Issue 45 - The Natural Parent Magazine

Happy New Year! With Christmas and New Year celebrations over for another year, you may be reflecting back on another year of uncertainty and time spent separated from family and loved ones. Once again, our children have shown strength and resilience during these unsettling times. Here’s hoping we can look forward to a more positive 2022. Laura Markham introduces the essential practice of “roughhousing" for our children, as a way to work out emotion, build self-esteem and release oxytocin through the laughter that often ensues. She talks about the importance of setting limits and assessing dangers before the roughhousing begins, and explains that “Like puppies or bear cubs, kids need to roll around, wrestle, climb and jump." Pinky McKay provides some great advice on gentle night weaning, explaining that “it’s actually very common for babies to wake and breastfeed at night-time throughout the first year and beyond" and that it is important to “address the reasons for waking ...