Princess Kate uses the ‘pacing’ parenting technique – so what is it and does it work?
There are many parenting techniques out there, but one recently approved by Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, is known as “pacing.”
The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood launched a series of animated videos on Wednesday, discussing how nurturing interactions can positively influence the social and emotional development of babies and young children.
Kate, mother to Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, was actively involved in the project, participating in a June creative workshop where she collaborated with illustrators and early years practitioners, the foundation said in a news release.
A two-and-a-half-minute video titled “Creating space for connection” encourages parents to slow down now and then so that their speed matches that of a young child.
The video explains that while adults are used to doing things quickly, babies and young children learn best at a slower pace because they’re still developing the tools to process new experiences. This mismatch in speed can lead to frustration, as adults may expect children to keep up. When kids don’t respond right away, adults can react by speeding up, repeating themselves, becoming stressed, or raising their voice, which can have the opposite effect.
“As a result, the child has even less time to compute all this new information and becomes pretty much overwhelmed,” the narrator says. “This might look like a child freezing, crying, or appearing to ignore you, or a combination of all three.”
Implementing this technique can be difficult in everyday life, such as when a parent is getting kids out the door when they go to work, but practicing pacing during less chaotic times, like reading or playtime, could be beneficial, the foundation says.
“By asking a question and pausing to wait for a child to respond, we’re allowing them to process things at their own pace. This gives their brain time to calmly work out what is happening and reply. Or sometimes it’s as simple as lingering on a page when reading together, noticing what the child is interested in and allowing them time to fully absorb,” the narrator explained.
Other videos include topics including, “How we grow an emotionally healthy brain,” “Managing big feelings together, and “Noticing and navigating feelings.”
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