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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder if this is what people mean by gentle parenting

670 replies

pleasemothermay1 · 20/07/2016 13:36

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3699191/Outrage-parents-allow-child-toilet-Morning-floor.html

Not sure why a one year old wouldn't have a nappy on as she clearly is not Notts trained at that age my one year old would be become destressed to be constantly wet

And what's the no medication about surely social service would become involved if they got very ill and parents did noting

Very odd

OP posts:
PunkrockerGirl · 21/07/2016 21:49

There's a technique called strewing
Ffs
When I was growing up and when my dc were small, their was a technique called common sense.

ElspethFlashman · 21/07/2016 21:52

Some other gems of wisdom.....

It is interesting to note that Australia, one of the biggest countries for using sun screen protection also has one of the highest rates of skin cancer.

Sunscreen = skin cancer. OK.

ElspethFlashman · 21/07/2016 21:54

Statistics show that 97 per cent of all infants who die from SIDS had a vaccination within 24 hours.

SouperSal · 21/07/2016 21:54

Actually there is research that people don't use sunscreen properly (but think they do) leading to an increase in skin cancer.

SanityAssassin · 21/07/2016 21:59

practically every picture she's got the 5 year old sucking on a boob (not the younger one who you would think be more likely to want a feed)

ElspethFlashman · 21/07/2016 22:00

That was definately not the point she was trying to make.

Philoslothy · 21/07/2016 22:02

Aside from the vaccination thing there is not much to object to. The comments about them living in a one bed flat are mean.

And a five year old breastfeeding borders on incest to me (I know, I know - I have a bad mind . . . ). And I am not against breast-feeding. I fed both of mine until they were 18 months, but this is not nice, and in public, many people (including me) would find it offensive.

This is offensive in the extreme.

pleasemothermay1 · 21/07/2016 22:03

Austria has a huge issues with getting people to wear hats and put sun cream on so not sure what your talking about

They. Have a famous campaign www.heraldsun.com.au/news/young-australians-heeding-slip-slop-slap-message-as-overall-melanoma-cases-rise/news-story/f514efe3d9cd50911d8f5b045d2d5e5f

The rise in skin cancer is due to young Aussies not wearing hats or putting sun screen on not because they are putting it on

Just as uk teens won't stop bloody tanning

OP posts:
DeloresJaneUmbridge · 21/07/2016 22:05

To be honest I quite like the family.

Their kids are not being dumped in front of a TV all day.

Yes she has some very odd ideas but her children look healthy and happy which is great.

Philoslothy · 21/07/2016 22:07

But the parents have used medicine when it was needed in the past. They just don't use it as a first resort

Philoslothy · 21/07/2016 22:08

They clearly love their children and are putting a lot of thought into parenting them. We need more of that.

eternalopt · 21/07/2016 22:15

No, this isn't gentle parenting. Please don't lump all gentle parents into this category!

Now I'm off to pedants corner to moan about your use of "there"! Wink

ElspethFlashman · 21/07/2016 22:21

Actually Dolores they do watch quite a bit of TV - one off her blog posts is about how they are constantly trying to balance it out but Ulysses LOVES TV. And they have tablets and watch a fair amount on YouTube.

But given that they only meet up with other kids on a Sunday I certainly dont criticise them for putting a Disney film on when Ulysses is climbing the walls from boredom on a wet Tuesday.

Fomalhaut · 21/07/2016 22:28

Yes she has some very odd ideas but her children look healthy and happy which is great

They won't if they catch measles. Or whooping cough. Or TB.
Their community won't if their kid spreads measles to those too young/unable to be vaccinated.

The ebf/hippy stuff is neither here nor there but denial of medical care and non vaccination is neglect,

AdultingIsNotWhatIExpected · 21/07/2016 22:32

But given that they only meet up with other kids on a Sunday
Why?
Surely in Brighton of all places there's an abundance of home educating meet ups all week?

practy · 21/07/2016 22:34

Not using medical care is fine when your kids only have coughs and colds. But totally different if they get something serious.

ElspethFlashman · 21/07/2016 22:38

Well Ulysses has already had to battle scarlet fever. I imagine that wasnt very fun as its bacterial and the treatment is always antibiotics. I cant imagine she supports use of those, either.

ElspethFlashman · 21/07/2016 22:40

I guess they're all busy adulting? Anyway, she meets up with the other homeschoolers and their kids once a week. They go for forest walks and the like.

bigkidsdidit · 21/07/2016 22:47

Hang on - what's the difference between watching telly and watching stuff on an iPad? Why is one superior?

as for not using plastic toys while they are visible in he garden, living in nature in the middle of a very densely populated city, being 'off grid' while being bloggers with iPads HmmConfusedGrin

Does she think we are dim?

redshoeblueshoe · 21/07/2016 22:53

Not too long ago one of my relatives got TB - a physically fit adult (who was vaccinated as a child) it very nearly killed him. The doctors said its on the rise in certain areas.

Hmm Sad

PunkrockerGirl · 21/07/2016 22:53

We need more of that
Hmm I didn't see them on the telly, but who had to clear up the child's wee? If it wasn't a parent rushing to mop it up then they should be very ashamed.
How come their dc are so much more special than anyone else's and shouldn't be vaccinated? And as they've made a conscious decision to potentially subject their dc to these illnesses, will they then pay for their treatment or expect the good old NHS to pick up the tab? I think we can safely guess the answer to that one.
And I'd be far less cynical if the mother wasn't getting her tits out for every press opportunity and bf the school age child but never the younger one.
As I said before, I hope the landlord evicts them for letting dear Ulysses deface his/her house.

MrsJoeyMaynard · 21/07/2016 22:58

It is possible to engage with nature in towns - we have friends who live in a very ordinary house among lots of other houses. They have an allotment, and spend hours down there cultivating fruit and veg and tending their chickens. It all looks like very hard, time consuming work to actually get a decent quantity of food out of the allotment. But they all, including the kids, seem to enjoy it.

Philoslothy · 21/07/2016 23:14

punkrocker I said that I did not agree with the non vaccinating however the rest isn't harmful and not even that "out there" tbh. I do admire them for parenting so thoughtfully, that is what we could do with more of

Lorsaidthedean · 21/07/2016 23:17

The more I read the more I think it is a hoax; they remind me of the ' modern parents' from Viz, so I think that is what it has been based on.

It is funny, but I think they are overegging the pudding

bloodyteenagers · 21/07/2016 23:17

She lost me when she said that herbs would cure cancer.