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.

31/05/2026

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🏄🏼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

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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

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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

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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
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👉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

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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

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

19/05/2026

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Most toddlers are being pushed to learn colours, numbers, and ABCs earlier and earlier…

But the skills that actually matter most are invisible.

The real foundations are:
focus, communication, and confidence.

Because a child who can focus will find learning easier later on.

That doesn’t come from flashcards.
It comes from uninterrupted play.
Stacking blocks.
Pouring water.
Drawing.
Repeating the same activity over and over without adults constantly interrupting or praising them.

And language?
Language grows through connection.

Not quizzes.
Not pressure.

Just talking with your child throughout the day.
“I can see you chose the red block.”
“That water feels cold.”
“You worked really hard on that.”

Then pause.
Give them space to respond.

And confidence is built when children are trusted.

When they’re allowed to try.
To struggle a little.
To solve problems without adults rushing in immediately.

These are the skills that shape how children learn, communicate, and feel about themselves for the rest of their lives.

Foundations first.
Everything else comes later.

Follow me for more toddler development and Montessori-inspired parenting tips ✨ Send this to a parent who needs the reminder that play is productive.

💛Comment “CALM” if you’ve ever felt your chest tighten when the screaming starts, and words suddenly disappear.This sta...
18/05/2026

💛Comment “CALM” if you’ve ever felt your chest tighten when the screaming starts, and words suddenly disappear.

This stage of parenting is hard in ways no one really prepares you for. You want to help, to fix it, to say the right thing… but your child isn’t asking for language in those moments.

They’re asking for safety. For steadiness. For someone whose nervous system isn’t louder than theirs.

If staying calm feels impossible sometimes, that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

It means you’re human, and likely running on empty.

Regulation isn’t about being perfect. It’s about learning how to come back, again and again.

That’s what changes everything: not controlling the moment, but creating enough calm for your child to borrow until they can find their own.

If you want simple, research-backed tools to help you respond with more steadiness ...even on the hard days..

💛Comment “CALM.” I’ll send you the link.

And if this resonated, follow for conscious parenting support that meets real life where it is.

16/05/2026

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The trait is stable inner authority - the feeling that “I am allowed to exist as I am.”⁠
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Before age 12, a child either learns that their thoughts, feelings, and limits matter, or they learn that love comes only when they adapt.

When outer approval replaces self-acceptance, the child stops checking in with themselves and starts scanning others.⁠
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Jung called this the loss of the authentic Self. And when this trait doesn’t form, the child grows into an adult who lives by reaction, not choice. They’re silently asking: Am I liked? Am I enough? Did I say the right thing?⁠
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Their nervous system becomes externally regulated. Praise feels like oxygen. Criticism feels like danger. Decisions are made to avoid rejection.⁠
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Approval-seeking shows up everywhere. In relationships, they overgive and under-ask. At work, they overperform and undervalue themselves. In families, they stay “the good one” long after it costs them peace.⁠
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Jung warned that when the Self is not rooted early, the persona - the mask - takes over. ⁠
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They often look confident on the outside. They’re responsible. Reliable. But inside, they feel empty, anxious, constantly tense. Their worth feels conditional. ⁠
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But here’s the good news: this trait can be rebuilt later. ⁠
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Healing begins when you notice the reflex to seek approval and pause. When you choose honesty over being liked. When you tolerate disappointment from others without abandoning yourself. ⁠
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This is how inner authority slowly replaces external validation. ⁠
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👇 1:1 COACHING 👇⁠
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Imagine this…⁠
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💛 Developing stable inner authority as an adult, even though you didn’t form it as a child⁠
💛 Choosing honesty over being liked ⁠
💛 Learning to check in with yourself instead of scanning others for validation⁠
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If you’re ready to rebuild the inner authority you didn’t develop early, book a free 15-minute connection call. 💫⁠
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For intuitive guidance on your healing journey, follow me ⁠
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15/05/2026

.with.baby.louis 💜🥺
In 1995, researchers Betty Hart and Todd Risley followed 42 families for two and a half years and counted every word spoken to children under three.

What they found became one of the most cited statistics in early childhood development: by age four, children from lower-income households had heard roughly 30 million fewer words than children from higher-income ones.

The gap wasn’t just in quantity. It was in the kind of talk.

Children who heard more varied, conversational, back-and-forth language had bigger vocabularies and stronger school readiness, independent of other factors.

Later research has complicated and critiqued the original study. But the core finding holds: the words children hear in their first three years matter enormously.

So I narrate. I describe the color of his socks. I tell him what I’m making for dinner and why. I read him the same board book four times in a row because he keeps flipping back to the beginning.

What the research shows is that it’s not about income itself. It’s about interaction. Back-and-forth conversation, responding to babbles, narrating your day. **None of that costs anything.**

I’ve been talking to Loogie like he understands. Because he already does.

What’s something you find yourself narrating to your baby that you’d never say out loud otherwise?

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