Friends have to be one of the best things about life and our childhoods, but it can be incredibly hard as a parent to watch your child navigate friendships.

If you see your child being left out or dealing with friendship drama, we just want to be able to fix it for them, but should we? We are excited to have Psychologist Deirdre Brandner back on the podcast to help us unpack how friendships develop through childhood and how we can support our children along the way.

In this episode we discuss:

- Navigating friends in the early years from kindy, to primary school to high school

- The role of the parent in helping children navigate friendships

- If a child comes home with a friendship issue, what is the best approach for a parent to take

- Some common mistakes parents make when trying to help their child navigate a tricky friendship situation

- Deirdre's tips if your child isn't making friends

- What you can do to support your child make friends

- Tips for parents if your child has chosen a friend that you don't like

- If there is a "normal” level of friendship drama that parents can expect their child to go through

- If there is a particular gender more likely to experience friendship drama over another

- Sometimes little ones will come home and say ‘no one played with me’. Deirdre shares her advice on what we should say if they say this

- Deirdre's advice for parents wanting to help their child build friendship skills

- Do playdates and birthday parties help to build children's friendship circles or can they make them feel more left out?

- What to do if you see your child’s behaviour dramatically change as a result of hanging out with a child whose family may have different values to your family.

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Parents You've Got This - The Expert Guide To Parenthood Podcast is proudly supported by Mustela natural origin skincare, by parents' side since 1950.

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Parents You've Got This offers antenatal and postnatal parenting education and Masterclasses from the planning phase to early preschool. Learn more: ⁠⁠parentsyouvegotthis.com.au⁠⁠

Credits: Producer Dean Thomas, Camera person Tim Hehir, Content and Hosts Parents You've Got This

The rate of growth of your child over the early years is quite extraordinary; they really do grow before your eyes. During this time, they have key growth spurts and can experience painful growing pains.

This week on Parents You've Got This - The Expert Guide to Parenthood Podcast, we welcome back our Paediatrician Expert Dr Lexi Frydenberg to talk about growth spurts and growing pains and to share her expertise on when these occur and how you can help give your little one some relief.

We discuss:

- What a growth spurt is

- The key ages when children experience growth spurts or mini growth spurts

- Key growth spurt stages - Infancy, Toddler and Early Childhood, and Puberty

- How girls and boys differ in their growth timetable

- Signs your child is going through a growth spurt

- When boys and girls typically stop growing

- What is a growth pain? Do children actually feel themselves growing?

- If your child wakes in the middle of the night crying out in pain are they likely to be experiencing growing pains?

- What causes growth pains?

- Symptoms of growth pains

- How common growth pains are

- Key ages children will experience growth pains

- Key body parts where your child may experiences growth pains

- Dr Lexi recommends specific treatments or strategies which can be used to help provide relief

Never forget Parents You've Got This

Parents You've Got This - The Expert Guide To Parenthood Podcast is proudly supported by Mustela natural origin skincare, by parents' side since 1950.

Parents You've Got This offers antenatal and postnatal parenting education and Masterclasses from the planning phase to early preschool. Learn more: ⁠⁠parentsyouvegotthis.com.au⁠⁠

Credits: Producer Dean Thomas, Camera person Tim Hehir, Content and Hosts Parents You've Got This

Want to become a Mum but haven't met the right person yet? Or would you prefer to have a child on your own? How do you go about making your dream a reality and what might you need to consider along the way?

This week on Parents You've Got This - The Expert Guide to Parenthood Podcast, we welcome Alisha Burns, founder of the Solo Mum Society who has done just that - become a mama on her own - and geared her life around helping other women to do the same. If this is something that you have ever considered or you want to feel inspired by her incredible journey, then this is the episode for you.

In this episode Alisha shares:

- Her journey to become a Solo Mama by Choice

- Recommendations around the first steps to take if you think you may like to be a solo mama

- Insights into sperm donation and how to go about selecting and acquiring sperm

- Tips on how to navigate the cost of being a solo parent

- How do you know if being a solo parent is the right choice for you?

- The best parts of being a solo parent

- The hardest part of being a solo parent

- What people don't tell you about being a solo parent

- One of the biggest worries for a solo parent is that they are robbing their child of another parent. Alisha shares her thoughts around this and what her community of solo parents and kids think

- Advice for tackling negative comments people may make if you decide to become a solo parent

Never forget Parents You've Got This

Parents You've Got This - The Expert Guide To Parenthood Podcast is proudly supported by Mustela natural origin skincare, by parents' side since 1950.

Follow us Social:

Instagram: @parentsyouvegotthis_au

Threads @parentsyouvegotthis_au

TikTok: @partentsyouvegotthis_au

Facebook: @parentsyouvegotthis

__________________________________

Parents You've Got This offers antenatal and postnatal parenting education and Masterclasses from the planning phase to early preschool. Learn more: ⁠⁠parentsyouvegotthis.com.au⁠⁠

Credits: Producer Dean Thomas, Camera person Tim Hehir, Content and Hosts Parents You've Got This