A Volcano in My Tummy: Helping Children to Handle Anger - Eliane Whitehouse

Advantages: No nonsense advice
Disadvantages: none!!

...responsibility so that he has a sense of justice and to try to limit the offence when he or she is not able to make the choice (It's time for bed now…not a choice!!) **Sleep** Quite a major issue in our household; we seem to have children who were not naughty at bedtime but who just did not need a lot of sleep. Green gives a lot of ideas to make bedtime easier and for me it was encouraging to find an expert who was not telling me to put my child to bed, close the door, and let them cry themselves to sleep. He takes the best bits of a few ideas and gives a method which promises a 90% chance of cure within a week…it did actually work for us. **Keep those tummies full** "Food is the fuel that powers our young children". Great- again, a realistic approach. Green suggests we stop making food an issue and don't allow it to become a battle. He takes... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Excellent, clear advice to all parents - and it works!
Disadvantages: The book sometimes goes out of print

...of many where he didn't do the right thing! He certainly doesn't suggest that he's the perfect parent, or that he always follows his own advice. This in itself is encouraging: inevitably we make mistakes as parents, but we can always do something to try to put them right. Children are remarkably forgiving, after all. But above all, I found it helpful because I've found that his principles work in practice. When I observed myself as a young mother, I realised that very often I did talk to my children while washing dishes or reading a book, without taking the time to turn round and give them eye contact. I certainly gave them hugs at bedtime, or when reading to them, and I would hold their hands when crossing the road, but I wasn't very good at the general arm-squeezes and pats on the back that show concern and care at ordinary times... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: very well written and put together
Disadvantages: none found yet

...as a general rule!) The book taught me so much about how to plan my little boys menus ahead and in just a couple of hours (it was usually my early Sunday morning job) I'd prepare a whole month's food supply for him, freezing extra portions in ice-cube trays - which was a brilliant idea because at four months I'd just defrost one food cube and then as he got bigger so I'd defrost more until he could eat a full bowl full. This has also helped him to adapt to family meals as he's growing up. The commercial purees always taste the same and they seem to stain bibs and clothes so badly that even stain removers have trouble removing them - so what does it do to their little tummies! I had experience of this one day when we went to a restaurant for a meal and they refused to heat up home-made baby food so I had no alternative but to buy my little boy a jar... Read review

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