ParentCalm

Coming in the future

The ParentCalm education programme

We support parents with a range of classes, from pregnancy up until your baby is one year of age. They aren’t like other baby classes. We will provide you with real knowledge about raising babies in a way that leads to a calmer life for you both now, optimises your baby’s development (holistically) for the future, and builds a healthy relationship for you both.

You will gain a thorough understanding of physical, neurological and psychological development and how this relates to the way we care for babies and how we have a more enjoyable and manageable experience.

Preparing to be a parent
Managing sibling relationships
Creating and holding limits
The parenting team approach
Managing your past and present for calm
Previous
Next

Find a consultant local to you or online now

Or you can read more about ParentCalm below

1 Courses
2 Workshops
3 Consultations
4 Groups
5 Online learning
Courses

Courses

Our courses in BabyCalm offer a series of sessions (either 4 or 6) that support parents with babies at a particular stage. There is a course for expectant parents to prepare for their life with their baby, one for parents with new babies, and one for supporting development throughout the first year.

Learn more
Courses
Workshops

Workshops

Our workshops are single group sessions of between 3 and 4 hours, covering one particular area of life with babies. The new baby workshop supports parents in the first 4 months, whereas the calmer babies workshop focuses on calm with babies from 4 to 12 months. There is also a sleep workshop, a weaning workshops, and a workshops for optimising development through play with babies under 12 months.

Learn more
Workshops
Consultations

Consultations

Bespoke education and support in one or multiple sessions, privately with a consultant. The consultant will work with you and your family to meet your needs, and support your goals and approach to parenting. They can cover multiple specialisms and areas of knowledge for which they are trained.

Learn more
Consultations
Groups

Groups

Our groups are for parents of babies at all stages, offering a chance to connect with others, and dip in and out of education and support as needed. These are drop in sessions, with a small entry free to cover costs.

Learn more
Groups
Online learning

Online learning

We are now offering a few (thought this will grow) online courses for parents of babies that can be accessed from home. You can learn right here by joining our free CalmFamily community and then paying for a course. Or you can become a member of our community and learn through our courses, and gain access to multiple resources and online support from our team.

Learn more
Online learning

Things we specialise in

Fourth trimester

The fourth trimester is a 3-4 month period after birth, in which a baby needs intense nurturing as though they were still inside the womb. Learn about why and how with us.

Infant sleep

The fourth trimester is a 3-4 month period after birth, in which a baby needs intense nurturing as though they were still inside the womb. Learn about why and how with us.

Calming

The fourth trimester is a 3-4 month period after birth, in which a baby needs intense nurturing as though they were still inside the womb. Learn about why and how with us.

Brain development

The fourth trimester is a 3-4 month period after birth, in which a baby needs intense nurturing as though they were still inside the womb. Learn about why and how with us.

Infant feeding

The fourth trimester is a 3-4 month period after birth, in which a baby needs intense nurturing as though they were still inside the womb. Learn about why and how with us.

Weaning

The fourth trimester is a 3-4 month period after birth, in which a baby needs intense nurturing as though they were still inside the womb. Learn about why and how with us.

Questions we get asked

About sessions...

Our education programmes are delivered by our highly trained consultants all over the UK and in some international countries. Click on “Find support” in the main menu where you can view consultants by region or search our map.We are a growing community of educators, and the demand for more consultants is high. If you are interested in training, or know someone who is, please take a look at our professional training pages.

Our consultants run their own individual business and so prices vary depending on the location and the consultant. We, as a community, want to reach all parents so if you are concerned about price, please contact your consultant who will try to help you. As a guide for the UK, workshop places cost between £40 and £60, courses can range from £75-£150, and consultations usually start at £40 an hour.

We are also looking to offer part-funded places in exceptional financial circumstances, through a community fund in the future. Please contact us if you would like more information.

Please use our map or search by region under “Find support” in the main menu to find your local consultant. Each consultant has a booking and enquiry form on their page.

As a general guide, young babies (those who aren’t yet mobile) are welcome in all of our classes and are an essential part of the BabyCalm Nurturing baby course.We don’t tend to allow toddlers or older children to any of our classes for a few important reasons, even though we know this makes it more difficult for many parents. As much as we adore all children, it’s important to provide a calm and peaceful environment, and an environment in which parents can take a full part in our interactive sessions. This isn’t always possible with toddlers and older children present because parents rightfully, need to attend to their needs.Also, we value showing respect to others very highly and feel that discussing our children (sometimes including their more negative behaviour) with them present doesn’t always promote this. We find parents feel more free to offload, an essential part of what we do with you, if their children are absent.However, some consultants do allow older children in certain circumstances, and private consultations can also work well if they can be done when children are in bed – please contact your local consultant to find out their policy. ​

As standard, your payment includes a space for up to two parents or carers for the same child or children.For instance, you and your partner, or you and a grandparent, or you and your live in nanny. If another carer for your child is not available you cannot bring along a friend who cares for another child.Please speak to your consultant before booking if you’re unsure.

Yes, absolutely! Everyone who runs our Parent Education Programmes is a Certified Parenting Consultant, meaning that they are able to offer bespoke sessions for individual families. There is, of course, a higher cost for private, bespoke services.It is also possible to organise your own private group for a particular workshop or course. Consultants love this and will often offer you a discount for organising it for them, especially if you also have a suitable venue.Please contact your local consultant for more information.

Our consultants will have individual policies on this, which you can check before booking, but as a general rule, no. This is because we’re unable to offer your missed class to anyone else. Consultants may choose to offer you another session on another group course or workshop, but they are under no obligation to do this. Remember that all of our consultants are parents too and just trying to support parents whilst supporting their own families.If you have exceptional circumstances, talk to your consultant, they are lovely.

Many of our consultants are offering online workshops, courses and consultations at the moment. You can check out our events listings, or contact a specific consultant. 

We are taking the virus very seriously. Many of our consultants are either only running sessions online, or are currently not running sessions. However, where a consultant is running a session in-person they will be following the guidelines and taking suitable precautions. Please check with the individual consultant as to what these measures are at the time of booking. The situation is changes so rapidly that we cannot state them here.

About our approach...

Our approach is simply to educate parents with the best evidence we can find, whether it is about child development and behaviour, feeding, sleep, birth, play, or anything else, so that they can make their own choices. We are not parenting experts, we don’t think that is a thing. We are knowledgable and experienced for sure, but the only experts we know of are individual parents who are experts in their own children. We simply try to facilitate parents gaining even more expertise in parenting their own children.

We don’t do different types of parenting. We feel this is confusing, separates parents into groups, and sets people up to feel like they have failed. Instead, we keep it simple. We encourage parents to understand the best evidence about how humans develop and how what we do as parents impacts that. We encourage parents to choose what works for them to balance the development of their child, everyone’s needs right now, and their future family relationships.

Our calmer relationships concept was created to describe generally what we understand will improve the lives of families and create a better future:

Collaborate for solutions – 
we work together with the other person for solutions; problem solving, and maintaining connection through reciprocity and restoration. Rupture and repair is necessary.

Accept what is – 
we accept the person in front of us as they are, accept ourselves as we are in the moment and accept the situation even if we want to move forward.

Learn and grow together – 
whilst we sit in acceptance, we strive to continue learning in pursuit of growth and ultimately excellence without perfection.

Meet and balance needs – 
we consciously balance our needs and goals with those of the other person and between short-term and long-term; striving to balance our choices and meet their needs without sacrificing our own.

Empathise always – 
we seek to deeply understand and hold space for the other person’s unique perspective, stage of development, support needs, feelings, reactions and thought processes. We may not be capable of empathy in the moment, but it is always possible in time.

Respond with compassion – 
we seek to respond rather than react, using compassion as our driving force in our interactions and for ourselves when we act in a way that creates a need for restoration and repair.

Yes! Parents often come to us because they have tried these things, or don’t want to try these things, and want to see something different. With our consultants you will look at these methods, but from an evidence-based and scientific point of view, reviewing their use in different circumstances, understanding the pros and cons of each method for you so that you can always make your own choices. However, these aren’t the focus of our sessions. The frameworks that we offer are based on a psychological understanding of children and how they develop best. They promote calmer and more equal relationships.

Hell no! We don’t think either end of the authority spectrum is helpful. Many parents understand that being too harsh with children can be harmful, but it is important to understand that being permissive in a parenting relationship (or any relationship) is just as harmful. We will help you to understand how to set limits and boundaries appropriately and how to hold firm with love and compassion.

Our approach is backed up by scientific and psychological research. We gather and act on feedback from clients and are always collating data to show our outcomes for parents. I guess in some ways it may depend on what you mean by “working”. Will your baby or toddler turn into a perfectly behaved, completely calm all the time human who sleeps 12 hours straight and eats every food in the world and brings you drinks and rubs your feet? Probably not. Will they cry, whinge, tantrum less and sleep and eat more, probably. The only thing we can almost guarantee is that you will feel a lot calmer and more confident in your own personal approach with your family. We have an impressive list of happy parents so far. If you want to help by providing feedback then you can send it to us on our contact page.Does

Our classes are based on years of research, by many different specialists, and even more collective years of working with families to calmly support them through pregnancy, birth, the first days and months of being a family and through the rest of childhood. We all have extensive experience around parenting and children, a realistic view and a completely judgement-free attitude. We support, we listen, we build confidence, and we provide information and frameworks that guide you through making your own plans. We absolutely do not suggest prescriptive ways for raising children. We present unbiased, evidence-based information that is up to date. Our highly trained consultants focus on supporting parents to become confident in their role and to really feel like they are the expert. We aren’t aware of any other organisation in the world offering what we do.

The original concept of the BabyCalm and ToddlerCalm programmes was accompanied by two books of the same name. It has been many years since their release and we have updated and expanded the programmes since then, and have even written a new programme for pregnancy and birth.

You do not need to read the book to benefit from our sessions. We provide all the information you need in our classes and it is fully up-to-date. We also back it up with information and articles to take home, as well as follow-up support by email and online. Having said that, the books are great so if you fancy it then please feel free.

If you have read the book, don’t worry you will still get so much from our sessions. It’s the difference between being inspired by a concept and knowing how to put it into practice. If you liked the book, you’ll love the opportunity to discuss the information with one of our consultants and with other parents, get updated information, enjoy interactive activities to help you draw your own conclusions and apply our frameworks to make your own plans.

What people think?

"I feel so enlightened after attending the BabyCalm workshop, I can't wait to start trying it out at home and sharing with my partner."
Adam Sendler
Designer
"I would totally recommend BabyCalm to empower you as a parent of a wakeful or crying baby."
Mila Kunis
Manager
"Highly recommend the new baby course and the weaning workshop. Enjoyed them both! Will definitely be back."
Mike Stuart
Support