There's an overload of information when it comes to new parenting advice. From books to blogs to vlogs, it's all there for the taking. The key is to take on board what works for you.
So imagine the reaction when British TV's Channel 4 debuted a new parenting show which encourages parents to train their babies like dogs. titled "Train Your Baby Like a Dog", sees dog trainer and animal behaviourist Jo-Rosie Haffenden teaching parents to use dog training techniques to help their children.
According to The Independent, Haffenden claims to have used the same techniques on her own children.
In the first episode, she helps a three-year-old boy in dealing with his tantrums, and an 18-month-old who refuses to sleep in her cot.
British parents are angry. In fact they're so angry that they've called for the show to be axed.
A Change.org petition has already managed to gain more than 26 000 signatures, and claims the show is “dehumanising” to children, and “could potentially turn those involved into prime target(s) for grooming in the future as they will have been taught to comply to an adult’s demands, regardless of their own comfort or autonomy for reward”.
Some techniques that Haffenden uses includes "clicker training”, which is described as “taking a child’s favourite object and using it to bribe a child into doing a chore or task”.
When asked to comment, a Channel 4 spokesperson told the Huffington Post “The programme explores a new approach to childcare, grounded in positive, science-based motivational techniques that are used widely by parenting coaches and animal behaviour experts.
“Throughout filming and broadcast, the welfare of all contributors in the programme is of paramount importance and the process is supervised by qualified child psychologists.”