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Parents often share many of the same challenges when raising their child. First Five Years gives parents the expert advice, insights, support and tools they need to make the most of the first years of their child’s life.

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Real parents. Real problems. We’re here with a group of leading early learning and parenting professionals to answer your questions.

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Questions:

Is time-out okay for kids?

I’ve always understood that time-out was a reasonable way to deal with behaviour issues. Now I’m seeing some articles suggesting that time-out has had its day. Is time-out OK and if not, what’s the alternative?

Help! My child is biting other children

I’m so embarrassed but my child care provider called me in to say my two-year-old has been biting other children. I hate to think what the other parents must be thinking. What do I do?

Feature

Two children fighting

Child Development

Bullying: What parents should know

How do you know if your child is being bullied? Speaker, author and academic Dr Michael Nagel looks at the impact of bullying and how parents can recognise the signs and help children build the skills to combat unwanted attention and bullying.  

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Popular content

Young girl being consoled by her father

Child Development

3 reasons why children have big feelings

Little girl drawing

Child Development

Child development milestones: 3-5 yrs

Toddler walking

Child Development

Child development milestones: 1-2 yrs

Early Learning

Superhero play: Holy bat trap batman!

Smiling muddy little girl

Early Learning

The benefits of nature play for children

Boys participate in rough and tumble play

Child Development

Boys: Understanding rough and tumble play

Snapshot of Australian Families

Emotions

Parent’s emotions are quite a contrast. The two words parents felt best described family life over the previous three months were happy 49% (↓ from 54%) and stressed 39% (↑ from 36%).

Meals

31.8% of families only eat breakfast together on weekends. However 11% (↓ from 12%) of families never eat breakfast together.

Family Time

48% (↓ from 53%) of parents believe they spend less time with their children than their parents spent with them.

Expenses

39% (↓ from 40%) of parents have struggled to meet essential expenses like food, mortgage/rent, utility bills, child care or important medical care over the past 12 months.

Mother and father working with children on lounge
It summarises the gender pay gap when mothers return to work, the discrimination and bias mothers face in recruitment and promotions and the discrimination they face in everyday work life, such as, mothers being perceived as less committed to the job, not physically present at work when they should be or even being too emotional at the office.
Dr Janin Bredehoeft

The cost of motherhood in Australia

Sometimes, it’s called the motherhood penalty. Other times, it’s called the cost of motherhood. It summarises the gender pay gap when mothers return to work, the bias in recruitment and promotions and discrimination they face in everyday work life.

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Mother holding baby son

Managing behaviour

Tantrums: A roadmap to keeping your cool

In this article Dr Justin Coulson, author and one of Australia's most popular parenting experts, explores common mistakes we make when attempting to help our children navigate big emotions and suggests three easy strategies to stay calm under pressure.

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Profile view of girl listening to her mother

Managing behaviour

Listening: How to get your child to listen

Getting your children to listen and do as they are told can seem like an impossible parenting task. Dr Becky Kennedy suggests that the best way to understand why children don’t cooperate is to understand why we, at times, don’t cooperate or comply.

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Boy playing with his father and biting his nose.

Managing behaviour

Biting: What to do when your child bites

So your toddler has bitten another child. Many of us can empathise with how concerning it is to have a child that is biting. The truth is that for many children aged under three, this is a common and often passing phase of normal child development.

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Father and two toddlers washing up the dishes

Work/life balance

Aussie fathers choosing parental leave

The shape of Australian families continues to change and so too does the role of Aussie fathers. According to the first Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s Gender Equality Scorecard, fathers’ uptake of parental leave has doubled in the last 12 months.

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Mother holds newborn

Parent health

Hypnobirthing: Benefits of a calm birth

Every woman’s birth experience is different. For many it is a positive and empowering event, for others it may raise some normal anxiety and for some the descriptions of the pain and possible complications of childbirth contribute to feelings of dread.

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Father and son fishing with fishing net in river

Social skills

How to teach your child patience

None of us are born with patience, instead children learn how to self-regulate by the structures and support parents provide. Professor of Clinical Psychology David Hawes discusses what to expect from children and why, and how to teach patience.

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Skin Sensations

Talk to your child about how things feel on his/her skin: “Your shirt is soft.” “The wind is cold.” “The ice cube is slippery.” See how he/she reacts and continue the conversation: “You like the warm water in your bath!”

When you talk back and forth with your child about how things feel on his/her skin, you are introducing him/her to new words and feelings. This helps make new connections, which are the foundation for learning to use these words himself/herself in the future.

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Vroom uses the science of early learning to help your child thrive with bite-sized activities that support brain growth.