Parenting is not only about meeting a child’s physical needs, but also about understanding their emotional world, supporting their development, and laying the foundations for lifelong habits.
This journey can be joyful at times and quite challenging at others. Sleep difficulties, screen time management, toilet training, school adaptation, and breastfeeding challenges are among the areas where parents most frequently need support, especially in the early years.
Parent counseling is a professional service that helps families receive both scientific and emotional support during these processes. It is designed to help parents address everyday challenges, make more confident decisions, and build a calmer, more connected relationship with their children.
In our clinic, parent counseling is provided with a nonjudgmental, non-pressuring approach that respects family dynamics and the individual needs of each child. Our goal is to offer parents both evidence-based information and practical, applicable strategies—helping them gain confidence and enhance harmony within the family.
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Sleep Regulation
Sleep is one of the most critical building blocks of a child’s development from infancy through adolescence. Inadequate or irregular sleep can lead to behavioral problems, developmental delays, learning difficulties, emotional fluctuations, and increased stress within the family.
Our pediatric sleep counseling service is different from rigid, one-size-fits-all sleep training methods that impose a single approach.
Every child’s:
• biology,
• temperament,
• family culture,
• parenting style,
• daily routines
are different.
For this reason, each sleep plan is created individually, tailored to the child and the family.
Areas we assess in sleep counseling:
- Difficulties with falling asleep in infants and children
• Planning daytime naps
• Causes of nighttime awakenings
• Sleep-onset habits
• Sleep hygiene and sleep environment
• Sleep regressions
• Sleep rhythm appropriate to the child’s developmental stage
• Role distribution within the family and consistency between caregivers
Evidence-based sleep strategies we use:
- Establishing a gentle and predictable bedtime routine
• Planning sleep times in line with the child’s biological rhythm
• Using methods that support secure attachment
• Providing parents with a roadmap
• Managing nighttime feedings appropriately
• Regulating the relationship between sleep and feeding
Which families can benefit from sleep counseling?
- Families of infants and children who wake frequently at night
• Families of children with irregular or very short daytime naps
• Children who take a long time to fall asleep
• Families who experience inconsistency or disagreement about routines between caregivers
The goal of sleep counseling is to establish a sleep system that aligns with the child’s biology and to help both parents and children (in an age-appropriate way) rest more peacefully at night.
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Screen Time Management
In today’s world, managing screen time is one of the most challenging issues for families. Uncontrolled screen use can negatively affect language development, social skills, attention span, and sleep quality.
In our clinic, screen time management is approached not with strict bans, but with a balanced, developmentally appropriate, and guidance-oriented model tailored to the child’s age and needs.
Key areas we assess in screen time counseling:
- Age-appropriate maximum daily screen exposure
• The child’s current screen use habits
• The impact of screen use on behavior
• Alternative play and activity suggestions
• Creating digital rules within the family
• Planning shared/co-watched screen experiences
• The relationship between screens and sleep
• Impulse control and attention development
Solution-focused strategies we provide:
- Regulating screen time with simple, realistic, age-appropriate limits
• Strategies to prevent the development of tablet/phone dependency
• Designing a screen plan that fits the family’s daily routine
• Evaluating the link between problem behaviors and screen use
• Establishing clear, consistent digital rules for all family members
Every family’s lifestyle and expectations are different. Therefore, screen time management is planned individually, not with a “one recipe for everyone” approach.
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Toilet Training
Toilet training is an important developmental milestone that children achieve when they reach sufficient maturity. However, not all children are ready at the same age or at the same pace. Some families go through this process very easily, while for others it can be quite stressful.
In our clinic, toilet training is guided by a gentle, play-based, and family-empowering approach that is grounded in the child’s readiness cues.
Readiness signs we evaluate:
- Physical development (walking, climbing stairs, staying dry for 2–3 hours)
• Language development (ability to express basic needs)
• Behavioral maturity
• Awareness of toileting and elimination
• Body control
• Ability to follow simple routines
Professional support we offer for toilet training:
- Toilet training plans tailored to the child’s age and developmental level
• Normalizing accidents and teaching how to manage them calmly
• Using positive reinforcement instead of reward–punishment systems
• Supporting either toilet or potty adaptation, depending on the child and home setting
• Managing toilet-related fears and resistance
• Providing guidance to families when there is regression or refusal
• Evaluating constipation and stooling problems
Toilet training requires patience, calmness, and respect for the child’s individual pace. This is exactly where we stand alongside families to support them.
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Starting School
Starting school is both an exciting and anxiety-provoking time for children and parents alike. A new environment, new friends, new rules…
Parent counseling plays an important role in making this transition smoother and emotionally safer.
Areas we assess in school-start counseling:
- Separation anxiety
• Social adjustment and peer relationships
• Academic readiness
• Attention and concentration skills
• Establishing a school-day routine
• Morning and evening structure
Support we provide in the school adaptation process:
- Transition plans appropriate to the child’s age and temperament
• Techniques to reduce separation anxiety
• Play-based approaches that increase excitement and positive feelings about school
• Structuring the adaptation process in gradual, manageable steps
In the school adjustment period, we aim to highlight the child’s strengths and support their self-confidence.
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Resolving Breastfeeding Difficulties
For some mothers, breastfeeding progresses smoothly from the very beginning, while for others it may be complicated by nipple pain, clogged ducts, low milk supply, breast refusal, or confusion between sleep and feeding patterns.
Within the scope of parent counseling, breastfeeding support is carefully individualized according to the needs of both mother and baby.
Common breastfeeding challenges we see:
- Nipple wounds and cracks
• Painful breastfeeding
• Suspected low milk supply
• Breast refusal
• Clogged ducts and mastitis
• Latch difficulties
• Imbalance between pumping and direct breastfeeding
• Feeding difficulties in premature infants
Solutions we offer for breastfeeding problems:
- Assessment and correction of positioning and latch
• Milk supply strategies tailored to the mother
• Breast care guidance
• Management of clogged ducts and mastitis
• Observation of the baby’s feeding and behavioral cues
• Special feeding plans for premature infants
• Optimization of expressed milk management
The goal in breastfeeding support is to help mothers regain the feeling of “I can do this” and to strengthen the bond between mother and baby.
Our Parent Counseling Approach
At the end of each counseling examination, families are given clear information about:
• The underlying cause of the problem
• The child’s developmental status
• The plan to be implemented
• Techniques that can be practiced at home
• The expected course of progress
• When a follow-up visit or reassessment is needed
Our top priority is that families feel safe, understood, and supported.
Parent counseling is a holistic approach that aims to make family life easier, strengthen children’s development, and increase peace and harmony at home.
