Jo Frost should be compulsory watching.

[Poshbaggirl]

I love this woman. She is to parenting what Jamie is to school dinners. No, shes better than that! So straightforward, everyone should watch and learn.

[sunshinenanny]

This thread could go on forever but it still wouldn't make JF the expert she thinks she is.and I sometimes find her methods abusive. I stand by the comments I made earlier and I am glad that there are other's on this thread who don't think shoving a child on a naughty step and keep taking them back every time they move, in one case up to an hour with an increasingly distressed toddler, in an exhausting battle of wills is the right way to teach a child how to behave. Yes children need clear boundaries they also generally want to please and they also learn by example.

[julienoshoes]

I disagree. Each to their own, but she is not for me.

I find her type of parenting disrespectful to children and I think it is loathesome to use children as TV entertainment.

[merrymouse]

I think "sit there & think about what you´ve done" must be one of the most nonsensical things that anybody has ever suggested.

[diddl]

I agree with redglow-there is no "one size fits all".

I also loathe the naughty step & never used it.

If I had, I´m fairly certain that my son would have sat there as told, but with my daughter I would have spent all the time putting her back on.

I aso don´t really get "sit there & think about what you´ve done" for young children.

It was often nothing a run around the garden or nearby park wouldn´t sort out-or just a walk.

[acsec]

I can't stand her! She's awful and can't speak properly - she pronounces so many words incorrectly!

[devientenigma]

I also agree with Ali and pointy my parenting skills are great too, however it's my youngest dc that seems to be the issue.

[AliGrylls]

I love her. In fact my parenting style is a combination of Jo Frost and the dog whisperer (he says not to reward bad behaviour with attention and give them regular exercise).

[EllenJaneisnotmyname]

@ pointydog I wish my parenting was so successful!

[redglow]

She might get the children to behave when she is there, but I bet its different when she goes home. I have been a nanny for over twenty years it is so easy to sit back and judge like I used to. The hardest children I looked after were my own all the commen sense went out the window.

This naughty step is no different from standing a child in the corner I thought we had moved on from them days.

I have looked after many children and they all respond to different things there is not one right answer when it comes to childcare.

[spiderpig8]

I don't agree with children's bad behaviour being used for entertainment purposes though.
I felt so sorry for that poor little ginger tubby boy who was getting bullied at school! being on national television will give any would-be bullies so much amunition!

[AngelDelightIsFab]

Bows down to the goddess herself. Love her!

[pointydog]

Ah well. My parenting was always so damn good I didn't need to look out for Tanya

[EllenJaneisnotmyname]

Hi pointydog, Tanya Byron used to do a parenting programme on BBC2 called 'Little Angels' which was really good. Her later, longer programme was 'House of Tiny Tearaways' which was on BBC3 so you probably missed it. It does get repeated on some of the the digital channels, but my DS's are getting older now, oldest 14, so I'm not so interested. The Little Angels series did a 'Teen Angels' series, too, but mine were littlies back then.

[pranma]

One of the best pieces of advice JF gives is that parents should always support one another in front of the dc.many of the worst situations escalate when one parent says,'do that dc' and the other says,'no dc do this'.It really is common sense.consistency is so important.

[joric]

Merry "I agree that Tanya Byron was good, but I think she left this kind of TV show because there was pressure to exploit the participants to show that any behavioural problem could be solved in half an hour at 8pm."
I agree, I imagine she saw that it had the potential to become car crash/ trash tv - not appealing for a true academic.

[Poweredbypepsi]

well I watched my first jo frost programme on 4OD last night (it was the extreme parenting one with the boy who ate nothing but custard creams). I thought she was fine, just talking sense really alot of the advice she gave is what i would have said (note i say said because i know that when its your own children its easier said than actually done!).

[JosieRosie]

Completely agree with thecaptaincrocfamily - I also strongly doubt that the child ate nothing whatsoever for 7 days.
I'm also a JF fan - she knows that the children are only reacting to what is going on around them, and it's the parents who need to change their behaviour if they want to get on top of the situation. And as a Early Years professional who is not a parent, I feel it can be an advantage not having 'your own' children. It gives you an emotional distance which helps to look at situations objectively. Which is exactly what a lot of these parents are (understandably) lacking.

[thecaptaincrocfamily]

With food refusal unless the child starts to lose weight (and I frankly disbelieve the child had nothing to eat for 7 days, maybe no meals) then giving in after so long will just reinforce that if they hold out long enough then they get something else.......which is how they probably ended up being fussy in the first place. So long as they are hydrated and have something its fine. I would advise giving breakfast they like, lunch and dinner with some new foods, must try the new food or nothing else and no yoghurt when they say 'I'm hungry - bread, carrot sticks, piece of cheese. I'm amazed that so many parents I meet don't realise that this is a lovely sweet treat for their DC's........so what they are saying is don't bother finishing/eating at family meals because there is no consequence and you get a lovely treat for it

[merrymouse]

No. I think she is just the front woman for a load of 'techniquey' stuff cobbled together by production assistants that is sometimes common sense sometimes rubbish. It is just edited together to tell a particular story, like any reality TV.

I agree that Tanya Byron was good, but I think she left this kind of TV show because there was pressure to exploit the participants to show that any behavioural problem could be solved in half an hour at 8pm.

[pointydog]

I don;t doubt that she has, she's a trained psychologist, no? I couldn't get bbc 3 till recently so I won't have seen her show.

But I do think Frost does a good, no-nonsense, easy-to-follow job.

[cyb]

Yes I liked Tanya Byron. So did my husband, but in a different way.

[HoneyPablo]

pointydog Tanya Byron did a fantastic series on BBC3 on freeview a few years ago. It was very good. She has a much better understanding of children and their development and behaviour than Jo Frost does.

[pointydog]

My oldest is 15, ellenjane. I have never been aware of Byron programmes. I've only ever had terrestial TV, mind you.

[HoneyPablo]

tablefor3 a perfect example of a little bit of knowledge being a dangerous thing.

[tablefor3]

Honey I know. I was also [shocked] and and genuinely concerned for the health of the child. I'm like you that I would keep on with the accepted food while offering other bits and pieces.