Sarah Ockwell-Smith
Sarah Ockwell-Smith is a British parenting author, psychologist, and advocate for evidence-based, child-centered approaches to raising children. With a background in psychology and perinatal healthcare, she has written extensively on topics including infant sleep, toddler behavior, school-age development, and the emotional needs of children at every stage of growth.
Ockwell-Smith trained as a psychologist and worked in pharmaceutical research before becoming a certified hypnobirthing practitioner and perinatal counselor. Her hands-on experience with parents navigating the anxieties and uncertainties of early parenting convinced her of the need for clear, compassionate guidance grounded in developmental science rather than rigid prescriptions. She has spoken openly about her own experiences as a mother and how they shaped her understanding of both the joys and difficulties of contemporary parenting.
She is the author of numerous books including The Gentle Sleep Book, ToddlerCalm, BabyCalm, The Gentle Discipline Book, and Beginnings, among others. Her work consistently emphasizes attunement — the practice of understanding and responding to a child’s emotional and developmental needs — over compliance-focused strategies that prioritize ease for adults at the expense of children’s psychological well-being. Her book Chaos to Calm addresses the particular challenges of raising children between the ages of eight and thirteen, a developmental period she considers underserved by the parenting literature.
Ockwell-Smith’s approach draws on attachment theory, developmental psychology, and neuroscience, and she is particularly known for her nuanced treatment of challenging behaviors that are often misunderstood as defiance or manipulation. By helping parents understand the developmental and emotional roots of behavior, she shifts the parenting relationship from one of power and control to one of connection and guidance.
Her books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide and been translated into multiple languages. She maintains a widely read blog and an active presence on social media, where she continues to offer parents accessible, thoughtful guidance on navigating one of the most important and demanding roles a person can hold.
