Episodes

Programme 5

Supernanny heads to Birmingham where four feisty children - and their dad - are driving mum mad!

Six year old Tyler punches his mother Natalie Williams and lashes out at his sisters whilst four year old baby of the family, Tia kicks, scratches and tantrums if she doesn't get her own way.

Sisters Bethany, 7 and Lori, 5 try to tow the line – but it's hard to behave in such a hectic home.

Getting all four kids washed, dressed and out of the house is a daily ordeal whilst bedtimes are a disaster. Mum Natalie battles to stay in control whilst father Martin buries himself in his hobbies.

Contending with four feisty kids and parents who constantly undermine each other won't be easy.

Can Supernanny tame the children and motivate dad?

Or will they stage a rebellion?

Supernanny's techniques

SHARING TASKS – MUM & DAD'S ROUTINE

Supernanny takes the whole family in hand. She suggests that Dad Martin needs to take more responsibility with the family and help mum Natalie out more.

Instead of furnishing this family with a routine, Supernanny gets them to fill in a laminated board which has been divided into categories. They write their names next to which categories they wish to take responsibility for that day.

• School runs
• Weekly shopping
• Cooking
• Organising children's bedtime
• Washing Up
• Ironing
• Helping with children's homework
• Supervising the kids getting dressed

Naughty chairs

To improve the discipline in the family, Supernanny suggests a new version of her Naughty Step technique.

Each child has a colour coded chair. The house is quite cramped so the flexibility of stacking chairs are suggested as an option.

Tyler's 'Rocket Man Reward Chart'

This is a chart based on Tyler's love of rockets. Each time he is good, Tyler's rocket jumps up a place onto a star in the sky, until it reaches the man on the moon. When he's jumped up 5 places he land on a big star and gets a mini reward, then at 10 places he reaches the moon and is rewarded. But if he's naughty his rocket moves back a star.

Reward - Girl's Flower Pots

Each girl is given a personalised flower pot and ten flowers. One flower is issued for an act of good behaviour. When 10 flowers are in a pot – a reward is given.

Get Up & Go Chart

To deal with the morning mayhem and to stop Tia and Tyler playing up over what to wear, Supernanny suggests a way to get the whole family organised. The get up and go chart is used to simplify getting the children ready for the day. At night, the parents need to get the children's clothes and lunches ready for the next day.

In the morning, the children get themselves ready by following the steps of the chart. At the top of the chart are pictures that coordinate what steps the children need to follow (i.e. picture of a toothbrush). Each time a child complete a step, they move their picture underneath the step completed. The child continues to follow each step until the chart is completed. The parents need to continuously encourage and give praise to the child for getting themselves ready for the day.

Stay In Bed Technique

Tyler, Tia and Lori creep into parent's bed during the night. Bethany comes downstairs about 10 times a night before finally settling. Supernanny insists that Martin and Natalie have to share bedtime and carry out the Stay In Bed Technique if the children get up out of bed.

This means calmly placing the child back into bed when they get out. The key to the stay in bed technique is remaining calm and consistent – however many times the child gets out of bed.

Jo instructs Natalie and Martin to reduce their attention to the child each time he or she gets out of bed. So for the first time, he or she is given a kiss goodnight and told it's bedtime. The second time, take them back to bed and say 'bedtime'.

After that, the child is just put back to bed without talking – however many times it takes.

For more parenting tips, read these fascinating extracts from C4' s Little Darlings booklet.