Within Western cultures, self-sufficiency is highly prized. When we talk about children we talk of self-regulation, self-settling, and independence. And when we say, ‘independence’ in reference to children we almost always mean that the children are self-sufficient rather than autonomous. In terms of emotions, there’s a persistent cultural tendency to believe that the earlier children […]
I recently gave an ignite presentation on self-soothing, ‘Self-soothing during infancy and toddlerhood: Our dangerous misconceptions’, at the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science’s international conference in Sydney. An ignite presentation is quite a unique style of presentation! You get 5 minutes and 20 slides and the slides auto-advance. I’ve recorded my ignite presentation and uploaded […]
One of the things that I love about being a parent is watching my child’s development unfold, moment by moment and day by day. It is an incredible thing. The awe that I feel watching her developmental dance, in turn, inspires my parenting. Think about your child when you first met them, as a newborn. […]