Sensitive, psychic children, often called the Indigo children, present us with unique challenges as parents. We need to take a fresh look at what we are offering them and change any outmoded expectations to let their special strengths shine through. Here I highlight some of the areas it is worth considering when parenting an Indigo child.

Many Indigos who present behavioural difficulties are actually very sensitive to the chemicals in our environment. We are all bombarded by a huge array of chemicals in the modern world that just weren’t around half a century ago. Our bodies haven’t evolved to deal with them and we can’t predict what they will do to us in the combinations that we are exposed to. Even babies in the womb absorb traces of toxic chemicals and mothers’ milk has been shown to be contaminated! The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says more than 350 man-made pollutants have been identified in the breast milk of women in the UK, including dioxins. Any expectant mothers worried by this should be assured that breast milk is still by far the safest, most nutritionally balanced and immune system supporting food you can give a baby. However it is worth striving to reduce the toxins. The Baby Centre site in the links gives lots of advice for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

For all parents struggling with hyperactivity, tantrums or otherwise difficult behaviour in their children it is advisable to look carefully at the family diet, reducing the processed foods and snacks and increasing the freshly prepared foods. Many foods marketed at children, especially sweets and drinks, are luridly coloured and have wildly unnatural flavours. Organic food is generally a bit more expensive, but where it can be sourced at an affordable price I think it is well worth the investment. Why not keep a food diary for your children and note when any behavioural problems occur? It may be that you can identify some common culprits that seem to trigger mood swings, in which case replacing them may make a huge difference for your child and your nerves!

The preponderance of TV & video games may have created a difference in our children’s attention span. Children’s ‘programming’ seems to be chopped into small exciting, bite sized & shriekingly loud chunks. Is this electronic over-stimulation affecting some children’s ability to settle quietly with a good book or concentrate on their teacher? Consider how long your children sit in front of a screen each day? Do your children have other non-screen hobbies to fill their time? Sometimes the TV goes on because it is the easy option, so why not make a list with your child of all the things they like doing? You could pin the list somewhere handy so that whenever you hear ‘I’m bored’ you have some suggestions to hand. If stuck try looking at Bellaonline - for example there are some lovely things to make on the Crafts for Kids site.

Indigos may seem older than their years and are not responsive to rules that they can see no point to. It is important to strike a balance between setting the firm boundaries that every child needs to feel secure and negotiating in other areas. These children often have an unusually well developed sense of what is fair and a response of ‘because I say so’ can give rise to arguments. Explaining why things are as they are is more likely to gain acceptance. Sometimes it will feel like you are dealing with a mini- adult!

Lastly be aware that your Indigo child may well have psychic gifts beyond your own. If for example your child says he has seen an angel in his bedroom take an interest and ask him to describe or draw it. Likewise you may find your Indigo child susceptible to nightmares or being scared about seeing ghosts. It is important to give comfort and reassurance without implying that it is all in his imagination. Psychic children often close down their abilities if they sense that they are not allowed to talk about them, or if they are told they are ‘just’ being imaginative, or worse still accused of making things up or lying.
These psychic gifts are such a strong feature of the Indigo Generation. I feel that the Indigos will use them as they go into adulthood. I wonder whether one day the people of this planet will reach a point where psychic ability is the norm and falsehood and lies can no longer go undetected. That should sort out a few of our modern day problems shouldn't it?