'Discipline does the trick'

Expert toddler tamer Laura Amies on how she aims to help the nation’s parents

- Sean Marland

Step aside, Mary Poppins and Supernanny – there’s a new toddler tamer here to help…

Child behaviour expert and private nanny Laura Amies believes the secret to success is keeping things simple, and now she’s be sharing her tantrum-avoidance techniques in new Channel 5 series Toddlers Behaving (Very) Badly.

The three-parter sees Laura helping stressed-out parents take back control, but, with over a quarter of British children starting school without the basic skills needed to succeed, part of her mission is to prepare little ones for the classroom, such as teaching them how to listen well and good manners.

Here, Laura tells TV Times more...

What key advice do you hope parents take away from the show?

I think parents just need to have faith in their own abilities. Adults have more life experience than their kids and they need to trust that, use a bit of logic and they won’t go far wrong. Being a parent is one of the toughest jobs around and so many mums and dads worry about traumatising their kids or being judged as bad parents, but usually a bit of common sense and discipline does the trick!

Have you always been a natural with children?