Smartphones are becoming part of children’s lives earlier than ever — and for many parents, it’s not an easy decision to make. From staying in touch to keeping up with peers, there’s a lot to weigh up when thinking about the right time to hand over a phone. In this episode of the Parentline Podcast, we explore how families and schools are navigating these decisions — and what support is out there for parents trying to find the right balance between connection and protection. You’ll hear...

In this deeply insightful episode of the Parentline podcast, host Kerry McLean is joined by Tanya Strowger, a mother of three and counsellor at Jigsaw Community Counselling Centre, and Rebecca McCullough from Eden Consultancy NI. Together, they explore what it’s like to support neurodiverse children—particularly autistic children—through life’s big transitions, including school changes, holidays, family events, and everyday routines. Tanya shares the powerful story of her son Silas, his early...

In this special episode, Kerry chats to three of the Parentline NI team - Kathy, Roisin and Julie. This episode focuses on the core ethos of the Parentline service. They discuss the importance of connection with callers, and the teams' aim to provide a listening ear, and non judgemental support to parents and carers. Callers can use the service for any stage of parenting, from babies and toddlers, teenagers and even older children - we never stop being parents. They discuss issues that com...

At Parentline, we are experiencing a large number of calls from parents and carers who are struggling with the issue of Anxiety Based School avoidance. Many of these parents feel like they are the only ones going through it, which is so far from the truth. In this very special episode of the Parentline NI Podcast we share some of the stories and experiences from parents, and shine a light on this issue. Our host Kerry McLean chats to Courtney, Lyndsey and Fiona, as well as Elaine f...

Kate McKeown and Sarah Carvell chat to Kerry McLean about their experiences with dyslexia - they discuss their barriers to support, trusting their own judgements around their childrens' needs, and navigating a path for a better outcome. If you would like to talk to Parentline about dyslexia, or about any other parenting matter, you can call us on 0808 8020 400.

This episode, Kerry talks to two guests, Bronagh Donnelly and Mary Jordan. Bronagh's son has ADHD, and she also works for an ADHD support service. Mary has ADHD herself, and so do both of her children. Our guests candidly share their stories of parenting children with ADHD and their journey through getting the right support, understanding ADHD and their overall mindset about it. Their stories are uplifting and inspiring as we hear how their children thrived in areas like sport and crea...

This episode, Kerry chats to two local parents, Barbara and Katrina, who share their views on how to rediscover the magic of Christmas, on a budget! They discuss their own, personal family traditions, and revisit what really matters at Christmas. The Cost of Living Crisis is affecting the vast majority of us, so why should we put unnecessarily pressures on ourselves and our family to keep up with everything we see others doing on social media? The 'picture perfect' Christmas may look ...

Breastfeeding counsellor Katy Lynn chats to Kerry about the emotive topic of breastfeeding. They talk about some of the amazing qualities of breastmilk, the joys of breastfeeding and discuss awareness around the difficulties experienced when starting to breastfeed. They key message here is the lack of support for mums who are starting to breastfeed, that can often lead them to stop sooner than planned. We've included some signposting information below. It is advised that th...

Kerry talks to Hannah Conroy, mum to Ben, age 9, who has vision impairment. Hannah describes how she navigated getting support in place for Ben, as well as talking about his resilience and positivity! She also describes how much she values the support she gets from RNIB and Angel Eyes, and talks about the challenges of having child with a disability. https://www.rnib.org.uk/ https://www.angeleyesni.org/

This episode Kerry talks to Sorina and Cosmin, parents of 8 year old Ezra. Ezra became ill at 14 months and is a below the knee double amputee. He also lost fingers on his right hand. Kerry discusses how Sorina and Cosmin coped, and are still coping, as well as Ezra's resilience and determination in progressing into a very active boy who loves school and lives a full life.

Kerry McLean talks to Chris and Rebecca, who each have a son with a rare genetic condition, called PKU. They courageously discuss how it affects their lives, and the wider family circle. They explain the experience of being told the diagnosis, and how they coped and moved forward from there. This episode focuses on the feelings and challenges around having a child with a lifelong condition, and how the support from those in similar situations can help make things more manageable. We g...

Teen Pregnancy - somemthing that is usually unplanned and unexpected, by both parents and their teenagers! Katrina, a teen mum with a newborn, and Paula, a former teen mum whose daughter is now in her 20's, chat about their experiences with Kerry McLean. They share challenges and shifts in their lifestyle, as well as what they have gained and their outlook on life.

This episode shares the experience of Michaela, who lost her mother just six weeks after the birth of her first baby, all during the peak of Covid 19. Kerry and Michaela discuss how she coped with this tragic loss, during such a significant and intense period of her life. They share some similar experiences, and the message that despite how difficult life can be, if we reach out, it can make us feel so much less alone. Remember Parentline are here on 0808 8020 400 to listen, offe...

This episode is the second of our 'Parenting through...' series. Kerry talks to Casey and Becca, the recent founders of Melted Parents NI - their aim is to share the human stories behind the childcare crisis and it's impact on our society. They discuss the impact of childcare costs on whether parents (mainly women) are willing and/or able to return to work after having a baby. In addition, they talk about childcare being more than just someone looking after your child, and how nurturin...

The thought of our children or our young people going through emotional pain and hurt is horrible. As parents or carers, we want them to have a perfect, stress-free, pain-free life. But of course, that's not possible for anyone. And sometimes that pain and hurt can lead to them having thoughts of self-harm, or worse still, thoughts of suicide. Kerry McLean talks to Connor McCafferty of Zest NI - Healing the Hurt, on how our own emotional literacy can help us provide the right kind of su...

In this episode, Pam Nugent, co-founder of The Laurence Trust, tells her story about the loss of her son, Laurence, to an eating disorder. For #eatingdisorderawarenessweek2023, there is a focus on men, and how eating disorders, contrary to popular belief, affect men as well as women. Pam shares the heartbreaking story of Laurence's eating disorder, and her motivation for founding The Laurence Trust; a safe and compassionate space for men and their loved ones to find support, so that ...

In this episode we were delighted to have Rebecca from Eden Consultancy back with us to chat more about autism. Kerry and Rebecca chat about next steps after diagnosis, as well as discussing stigmas and dated views. Rebecca gives some excellent tried and tested techniques as well as advice for parents and carers to try involving the whole family in using a consistent approach for their children. They also chat about normalising a diagnosis - it does not change your child and is absolute...

Lisa and Kerry chat about the impact of childhood trauma on the person we become, and in turn our own parenting styles. They discuss the vocabulary we need to talk about trauma and it's impact on our mental health. They also discuss self care, and how empathy and compassion can make such a positive difference to those carrying the weight of trauma. Lisa discusses how having those conversations about the legacy of trauma, don't always make things better, but that addressing things can lead to ...

This episode, Kerry talks to Col Bignell, founder of DadBods - a group for dads to get together and connect through what it's like to be a dad! Every Sunday they get together in a new outdoor location for a walk and a chat - and bring their babies and toddlers of course! Col explains what it has done for him as a parent, as he feels he can connect with the other dads about how much of a life changing event parenthood is. If you'd like to get in touch with Col, find him on Instagram at https:...

Patrick McIlwee, from New Ways NI - Tailored Mindset Coaching, chats to Kerry McLean about ways to use mindfulness in our parenting, both for ourselves and for our children. Resources: https://5lovelanguages.com/ https://www.facebook.com/NewWaysNI/