By Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Friendships and social interactions are a key part of our children’s lives. Friendships help our children learn about the way that we interact with peers, social cues and norms (which can be different with peers than with adults), and gaining a sense of belonging away from their family unit.

It is all very normal and natural for friendships to have their highs and lows but this can be extremely hard for a parent to watch if their child is having a difficult time. We all want our children to be happy and have friends, but this can take time to establish and there can be some very tricky moments.

By Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. It is important to start with looking at what you, as an individual, see as ‘showing affection’ as this can be very different for each of us. As human beings we all feel and show affection in different ways, while one person might be very tactile and love cuddles, another might avoid this where possible as it makes them uncomfortable.

Just like adults, not all children are affectionate (when I say affectionate, I mean cuddly as this is what most people see as a sign of affection from children). When a child is not showing affection (in the way we expect as an adult) it can be due to their personality but also where they are in their developmental stage.

By Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. When our little ones have meltdowns / tantrums / outbursts it can be extremely triggering for us. It can mean that we respond emotionally and not always in the way that we would want to. We need to be kind to ourselves and understand we are only human and that sometimes our emotions can go into overdrive and make us respond to situations in ways which we don’t expect or plan for.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Has your child recently moved from a cot to a bed, and now keeps getting up to come and find you? This can be a very common situation that parents find themselves in and often a child can go from sleeping well in their cot to being awake several times per night and refusing to stay in their bed!

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Resilience is the skill of ‘bouncing back’ when you come up against tricky times, challenges, or stress. It is not something that you do or don’t have, it is something which is learnt, practiced, and strengthened over time. Our children have to learn resilience starting from a very young age and this is often developed (and experienced) through their play.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Has your child suddenly started to say, “I’m scared!”, “I don’t like the dark”, or “I’m scared of the dark”? If so, please be reassured that this is a very normal phase of development and can be experienced by lots of children, their parents and carers. Most often the biggest impact of this can be around bedtimes where little ones are typically on their own and it is dark. This sense of fear can have an impact on sleep, bedtimes or even cause waking in the night.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Trying to get your little one into a car seat can often require a great deal of patience and negotiation at times! This can leave us feeling hugely frustrated, especially when we are in a hurry!

In this blog I look at why this might be happening and what things you can do to help the situation.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. This is something that most parents have to deal with at some time or another with their child/ren and family members. Hugs and kisses are a way in which we show our affection to each other and often, as adults, we will greet people or say goodbye with a hug or a kiss, but we often know when not to as this isn’t something everyone feels comfortable with.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant.Bedtime and the lead up to it can feel like quite a juggling act especially when you have more than one child to do your bedtime routine with.

This time of the day is often when we want things to be calm and to be able to give our children opportunities for one-to-one time, but it doesn’t always happen that way! At the end of the day everyone (including you!) is tired, and bedtime might not always go as you would hope…but that’s ok! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself - it can take time to find what works and it will evolve over time as your little ones get older.

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Crying is typically seen as something which is negative; something that we do when we are sad, upset, angry, frustrated etc. However, there are times when we cry for other reasons and often a ‘good cry’ can actually make us feel better..!