To wonder if this is what people mean by gentle parenting

[pleasemothermay1]

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

We are not suggesting that everyone lives like us, all we are hoping to do is challenge people’s thinking about parenting and maybe integrate some ideas into their own lives
FOTTOSOF

I don't think the media would pay much attention to a person who claims that bad thoughts give you cancer and coriander gets rid of autism if it weren't dressed up as a 'parenting philosophy'.

The couple have got a lot of criticism but I'm not sure any of it is worse than saying that it's your fault you have cancer. Saying that isn't just happily getting on with your life not hurting anyone.

And if you write a blog or a book about your way of doing things and expect people to take you seriously enough to give you money then your ideas should be able to withstand scrutiny.

And do they seriously think if they had £ks sitting in a go fund me account they will be entitled to benefit?

The Sundancers openly admit they used to claim benefits in Germany, so are happy to take from the system when it suits them.

They're bullshitting (sundances) - so much doesn't add up! He says that he could claim £££ child benefit from Germany but choses not to as part of his philosophy that paying tax = funding wars

From what I understand of the German system you cannot claim child benefit without sending your kids to formal school as home Ed is banned.. and they take a really hard line on it.

It definitely sounds like the As are looking to buy one of the (non existent) eco homes that the Sundances are heavily promoting in a (non existant) eco village… he did a live webchat and LOADS of people were asking WTF why has there been no progress on this eco village we're all planning to join you at, MrS was all "oh it's a different pace of life here so planning etc takes longer…"

I can't believe they don't bother putting suncream on their children as they don't believe the sun can cause cancer?!? Squirting breastmilk in their eyes for eye infections?!

Breastmilk and eye infections is common knowledge, isn't it?

Breastmilk for eye infections is very standard practice

Hurrah. All this time I thought I was just a Rabenmutter and it turns out I was just off-the-grid. Who knew?! ;-)

Breast milk in DD's eye is very standard, as she wants to look around the room and I have a lot of fast flowing milk. It does clear the eye but obviously antibiotics are sometimes the only thing that works. I remember a milk bath being advice for a sore eye as well so maybe it's not just breast milk that is beneficial.

Coconut oil for cradle cap is also standard advice from hv. Delayed cord clamping was standard at the hospital I gave birth at. The NHS recommend some of the things they think are alternative, because it might be a cliche but you know what we call alternative medicine that works? Medicine.

HeyRobot, agree with you - it's when it's dressed up as a parenting philosophy that it becomes a concern and although it may feel uncomfortable being judgmental about someone's lifestyle, what else can you do when they're promoting it as a way of living?

We did discuss a lotus birth with our last - although we didn't entertain the idea that long. I am the least woo person I know. We did use delayed clamping as did most mothers I know - again quite mainstream

A tiny bit of me is feeling a bit sorry for them, at how naive they were to think they had much chance of raising so much money, and instead they are being mocked.

I'm quite alternative, and DH and I are currently working towards a very long 'sabbatical' so we can take our young dc on a worldwide trip for a few years, but there is no way I'd subject my kids to this media circus to finance it. Perhaps the kids will change their names when they are old enough, to disassociate from all this. I do like their names though!

I taught ds1 to read. He has dyspraxia and wasn't able to learn it at school as they were crap. As a result he learnt individual word due to their shape and context. As Adele suggests. That's not reading. It's memorising. He could read the word on one page and not the next. I taught him phonetics and he learnt in 2 years and was a free reader and level 5 by year 6. Like everything else she spouts, she doesn't know what she's talking about!

I have only read through one article on this family and what stood out was the fact the mother wore no make up so she thinks her dd won't.
I have never worn make up but my dd has a serious make up habit. Even by her friends standards they cannot believe how much foundation, eye shadows mascara and lipsticks etc she has.

I don't think the media would pay much attention to a person who claims that bad thoughts give you cancer Noel Edmonds. said similar thankfully the media bollocked him www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36470979

You're right Twatbadging, I meant they wouldn't be taken seriously and should have been clearer.

Oh of course they're not taken seriously!

I had an argument online with a chap who thought you could cure cancer with a raw diet alone. I had this guy going round and round in circles until he finally admitted these were people who had undergone conventional treatment and their survival was down to surgery/chemo not raw diet alone.

He was very woo much like this couple. Claimed to be a nutritionist. Hell I could go online right now, do a cheap £100 course and get a 'diploma' in nutrition but it means fuck all. Dieticians have the knowledge. Nutritionists don't.

This is nothing to do with the couple but interesting in the diet/nutrition over what is currently popular re clean eating gluten free etc. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p040430l

The nonsense about food gets me riled up so I might give that a watch. The one I hear at the moment is 'natural' sugar. Apparently the sugar cane plant isn't enough of a plant.

@Oliversmumarmy: I never wear makeup either, & my DD wears a fair bit of it.

Thing is, I bet people like you & me "allow" that. We allow our DDs to be different people from us.
I can't help but sound a snit about this... a lot of the HErs I meet would not "allow" their DC to do a lot of things the parents disapprove of but are mainstream culturally; they HE because "values" that their kids have or are exposed to are so important. What's the difference between values & control? Maybe someone can tell me.

I met one HEer who said she HEed so that her kid would only be mixing with families who shared her ideals, her ideals include no screens whatsoever… every other HEer I know uses tablets/youtube and (gasp) cebeebies! So good luck with that one love

There's all sorts of HE families, DD has HEed friends who do all the same things she does outside of school, I've met some others who claim that their kids are "free" to be whatever they want to be… but with the distinct subtext of "so long as it's something artsey or creative and not becoming an accountant with a mortgage"

As a home edder, whilst there seem to be all sorts of motivations in the community I can honestly say I have never met any who are pressuring their children to be one thing or another. Quite the opposite, most home ed to give their kids a chance to be kids and in future make their own choices.

My uncle & aunt home ed'd especially for "values": they were proud to raise their children to be exceedingly polite but also fundamentalist evangelical creationist bigots. Wish that was not true.

I don't want to detail all the HErs I know; and some really were supportive "Be what you want to be" parents. But others, ugh. Maybe most folk are sneery about different value systems, but it stands out among HErs because they have greater influence over their kids.

witsender the type of HEers you regularly meet at HE social gatherings and activities are by default less likely to be the controlling type though aren't they?

A lot of HEers don't engage in he HE "community", either because they're sick of their shite (in relation to their local "active" bunch - like any groups of people, some groups are nice some are not) and they do their own thing and mix with schoolers (I know some of these), or, because they don't mix with anyone, or don't mix outside of their beliefs/ideals.

it stands out among HErs because they have greater influence over their kids and this is one reason why I feel school is so important not for education but it exposes you to so so many people from different backgrounds, incomes and with so many different opinions. Being so insular can be detrimental to a child's, or adults for that matter, wellbeing and connection with the world.

Some of the most extreme viewed people I know are the ones who grew up within a tiny bubble. Some HEers others just never left the small towns they lived in ever and never changed friends so their views were never challenged.

Its a problem in some eco communities and amongst some vegan groups. As well as other alternative living groups I'm a member of. The have a tendency to kick out anyone who disagrees so the views are never challenged and challenge is good! meaning few people will go against the grain or ever admit to it.

Anti-vaxxer groups are like this. You challenge the views with research and the stick their fingers in their ears going bla bla bla

I may have a bee in my bonnet about some radical eco groups but that's another thread

Also Witsender it's really not something I think most people can have an awful lot of self awareness about. We all have things we gravitate to and things we don't.

I do see HEers who say their kids are free to do whatever they want, however what they're actually doing a lot of the time is following their parents interests, or their parents idea of what a child "doing what they want" means (usually creative stuff)

In a lot of cases it's a lot of puddle jumping and art, both of which are great, but TBH a creative career would not suit my personality at all - I wouldn't do well with the uncertaintly, I like public sector work, or "sheeple" work as it is sometimes described on alternative groups. It is not (as they state) because I am indoctrinated and don't know any other way, I actually do and don't enjoy flying by the seat of my pants money wise. That's just me.

I have friends in creative careers, their lifestyle at times gives me the heebie jeebies :-D