Today Date Triggered Content

As a parent, the words ‘potty-training’ can make you feel hopeful for a world where you aren’t constantly shelling out for nappies (they aren’t cheap!) but can also fill you with dread. How do you actually go from your child using nappies to going to the loo? It can sound like hard work to anyone, let alone a tired parent.  

For a start, you might find your parents’ or family members’ experience of potty-training was different from how your friends approach it.  

Life with an under-five is undeniably busy; going to groups, vaccination appointments, buying the right size clothes, playing with them and much more. If you’re parenting with a partner, you might share these tasks – but have you ever stopped to think if you are really sharing all of the task? Or is one of you still taking on more of the jobs that make the task happen? 

Taking your baby to a vaccination appointment isn’t simply about getting there at the right time, it involves:  

In this week’s podcast, Alistair and Jennie are joined by Jimmy McLoughlin OBE, of Jobs of the Future, to discuss the skills that will support your child in the fast-changing world of work.

This is especially important to think about, because it's so unlikely that we can imagine all the jobs that will be available for our children.

Many jobs available today would have been impossible to prepare for 30 years ago. The pace of technology change, as well as developments in how we live and work, means we need to prepare children for a world of work we can’t possibly plan for yet.  

There are 14 million grandparents in the UK, and almost two-thirds of grandparents regularly look after their grandchildren.^[1] We know experiences in early childhood are important for lifelong learning, health and wellbeing, so scientists have started to look at the role grandparents play in children’s development.^[2] We decided to look at what science tell us about grandparents. 

The first important point is that there needs to be much more research into the role grandparents play in children’s lives. Despite growing interest in their role, research studies are often small, and focus on grandmothers rather than on all grandparents.^[2]  

“Don’t assume that your parents (because they’re your parents and you love them) are on the same wavelength that you are.” 

Join Alistair and Jennie for our newest podcast episode to hear why grandparents are important in children’s development, how to have realistic expectations of your parents as grandparents, and what to do when you have a difference of opinion in child-rearing, as well as five ways grandparents enrich young children’s lives. 

One day you suddenly find yourself standing at the gates of the childcare you’ve chosen so carefully, on their first day, clutching their little bag and wondering where the time went. We talked about this on our podcast , because we know how hard it is! 

The transition to a childminder, nursery, school or any other childcare arrangement is a big milestone for parent and child alike. The good news is, there are things you can do to prepare yourself and your child as you begin this next chapter together.  

"You don't have to pay loads of money and go on massive trips to make memories this summer." 

On this week’s podcast episode, My First Five Years co-founders Jennie and Alistair talk about the pressures summer can bring.

“Becoming a parent provides us with this unique opportunity to really get to know ourselves.” 

In this week’s podcast, Alistair and Jennie are joined by Dr Emma Svanberg (the Mumologist), clinical psychologist and author of Parenting for Humans. Listen in on their conversations to find out how to parent the child you have as the person you are. 

“Often walking doesn’t have anything to do with legs and feet, walking really starts with their brain and their core.”

This week, you’ll hear why no two children share the same journey to walking, where crawling fits in, whether it’s possible to walk too soon and which are the best type of shoes for new walkers, as well as five hacks to encourage your child to walk.

“We know that babies can attach to more than one parent equally, and also that the attachment that fathers have with their children not only is good for the children, but also is good for the dads. It actually physically changes the makeup of your brain.”  

This week's podcast is our Father's Day special.