PRAISE FOR PARENTING RIGHT FROM THE START
“Authentic, practical, and important, Parenting Right From the Start guides parents to explore how our patterns can hinder or support our path to becoming the parents we want to be. Dr. Vanessa’s message that our ongoing development is intricately linked to who our children become paves the way for parenting that is connected, rewarding, and meaningful.”
TINA PAYNE BRYSON, PHD bestselling coauthor of The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline
“This is the book the world has been waiting for. It is the absolute best exploration of early parenting, gifting parents with so many beautiful understandings of this ancient and sacred dance. Dr. Vanessa effortlessly merges the latest in the science of growing babies into children with the simultaneous growing of parents into conscious, capable, caring grown-ups with lots of passion and swagger!”
MAGGIE DENT author of the bestselling Mothering Our Boys and other books
“A wise and encouraging guide to nurturing the life-changing connection between you and your child. This isn’t a book that serves up pat formulas or that relies on one-size-fits-none parenting strategies. It’s about leaning into your own hard-earned parenting wisdom: your growing knowledge of what it’s going to take to nurture and raise this one-of-a-kind child.”
ANN DOUGLAS bestselling author of Happy Parents, Happy Kids and CBC Radio parenting columnist
“Dr. Vanessa shows us that parents can choose the kind of parent they want to be. Grounded in the science of child development, Parenting Right From the Start is empowering, inspirational, and practical! A must read for new parents and caregivers.”
MARILYN PRICE-MITCHELL, PHD developmental psychologist and author of Tomorrow’s Change Makers
“A brilliant, soulful, and insightful book on the primacy of early years. A vivid expression of the Conscious Parenting principle of Child Honouring, this work touts the importance of parents’ self-awareness in raising their young. Connection and compassion shine in Dr. Vanessa’s parenting wisdom.”
RAFFI CAVOUKIAN CM, OBC, singer, author, Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring
“Kids can be complicated and confusing. Dr. Vanessa’s book is the one every parent needs to be able to navigate the white waters of parenting with a level of grace and ease. If every parent read this book we could change the world within the next generation for the greater good of humanity.”
KERWIN RAE creator of the podcast Unstoppable, entrepreneur, and international speaker
“Parents have come to know and trust Dr. Vanessa’s smart and relatable advice. Parenting Right From the Start is a warm, evidence-based guide that invites us to examine the complicated stuff we bring to the parenting experience. It is going straight to the top of my list of books to give new parents.”
BRANDIE WEIKLE Toronto Star parenting columnist and host of The New Family podcast
“I appreciated the brilliant way in which Dr. Vanessa amalgamates developmental science with maternal wisdom to address the most pertinent issues we must consider as parents without pangs of guilt or pressure. This book encapsulates the science and soul of parenting, and is delivered from the heart.”
DR. KRISTY GODWIN author of Raising Your Child in a Digital World
“Insightful, engaging, and wise, Parenting Right From the Start provides the gentle encouragement parents need to build their child’s emotional health while showing parents the way to ‘grow you so you can grow them.’”
MONA DELAHOOKE, PHD author of Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioral Challenges
“Overwhelmed and frustrated parents, rejoice! Dr. Vanessa’s new book is a much-needed guide to finding peace and wisdom while riding the roller coaster of parenthood. Dr. Vanessa shows the way from worry to confidence.”
TOM HOBSON author of Teacher Tom’s First Book and Teacher Tom’s blog
“Parents often ask ‘what do we do when this happens’ when we should ask, ‘how do we be when this happens?’ Dr. Vanessa has written a wonderful, accessible book about how to be what our children need. What she writes and how she lives should inspire us all.”
DAVID LOYST MSC (SLP), autism consultant, parent educator
“Soon-to-be parents and parents of young children, listen to Dr. Vanessa’s wisdom. The space between the parents is the playground of the child. Her book invites you on a journey to grow yourself as a person so that your child can bathe in the energy of your contented parenting.”
HEDY SCHLEIFER founder of Encounter-Centered Transformation and director for the Tikkun Learning Center
“Parenting Right From the Start is the book I have been waiting for to recommend to all my clients: those who have children or are planning to have children and those who have ever been a child. Dr. Vanessa’s message to parents to do their own work and grow themselves up so that they can be in that exquisite place of in charge with compassion may be the most important message of all.”
GILA GOLUB counsellor, The Work of Gila Golub
“To give your babies the best start, you need to read this book right from the start. It will give you a greater understanding of how a child’s development unfolds but also of the impact of your own early experiences on your parenting journey.”
CORA BOECKER early intervention specialist with the Infant Development Program
“Parenting Right From the Start is a gift for all parents and their children. With warmth, wisdom, and strong scientific grounding, Dr. Vanessa brings us back to our parenting hearts. This book is a soulful, intelligent, and practical resource so we can parent with richness and realness.”
KAREN YOUNG author, child and adolescent specialist, founder of HeySigmund.com
“Dr. Vanessa writes to us from her heart and from a vast store of experience and knowledge. Many of us will read this important book and dearly wish we knew what it contained back when our children were young. But Parenting Right From the Start is a book for all of us now no matter where we are as parents or grandparents.”
DR. DANA BRYNELSEN OBC, LLD (Hon), former provincial advisor, Infant Development Program of BC
CONTENTS
Foreword by Shefali Tsabary
Introduction: Start as You Wish to Go
3 How to Grow a Brain