Observations, talking, rolling and more - we've answered your questions

Thank you for your questions - we've answered them here. We've included a transcript and captions for each video, in case you just want a quick read or to watch with volume down while you're nap trapped!  

We loved answering your questions, please get in touch anytime to tell us how you’re finding the app or ask a question, and don’t forget you can join our Facebook community to chat to other parents and our experts.  

Thank you

Transcript: 

Hi, we just wanted to say thank you very much for sending in your questions all about the app and child development and now we are going to do our best to answer them for you. 

What are observations?  

Transcript: 

The first question we've got is what is the observation button for, that little eye that you see that's underneath the skill?  

The thinking behind that is simply that if you observe your child having a go at a skill, but they've not quite mastered it yet, you could just acknowledge that by pressing the eye, which means I've seen it. And you can do that as many times as you like, just as a bit of reminder that they're having a go at that.  

And we also have link questions to that about when should I master a skill and should it be after I've observed it a certain number of times.  

No right or wrong answer to that. 

For example, a child might literally get up and walk and they walk in and they're doing it and but for other skills they have to practise and practise and practise before they actually get there.  

So what we say is mark a skill as mastered when they are secure and able to do that really without any sort of second thought. 

Why don't you use milestones in the app?  

Transcript: 

Another question we got was that we don't use milestones in the app and that's a really conscious decision and the parents saying, but if we don't use milestones, how do I know that my child is OK? Yeah, I absolutely get that.  

And there is an element of reassurance that you can't opt into should you choose to.  

So every child is genuinely unique.  

And I think we all know that if we just use walking as an example, children walk at different times and to have an app that says at 12 months your child will be walking is crazy.  

And it's the same for every skill. Every skill and the timing of that is unique to every child.  

So we passionately believe that ages and stages really do create unnecessary anxiety for parents.  

But we also get that parents like to get reassurance that everything is as it should be.  So you can opt in to emails that we send at six months, 12 months, 18 months, and every year thereafter, just to give you an indication of the sort of things that a child would typically be doing. 

At those stages, and if there's any concerns at all, signposting you what to do next as well.  

But we expect for the majority of parents those emails will be really reassuring and celebratory.  

Absolutely.  

And what the app does is it gives you that momentum.  

You can see that every week your child is mastering skills and if the mastering skills in each of the streams and moving things forward, then for many parents that momentum will give them the confidence that they need. 

Should I help my baby to roll over? 

Transcript:  

A question from one of our baby parents.  

Should I be trying to encourage my child to roll over? And if so, how do I do it? That's really interesting in this because when babies roll over, has it actually changed in terms of typical development? Because when safe sleeping was introduced and we were encouraged to put babies to sleep on their backs, we found that actually rolling over happened a little bit later.  

So you might find that some older family members or relatives might expect rolling over to happen sooner and also you might see things where videos I've seen online and other baby apps that encourage you to physically try and turn your baby to get them to roll over.  

But again, the research would suggest that giving babies lots of opportunities to wriggle, move and do that kind of gross motor movement tummy time, develop their core and their upper body, those are the things that are going to enable them to roll over as opposed to actually physically helping them.  

Yeah, we've got some examples of that in our app as well about some thoughts and play activities that you can do to encourage without physically doing it for them, yeah. 

How many words should my child be saying by age two?

Transcript:

So another question we've had from our parents, Alistair, is how many words should my child be saying by the age of two?  

But the guidance is that if your child, well your child should be saying around about 50 words by the time they're two.  

So if they're not, then that might be worth having a conversation with your health advisor.  

But also to think as parents about the fact that communication is more than just the words that they're  

And so is your child interested in language? Are they interested in conversations when you're having little serve and return with your child? Are they engaging in that.  

So if the answer to all of that is yes, and they're beginning to acquire words, they're probably well on their journey.  

But if you've got any concerns, speak to somebody in the health profession. 

My child starts school in September, what should I be doing over the summer months to get them ready? 

Transcript:  

A question from a parent with a slightly older child, which is about being ready for school.  

So my child starts school in September. What should I be doing over the summer months to get them ready?  

Don't panic, is the main thing. So schools are really good at getting children where they need to be in terms of developing them academically.  

And I think as parents, sometimes we really worry that they'll have a better chance in school if they're reading and writing and they know their numbers before they get there.  

But actually, that's what good schooling is all about. 

So how we can prepare our children for school is working on their independence, working on their ability to do things like put on their own clothes, take them off again, put the socks and shoes on, pack their bag, talk to them about what's going to be happening in school, make them genuinely excited about this.  

And also work on that kind of gross motor physical development, because the ability to sit still comes from the ability to control all the muscles in your body.  And to be able to do that, you need to have used them a lot and also work a lot on play and imaginative play. Because the more inventive and creative your children are, the more excitement they're gonna have and the better they're gonna to be in terms of their learning at school.  

So don't worry, just invest a lot in their social emotional development and their play and let school do the rest.  

I think one of them though is toileting.  

I think that is a good one too actually yes, we've got loads of information about potty training.  

I think many schools these days will get involved in toileting, but others won't.  

And you know being really clear what your school's policy is around that, but you know... 

I definitely think the toileting and also independently wiping their bum.  

Sorry to go there, but it really does help if they can! And just accepting that there are few interesting marks in underwear while you're trying to master that skill.  

But bear with them, they'll get there.