Product Description

'The key is to understand the long-term consequences of your parenting style. With every parenting decision you make today, you are sowing the seeds of the teenager of tomorrow.'

Dr Tanya Byron is renowned for changing families' lives. In a unique TV series,  The House of Tiny Tearaways, she helped parents dramatically turn around their family life when they checked in to the House with their children for six days of twenty-four hour observation and parenting support.

Now, through her transformationl approach combining praise and play with clear boundaries, Dr Tanya shows all parents how they can enable their young children to grow and develop while enjoying their individuality.

She encourages parents to understand the roots of teh issues they are facing, recognise where and why the problems exist, and she outlines how to implement practical solutions within their families to turn destructive behaviour patterns into positive ones.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51233 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 158 pages

From the Back Cover

'The key is to understand the long-term consequences of your parenting style. With every parenting decision you make today, you are sowing the seeds of the teenager of tomorrow.'

Dr Tanya Byron is renowned for changing families' lives. In a unique TV series,  The House of Tiny Tearaways, she helped parents dramatically turn around their family life when they checked in to the House with their children for six days of twenty-four hour observation and parenting support.

Now, through her transformationl approach combining praise and play with clear boundaries, Dr Tanya shows all parents how they can enable their young children to grow and develop while enjoying their individuality.

She encourages parents to understand the roots of teh issues they are facing, recognise where and why the problems exist, and she outlines how to implement practical solutions within their families to turn destructive behaviour patterns into positive ones.

About the Author

Dr Tanya Byron is a clinical psychologist who has worked within the UK's National Health Service for sixteen years. She has in-depth experience of working and teaching in many aspects of mental health and psychology. She specialises in treating children, teenagers and families with psychological, emotional and behavioural difficulties in a wide range of areas. She has two young children of her own.

Tanya is the co-author if Little Angels (BBC Books) and has filmed several series for screening on the BBC including Little Angels, Teen Angels and The House of Tiny Tearaways.

Customer Reviews

A must-read for all parents - not just ones with tearaways
This book is great and a really easy and 'human' read. I would really recommend it as a great book for parents - and very easy to dip into for tips and insights. Tanya Byron's TV series is a real eye-opener for parents and she cuts through every parental excuse possible. This book gives you more practical and psychological information than the programmes. What I like about her approach is the fact that she never forgets that the children are individuals and that they need love and play and kindness as well as the strict guidelines that we all know about from Supernanny and other shows. We don't have any extreme behaviour problems with our children thank goodness - but even so I use her bedtime programme to the letter - and it's worked wonders. There are chapters on sleep, play, parenting skills and eating problems and bad behaviour too. I find the info about how parents behaviour affects kids really interesting and helpful. You know you're hearing it from a professional with a heart.

Great book for looking under the skin
I bought this book to understand the behaviour of my nephew and nieces. Tanya is pretty good, she is compassionate but challenges behaviour of both child and carer. The book goes into detail about why children do what they do and how to move things on. A very informative read with something to learn for everyone who looks after children.

A book which offers sound advice, not answers
The freak show grinds on and reality television now throws children into the circus ring. Been embarrassed by your kids lately, been concerned that you're failing as a parent, that you're not doing as well as friends or neighbours - well here's some right little monsters to make you feel better about yourself and disparaging about other parents. "The House of Tiny Tearaways" now makes the transition from television spectacle to book form. So what of the book?

Well, let's put my cards on the table. I'm a social worker. I've seen some brutal, incompetent, and appallingly abusive child care in my time. I've worked with many people who have been traumatised and who daily struggle to come to terms with life because their childhoods were such nightmares. I've also been a parent - I've been a house-husband, I've coped with the ups and the downs of trying to figure out how to handle each new situation … you win some, you lose some, and no, there are very seldom any 'right' answers, just an approach which works, and survival till the end of the day.

We live in a society in which we're rarely taught how to be parents - each of us has to cope alone (or at least in partnership with the mother / father). It's terrifying, it's exciting, it's exhausting, it's rewarding, it'll cost you a fortune. And people will judge you. Other parents - strangers at nursery and school. People who pass your wailing brat in the street or supermarket. You know exactly where I'm coming from! My daughter, at the doctor's surgery, pointing at a large lady opposite and saying, "Why is that lady so fat, daddy? Why is she so fat? Why? Daddy?" The term 'justifiable homicide' is a daily perspective in parenting.

So does this book make the process any easier? No more so than most good books on the subject. Give your kids love. Be consistent. Be firm - make sure they understand the boundaries. Accept they'll make mistakes … give them opportunities to make mistakes, to experiment, to take risks, to learn. Don't suffocate them, don't be overprotective, don't feel pressurised to keep up with friends and neighbours, let your kids become individuals. And study the subject. Have a read at some decent books on childcare and parenting. Try to appreciate how exhausting and demanding parenting is and don't beat yourself up if you're not perfect. No one is, not even Tanya Byron.

Tanya Byron is an experienced, professional psychologist. She offers a very credible book on how to look after your children. If it's a book which owes its marketing success to the power of television rather than to any radical or revolutionary way to guarantee 'success' in parenting, well, that's the nature of modern life. Skills in parenting have become a commodity to be marketed, bought, and sold.

This is a perfectly adequate book on child care and parenting - don't just leave it on the coffee table, read it. Don't assume it contains all the answers - oh, the little brat's having a tantrum, the answer is on page xx. Use it to help you think and focus, use it to help you relax and switch off from the pressures of parenting. It's not a competition - you'll make mistakes, you'll get things right. Use a book like this to relax and unwind by gaining the confidence to sit back and question what you're doing - and then keep doing what you're doing right and find ways to change the situation if some things don't appear to be working. Don't panic! Think!