Over the last few months I began following Kylie Camps aka The Sleep Mama on Instagram and Snap Chat. As I have mentioned in the past I keep my Snap Chat following small as it takes up a lot of time but Kylie's Snaps are on my top watch list. Kylie is a Sleep Consultant with a variety of sleep programs to help teach babies and toddlers to sleep. I have not used Kylie's program for sleep but she has a long list of positive testimonials from very happy families.
This week The Sleep Mama released "Toddler Life" a comprehensive tool for parents of toddlers on how to handle those turbulent and confusing times. As a mother of a 3 year old and also an Early Childhood Professional for coming up 14 years I was very excited to read this guide, also Kylie's obvious passion and excitement for it's release was rather infectious. If you follow Kylie (The Sleep Mama) on Snap Chat you will know she has a passion for parenting and how intentional, kind and educated parenting can benefit entire families. Enter Toddler Life.
Upon purchasing the guide, a digital download, it was easy to delve straight in. Kylie has designed a beautiful looking guide, don't be fooled, it may be pretty but it is also so smart and to the point!
Toddler Life has been endorsed by Child Psychologist Funda Yolal described as filling in "the missing pieces" for parents in raising their toddlers. I personally believe that having sent this to be read over by such a well respected specialist displays the confidence Kylie has for her guide and it's content.
Toddler Life is written by a Parent for Parents which brings a sense of comfort like you're chatting with a friend you need advice from. Kylie explains in a non patronising manner the brain development of young children, gently reminding us that when we deal with toddlers we are not dealing with a person who has a fully developed adult brain but a developing brain and how the environment we create for our toddlers is so important for positive emotional and cognitive development.
Toddler Life encourages you to start "expecting your toddler to act like a toddler" probably one of the most sound pieces of parenting advice I have heard in a long while.
Kylie has addressed all the major points of life with a toddler. All the things that have you wondering "what the hell am I doing??" "Am I doing this right??"
Covering meltdowns, tantrums, discipline, dropping day sleeps, playtime and choosing daycare.
This guide will help you feel more confident in navigating the more hairy areas of parenting a toddler and identifies causes of symptoms such as an overtired (cause) toddler having a tantrum (symptom). Being a parent is so emotional and Kylie's clear and concise explanations will help you to think clearly in relation to dealing with your toddler
Toddler life provides parents with factual information in regards to the development of young children from proven studies, some of this information I recall from my own Early Childhood Studies and I believe including this information really helps to have a general understanding of The Toddler from a developmental point of view prior to taking their individual personalities into account which is also covered.
Kylie has invited her husband Matt to contribute his own point of view to the guide this provides parents with an alternate perspective and window into Kylie and Matt's personal parenting journey and reminds us that we may differ from our partners in chosen parenting style but we share a common goal in wanting the best for our children and our relationships. His input also reminds us of the importance of taking time for yourself and allowing your partner to do the same without the attitude of being "owed" the time but in a bid to better prepare you for each step of your parenting journey together. Some really great advice in there!
Toddler Life covers communication both receptive and expressive and how the way we communicate to our toddlers can greatly impact how our time is spent with them. I love how this guide values the importance of communication.
Toddler Life is not a hugely thick manual on how to raise your child but a guide that covers all the points that parents seem to be scrambling for information on. The beauty of Toddler Life is in it's simplicity. It is straight to the point giving a clear outline of typical toddler development and behaviour with tools on how to recognise and handle situations for what I believe is for a wide variation of families. This is not a strict program but a guide that provides you with the information and basic tools to raise your toddler while still having your own core values in place to suit your family's individuality.
I am so very glad I have purchased this, as an Early Childhood Professional this is all knowledge I have learned and developed from my work and training, but as a parent it's a totally different game. My emotions are involved, I am biased and I am raising my children with my husband where we can differ in our opinions. We both get tired and stressed out and as a result we parent for the short term out of the sheer convenience of a quick result. The tips in this guide are full of common sense and they DO work if you commit to them and parent with intent and help you aim for long term results.
This guide will help families I have absolutely no doubt about that. With Kylie's philosophy surrounding kind parenting and parenting with intent you are sure to do your child such a huge favour by setting them up for success and nurturing their emotional well being at a very influential time in their lives. I also believe this guide will help adults to cope in stressful situations not just in parenting but in life in general encouraging you too see things from the toddler's point of view will encourage empathy.
So if you are approaching toddler hood or are in thick of it I highly recommend purchasing Toddler Life. You can always go back to it when you need to and you also will have access to a forum connecting you with so many other parents in the toddler game and their own Early Childhood Proffessional.
Big thanks to Kylie at The Sleep Mama for creating this fantastic resource that supports and encourages parents to be the best they can be. Thanks for lifting us up and being a safe and supportive resource for parents, we all want the best for our kids!
Fi
xx
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