Claire Lerner

An invaluable, practical guide that shows parents how to help their highly sensitive child learn to manage their big emotions and thrive. Highly sensitive children (HSCs) process and react to experiences more deeply than other children. They are sometimes called “spirited,” “deeply feeling,” or “big reactors.” These children are amazing--fierce and feisty, persistent and passionate, insightful and empathetic--but are also prone to more intense and frequent meltdowns. Parenting a big reactor can be challenging and exhausting, but it doesn’t have to be. In Big Reactors: Practical Strategies for Parenting Highly Sensitive Children, child development specialist Claire Lerner helps parents develop the tools to support their HSC’s strengths while also showing them how to cope with everyday challenges. She details the key traits of HSCs, describes the science behind the traits, and shows how parents and other caregivers can help them thrive. Through detailed case descriptions from her decades of work in the trenches, Lerner reveals the process she guides parents through to understand the root cause of their child’s challenges and come up with sensitive, effective strategies that work in real life, not just in theory. Importantly, Big Reactors shows parents how they can be supportive and loving while also setting the limits their fierce and feisty kids need to develop self-regulation and build resilience. This approach helps parents bring out the best in their passionate, creative, wonderful, sensitive child and creates more peace and joy for the entire family.

Solve typical toddler challenges with eight key mindshifts that will help you parent with clarity, calmness and self-control.Through stories from her practice, Claire Lerner shows parents how making critical mindshifts—seeing their children’s behaviors through a new lens —empowers parents to solve their most vexing childrearing challenges. This process puts parents back in the driver’s seat, where they belong and where their children need them to be. These real life stories provide a roadmap for how to tune into the root causes of children’s behavior and how to create and implement strategies that are tailored to the unique needs of each child and family. Through these stories, Claire provides a treasure trove of practical solutions that are based in science and which work in real life. Why Is My Child In Charge? picks up where other books have left parents hanging. Most parenting books offer solutions that sound good on paper but don’t work in practice. They are aspirational rather than achievable, or they offer one-size-fits-all approaches that don’t meet the needs of an individual child. They can compound parents’ feelings of frustration and thus, can be counterproductive. Case by case, Claire unpacks the individualized process she guides parents through to solve the most common challenges such as throwing tantrums in public; delaying bedtime for hours; refusing to participate in family mealtimes; and resisting potty training. Employing a relatable story-telling approach, Claire elucidates: The faulty mindsets that pose obstacles to parents seeing the situation more objectivelyThe essential mindshifts that enable parents to quickly identify the root causes of the problemThe development of an action plan tailored to each unique child and familyWhy is My Child in Charge? is like having a child development specialist in your home. It shows how you can develop “win-win” strategies that translate into adaptable, happy kids and calm, connected and in-control parents. It will help you be the parent you want to be.

Tame your toddler with seven key shifts in mindset that will help you parent with clarity, calmness, and self-control Through stories from her practice, Claire Lerner shows parents how making critical mindshifts—seeing their children’s behaviors through a new lens —empowers parents to solve their most vexing childrearing challenges. This process puts parents back in the driver’s seat, where they belong and where their children need them to be. These real life stories provide a roadmap for how to tune into the root causes of children’s behavior and how to create and implement strategies that are tailored to the unique needs of each child and family. Through these stories, Claire provides a treasure trove of practical solutions that are based in science and which work in real life. Why Is My Child In Charge? picks up where other books have left parents hanging. Most parenting books offer solutions that sound good on paper but don’t work in practice. They are aspirational rather than achievable, or they offer one-size-fits-all approaches that don’t meet the needs of an individual child. They can compound parents’ feelings of frustration and thus, can be counterproductive. Case by case, Claire unpacks the individualized process she guides parents through to solve the most common challenges such as throwing tantrums in public; delaying bedtime for hours; refusing to participate in family mealtimes; and resisting potty training. Employing a relatable story-telling approach, Claire elucidates: The faulty mindsets that pose obstacles to parents seeing the situation more objectivelyThe essential mindshifts that enable parents to quickly identify the root causes of the problemThe Development of an action plan tailored to each unique child and familyWhy is My Child in Charge? Is like having a child development specialist in your home. It shows how you can develop “win-win” strategies that translate into adaptable, happy kids and calm, connected and in-control parents. It will help you be the parent you want to be.

Includes eight photo inserts for caregivers (parents, other family members, and/or child-care providers) to add pictures that chronicle a child's daily interactions with the loving adults in his life. The soothing refrain, "I'm here for you now" serves as a calming reminder to children that they will be loved, nurtured, and protected, no matter what the circumstances.