My daughter chooses her own bedtime – people label her a ‘spoilt brat’ but she’s better behaved
A MUM who lets her daughter choose her own bedtime says people label her a "spoilt brat" even though she's well behaved.
Zoe Ayre, 36, is trying to do away with traditional parenting techniques and instead is raising her daughter as a "respectful" mum.
She had scoured the internet and found some methods to be "very damaging to maternal mental health."
After reading Wish Your Parents Had Read, by psychotherapist Phillppa Perry, Zoe decided on how she wanted to bring up her daughter.
In April 2022, she set up an Instagram to share her methods with other mums.
Despite intending the platform to be a safe space for parents, she received some backlash after sharing that her daughter chooses her own bedtime.
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She said: "I don't have a set bedtime for her. My approach is she will go to bed when she is tired.
"It causes a lot of stress when she is not tired. We are still at a stage where it is really unpredictable.
"Sometimes she'll need more naps than others. She'll go to bed when she is tired."
Zoe has hit back at trolls who have criticised her ways, saying her approach is to make children understand values and life skills early on, such as sharing.
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She told : "I think it is much more important to make children understand what sharing is and not force them.
"When that child is playing with a toy that is important to them at the moment you have to respect that that child is learning with it.
"People think they can just take the toy. If my daughter took a toy off another child I would say that is wrong too.
"I will stand up for her if another child takes away something she's playing with.
"This tends to elicit reactions from parents who are very pro-sharing."
Zoe and her husband Andy have also encouraged their daughter to be strong in using the word "no" if she feels uncomfortable.
But they don't use the word 'tantrum' around her and take a calm approach in explaining things to her.
She said: "Recognising emotions is important."
