfortable moment is instantly filled, children miss the experience of creating their own activities. Over time, the brain becomes used to receiving stimulation rather than generating it.

3. This is why free play is so valuable. Without ready-made rules, children invent their own. Building blocks become a space station, pillows become a fortress, and a stick becomes a magic sword. These simple games strengthen creativity, flexible thinking, planning, and problem-solving skills that remain useful long after childhood.

4. Boredom can also reveal a child’s emotional state. Some children handle quiet moments comfortably, while others become restless or anxious. They may seek constant attention, create conflicts, or become noisy. Instead of labeling this as bad behavior, it can help to recognize that some children simply need support learning how to sit with their thoughts and feelings.

5. Childhood needs more than lessons, activities, and schedules. It also needs unstructured time, free play, and space for imagination. Independence, creativity, and inner confidence often grow during these quiet moments. Sometimes the best gift an adult can give a child is not rescuing them from boredom, but allowing them to work through it on their own.

I go deeper into all of this in my “Book” highlights and on my blog - link in bio.

17/06/2026

Bridget Hillsberg, MA CCC-SLP DOUBLE TAP if you agree 💜🥺

Happy childhoods are built on love, laughter, and the ability to communicate needs and feelings. 🌟 Helping your child learn to communicate from an early age is one of the greatest gifts you can give. Let’s guide them on this beautiful journey!

15/06/2026

Katy Goodwin | Parenting Educator (MA, Child Dev.) 💜🥺
He hit you. The first time, you froze. The second time, you said, “we don’t hit.” The third time, you said it louder. By the fourth, you were holding your wrist and his arm at the same time and your voice was not yours anymore.

You did not yell. You did not lecture. You did everything you were told to do.

That sentence is a family rule, not a moment script. He already knows we don’t hit. What he doesn’t know is what to do with what is in his body in those ten seconds. So he hits again. Brains repeat what works, and “we don’t hit” did not give his brain anything to do with the surge.

Here are 5 things to say in the 10 seconds after your child hits you. Not one of them is “we don’t hit.”

One. “That’s a no.” Two words. Calm voice. Said before he can hit again.

Two. “Hands stay on you.” Names the limit as a physical fact, not a character verdict.

Three. “I’m stepping back. I am still here.” Pulls the body away. Keeps the connection. He learns: the limit does not mean abandonment.

Four. “You can be that angry. Your hands cannot.” The discriminator. Feeling is allowed. Behavior is not.

Five. “We are done with this moment. We’ll come back to it.” Closes the loop. No negotiation. No long talk while he is still flooded. You return at neutral.

You don’t fix a hit with a longer lecture. You fix it with five sentences that hold in ten seconds. Same words, every time. The brain learns the script faster than you think.

In two weeks, the hit stops landing. Not because he stopped feeling that big. Because he learned a different way to put it down.

Which sentence is the hardest one for you to say in the moment?

Comment START and I’ll send you the short guide on healthy boundaries, the kind that turn a hit into a 10-second moment, not a 20-minute fallout. 💛

14/06/2026

Official Guidepost Montessori 💜🥺
“Be safe” is a vague term, and Montessori is all about specifics.

Was climbing up the slide backwards safe? It sure was, right up to the time the child got hurt. An accident might happen the first time, or never, but small children don’t understand how to analyze whether or not something is “safe” the way adults do when they give the instructions.

Children respond much better to concrete instructions.

Here are some phrases to try:

1️⃣ “Look where your hands and feet are going.” This encourages focus on their actions and surroundings.

2️⃣ “Is that stable or secure?” A simple way to prompt them to assess their environment.

3️⃣ “Take your time.” A gentle reminder to slow down and approach things with care.

4️⃣ “Notice where you’re stepping or placing your hands.” Helps them identify potential hazards and make thoughtful choices.

“Be careful,” can feel vague to a child. The goal instead is to offer guidance that helps them develop their own sense of awareness and decision-making.

By replacing “Be careful” with these phrases, you empower your child to think critically, build independence, and navigate challenges with confidence.

You’re not just protecting them in the moment — you’re equipping them with habits that build their awareness, and that they’ll use their whole lives.

31/05/2026

💜🥺
🏄🏼Comment “BALANCE” for my free kid friendly Gibbon Board routine + the link & discount code (stackable with other discount for 35% off)!

Balance activities to improve ADHD symptoms?
Sounds a bit ‘out there, but stick with me!

Dr. Jeremy Schmahmann, a Harvard neurologist, uncovered a fascinating connection: the cerebellum-known for managing physical balance-also helps regulate emotional equilibrium. He explains, ‘The cerebellum regulates the speed, capacity, consistency, and appropriateness of cognitive and emotional processes.’

Even though it takes up just 10% of brain volume, the cerebellum contains nearly 75% of our brain cells and is the most adaptable part of the brain.

By engaging in balance exercises, we’re essentially taking our cerebellum to the gym. This ‘workout’ helps stabilize our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, reducing erratic swings and promoting mental and emotional harmony.

While more research is needed on this topic, balance activities are a non-invasive, zero-cost way to potentially improve your child’s executive functioning skills-and they come with plenty of other benefits like increased vestibular input which is a powerhouse for sensory regulation

Want an easy way to get started? I’ve created a FREE Gibbon board routine that is quick and fun!

Comment “balance” below, and I’ll send it your way along with the link (kinectedot10 saves 10% on any board) !

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27/05/2026

💜🥺
1. We say goodbye to things together
“It’s time to go to sleep now. Say goodbye to the toys.”
“We’re going to the car now, say goodbye to the slide.”
It gives him a sense of closure before the transition,
instead of feeling like I’m forcefully pulling him out of play.

2. I give him a choice (but a controlled one)
Instead of asking:
“What do you want to wear?”
I ask:
“Do you want the white shirt or the blue one?”
Small children don’t need endless options.
They need situations where they can feel competent.

3. I use “when – then” language
“When you put your shoes on, then we can go outside.”
“When you change into pyjamas, then we’ll have breakfast.”
It creates a clear sequence of events
and turns cooperation into a shared goal.
It sounds much less like a command.

4. I move closer physically when he’s having a hard moment
I kneel down.
I slow myself down.
I speak more quietly.
Regulation transfers from my body to his.
Two-year-olds don’t calm down through logic,
but through the nervous system.

5. I prepare him for transitions in advance
“One more slide and then we’re going home.”
“Mommy will turn on the washing machine, we’ll put the toys away, and then we’ll go outside.”
A transition without warning is like turning off a movie in the middle of a scene.
A child needs preparation for change.
He doesn’t yet understand time concepts, so I use different frames of reference.
6. I tell him what he can do — not what he can’t
Instead of:
“Don’t run!”
I say:
“We’re walking slowly.”
The brain processes direction better than prohibition.

7. I name the emotion before addressing the behaviour
Instead of:
“Stop yelling!”
I say:
“You’re angry because we’re leaving.”
Instead of:
“Stop crying, we have to go.”
I say:
“You’re sad that we’re going home.”
I’m teaching him to recognise what’s happening inside him,
so he can understand himself — without shame.

8. I don’t take every outburst personally
A two-year-old boy is not a manipulator.
He’s a human learning the boundaries of reality and his own “self.”
This is developmentally normal.
It’s not

26/05/2026

💜🥺
I’ve been keeping this secret for far too long.🥹

But before we dive in, follow for neuroscience backed insights and positive parenting tools🧠

When your child is scooping, pouring, or carrying things around, they’re exploring something called the transporting schema.

🧠 A schema is a pattern of repeated behavior that helps children understand how the world works.

🙌🏻The transporting schema shows up when toddlers are constantly moving objects from point A to point B — using hands, buckets, bowls, or even bags.✅

It’s not random. It’s not meaningless.❌
It’s their way of learning.💁🏻‍♀️

🫶🏻Here’s what’s happening beneath the surface:

🔹 Developing spatial awareness – “What fits where? 😱What happens when I move this?”

🔹 Strengthening motor coordination – every transfer builds muscle 🤌control and dexterity.

🔹 Building focus and persistence – transferring calms the body and organizes the brain.🧠

🔹 Practicing cause and effect – they experiment and learn through real-world feedback.🧑‍🔬

🔹 Developing early math and logic – quantity, volume, sorting, order.🧮

✨ So when a child spends 20 minutes moving leaves from one bucket to another, they aren’t wasting time —They are literally building the foundation for logic, order, patience, and confidence.

✨How can you support this?💁🏻‍♀️

✅Offer open-ended materials: cups, ladles, water, dry rice, stones, leaves — anything safe to move.
✅Set up simple stations indoors or outdoors
✅Let them repeat without interrupting or “fixing” the mess
✅Narrate what you see: “You’re moving all the stones to this basket!”
✅Trust the process, even if it looks repetitive to you.

Does your child love moving things from one place to another?

25/05/2026

💜🥺
Finland just proved it.

Researchers at the Natural Resources Institute Finland & University of Helsinki replaced sterile concrete playgrounds with actual forest floor — soil, moss, leaf litter, wild plants.

Children aged 3–5 simply played in it for an hour a day.
In 28 days, their gut and skin microbiomes were measurably more diverse.

Their immune markers shifted — fewer signs of the dysregulation linked to allergies, asthma, and autoimmune disease.

The findings were compelling enough that the Finnish government now funds daycare greening as a public health intervention.

Meanwhile, we sanitize sandpits.
We pave over mud.
We hand children a tablet instead.

The science has a name for what’s happening:
the Biodiversity Hypothesis — the idea that low microbial diversity in modern environments produces “undertrained” immune systems.
And children are paying the price.

Dirt isn’t the danger.
The absence of it is.
Let them dig.
Let them get muddy.
Let them be kids — wildly, gloriously, immunologically — the way their bodies were built to be.

📖 Roslund et al., Science Direct (2022) | Natural Resources Institute Finland | Funded & implemented by the Finnish Government
_____________
👉Send this to a parent who says ‘don’t get dirty’ every 5 minutes
👉 Follow for more researches on what children actually need.
_____________
Do you let your kids play in soil?

24/05/2026

💜🥺
The daughter came home from school and slammed her bedroom door.

An hour of silence. Then a quiet sob into the pillow — she was crying without a word.

That evening she told what happened: the teacher called her incapable of learning in front of everyone. “You don’t belong here. You should be somewhere else,” she said. The kids laughed.

The mom hugged her: “Tomorrow I’ll go with you to school.”
The girl got nervous: “Mom, please don’t. It’ll only get worse.”

The next day, the woman walked into the classroom during the lesson. She asked for a minute.

She turned to the teacher: “Yesterday you called my child incapable in front of everyone. Today you will apologize. In front of everyone.”

The teacher went pale. “You interrupted my class. I was joking. Kids need to be ready for life.”

The mom cut her off: “They’ll be ready for life when they see adults admit their mistakes.”

Silence. The class froze.

“Right now, you’re teaching one thing — to put down the weak.”

The teacher apologized through clenched teeth. Quick. Quiet. No eye contact.

After school, the daughter said: “I thought it would be worse. But now I feel calmer.”

The woman understood the key point: when parents stay silent, they become part of it.

When a child sees their mom stand up for them, they don’t remember the teacher’s words. They remember they were protected.

When a parent stays silent, a child learns to accept being put down. And then they carry it through life — at work, in relationships, everywhere.

Because no one showed them: someone can stand up for you. Someone should stand up for you.

Teachers make mistakes. They are not above everyone by default.

They are people. And when they cross the line, a parent must show where that line is.

Not with anger. Calm, clear, in front of everyone.

A child will remember that lesson stronger than any math.

23/05/2026

💜🥺
maternal attachment at 18 months old predicts amygdala size at 22 years old

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