Positive Discipline Parenting Blog
Sproutable’s Positive Discipline blog for parents and caregivers of infants.
Real tips. Real talk. Read & grow.
Latest post
Soaking it up with Cloth Diapers
When I was 24 years old I took a small motorboat through the Amazon jungle in Peru from Pucallpa to a village of the Shipibo tribe. The boat was full of locals returning to their[...]By Alanna Beebe
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Infant Potty Training Approach
When my son was born, I decided to try the less common approach of “infant potty training” or “elimination communication.” With this method, you learn to read your baby’s cues and take them directly to the bathroom to pee and poop rather than having them always go in their diaper. This is a pretty common approach to potty training throughout the world as the majority of babies in India, Africa, and Asia are exposed to some form of elimination communication and are usually completely potty trained by the age of 2 years old.By Guest
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Singing to Sleep
Sleep. Sleeeeep! SLEEP! Oh, how I miss a good night's sleep. My mind is so jumbled most days that it’s truly hard to concentrate and prioritize. My partner and I were actually talking yesterday about how we can prioritize our to do list better. This was never a problem for me before. The old me was efficient at managing my time and getting everything I need done. The new me starts something, gets halfway done. Starts something else, gets a quarter of the way done. Walks into a room and forgets completely what I was about to do.By Alanna Beebe
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The 5 Parenting Lessons I Learned from 80’s Movie Quotes
For those of us children of the 80's, we have grown up to be parents in a new millennium. It blows my mind to live in a world with Internet, Apple Pay, scanners, and Netflix, not to mention having the intel ahead of time to predict the name of your driver and exact time of your taxi... er... Lyft, pick up. The fact that you can Jetsons style talk to grandparents ON YOUR PHONEBy Julietta Skoog
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Saving My Sanity Through Sleep Routines
Whether it was 2 weeks, 4 months, 15 months, or 3 years, the only way we survived was through our crazy routine. We had to change it to keep up with their rapid stages of development, but ultimately, holding on to that structure created, wait for it... GOOD SLEEPERS. Yep, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. It is never perfect (this morning I woke up to my 7-year-old in her sleeping bag next to my bed) but comparatively, it is CIVILIZED.By Julietta Skoog
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A Brave New World of Solid Food
Eating healthy and enjoying food is part of our family culture. My partner and I love making intricate meals with a variety of spices. Our spice cabinet is one of my prized places, with four shelves stocked full of global deliciousness. When my child started solid foods at 6 months, we had two family values […]By Alanna Beebe
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Airports, Planes and Poop: How I survived my first solo flight with a baby
Are you flying solo with your baby? Here are some tips and tools for flying with infants. At 7 months I was finally ready to take a solo plane trip with the baby. My other half was in Colorado for work, so we decided to visit him for a long weekend. Luckily, the flight from Seattle to Denver is only a couple hours but as any new experience with the baby, it was a logistical challenge I was a little anxious to tackle. The prep...By Alanna Beebe
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An Open Letter to the World ~from a mom of a transgender child
“Humans are diverse and beautiful just like our planet. We are so lucky to live in a world where there are not just one or two or even three ways of being, but so many we can’t even count them. Humans aren’t just boys or girls. Gender is a spectrum. It’s like a rainbow of possibilities. First, there’s how we identify: girl, boy, neither, both, or more! Then, there’s how we want to express ourselves through our clothes, hair, etc.”By Alanna Beebe
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Masks & Kids
We can help keep our communities stay safe and slow the spread of COVID-19 by wearing face coverings and helping our children to do this as well. Public Health recommends both parents and children to wear face coverings when you are at any indoor or outdoor public space where you may be within 6 feet […]By Julietta Skoog
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Calming Tantrums
Ah, the tantrum. This is a sharp trigger for adults. The last straw that ultimately makes US display our own grown-up version of a tantrum. Tantrums are burned in my memory like a scrapbook. The one on the way to sign the mortgage papers (no reschedule there), or the one in front of 25 parents I teach, or the one in the restaurant on vacation (I think my tantrum in reaction was bigger than hers).By Julietta Skoog
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Positive Discipline Family Meetings
On more than one occasion, you will find my husband rescuing somebody from a seemingly crazy person. That crazy person would be me. It is HARD. Whenever I get into a casual conversation about parenting I find myself wanting to offer what to me, has been the biggest game-changer and secret sauce of the last […]By Julietta Skoog
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