Diane Levy

Diane Levy gives advice to a mum who worries her daughter is not properly supervised at friends house

As a full-time working mum, how do you ensure you have quality time with your children?

How can you compete when a friend wins Lotto?

Diane Levy offers advice about how to deal with a nose picker.

A teenager is squirrelling away snacks.

How young is too young to date?

How to deal with a child who continues to suck their t-shirts when they should have outgrown this behaviour.

Diane Levy provides expert answers to your parenting queries.

Dear Diane, Recently I’ve noticed lots of news stories in which coroners advise parents not to share a bed with their baby. I can understand this in terms of drinking, smoking or drugs, and the possibility of rolling on the child and smothering it. But I don’t indulge in any of those vices and my […]

Dear Diane, What age do you think children should get their first cellphone? My eight-yearold reckons everyone else in her class has them, but I feel she’s just too young. I worry about all that weird stuff like “sexting” and the whole thing just feels wrong – as well as being expensive. How do I […]

Dear Diane, My daughter, who is 11, has an unusual name and hates it. She always has to spell it out for people and no-one can pronounce it correctly. I feel this is all my fault because I was very young when I had her, and felt it was “cool” to give her a first […]

I read in the paper about a café where staff asked a mother not to breastfeed in public and I noticed it whipped up quite a controversy...

Dear Diane, My daughter has made a new friend and while this girl is great on her own, as soon as she sees her two sisters they argue non-stop.

I still have to ask – how do you stop a toddler from saying “no” to everything?

Dear Diane, We think our six-year-old girl is very pretty and other people have said so too. I’d like to sign her up for modelling or acting...

Dear Diane, I’m a solo mother living in the city with little family support, and I feel as if I never get to go out because there’s no-one to look after my son and daughter...

Dear Diane, Why is it every time I pick up the phone to call a friend or have a catch-up with my mother or stepmother, my children go berserk?

Dear Diane, How do you help a four-year-old with poor impulse control? My son Lewis does the same thing over and over again.

Dear Diane, My child got a bad concussion playing a game at school and I’ve been really overprotective ever since.

Dear Diane, Has anyone ever worked out how much pocket money is appropriate for each age?

Dear Diane, My 17-year-old daughter is very similar in size to me, so I tend to let her have my hand-me-down clothes.

Dear Diane, My daughter (4), has a large birthmark on her face and the skin surgeons have said that we should wait a few years before operating to remove or reduce it.

Diane Levy offers parenting advice about teenagers and sleep.

Dear Diane, Do you have a list of essential points for parents dealing with divorce to follow? My husband and I are both really sad...

Dear Diane, I bet you get asked this a lot, but how do I control my kids when I’m out shopping? I can remember getting a swift smack on the leg from my own mother when I misbehaved at the supermarket but I know that’s not acceptable any more. Before I had children I’d be […]

Dear Diane, My eight-year-old daughter is friendly with a girl who has done some rather destructive things while visiting our house...

Dear Diane, My 11-year-old son is quite independent and it can be a bit of a worry as he’s happy to jump on a bus and go into town to the library or to spend his pocket money...

Dear Diane, Our 12-year-old daughter argues back all the time and it’s getting harder and harder to keep my frustration under control.

Dear Diane, I was widowed this year. While my husband was ill for a long time and his death wasn’t unexpected, it’s still going to be a strange Christmas for our kids and me.

Dear Diane, My son is seven and still sucks his thumb. I was a thumb sucker myself until around that age but you don’t seem to see it as often as you used to.

Dear Diane, I think I might just be paranoid but I’m convinced my little girl loves her carers at the daycare centre more than she loves me.

Dear Diane, My three children seem to bicker constantly and it’s driving my husband and me crazy.

Dear Diane, A child at my twins’ birthday party last week became utterly terrified when the clown I’d booked turned up.

Dear Diane, My teenage son was caught cheating in an exam last year. Although the school was really good about it and seemed well aware...

Dear Diane, There’s a little girl in our daughter’s class whose parents have both lost their jobs and every time I see her she seems thinner and more shabby than the last.

Dear Diane, Is it true that it is weight and not age that will kick-start puberty in girls? My niece is developing very rapidly at the age of 10...

Diane Levy provides advice for a new mum worrying about her child.

Advice about what to do when the birth mother of your adopted daughter decides to come back into your daughter's life.

Dear Diane, My parents-in-law recently came to stay. One night I ran the bath for my children who are five and seven – a girl and a boy.

Dear Diane, A few months ago my husband and I and our children came upon the scene of a terrible car crash. There were badly injured bodies on the road...

Dear Diane, My 12-year-old daughter has got very matey with a girl who I can only describe as rough, and I’m worried she’s being led astray.

Dear Diane, My son seems to be obsessed – perhaps unhealthily – with his bottom. He’s seven years old, and I know that it’s quite normal for boys of that age to be all about finding bums and bodily functions amusing. But every chance he gets, he strips off and runs around naked. Most of […]

Dear Diane, My 10-year-old daughter has been stealing from my wallet and my wife’s purse for some time.

Dear Diane, My daughter is nine years old and so far has been a happy and healthy child. But lately she’s been showing very worrying behaviour, in that she’s refusing to eat meat.

Dear Diane, My six-year-old is generally quite sweet-natured, but recently he’s been using swear words a lot – bad ones, too.

Diane Levy gives advice for healthy food and meals for children who are fussy eaters.

Diane Levy gives advice about a boy who plays with dolls and sibling bullying.

Dear Diane, My daughter is 13 and lost her natural father, who she was close to, last January.

Dear Diane, My nine-yearold son has had the same best friend since the first year of primary school and they are pretty much inseparable...

Dear Diane, My 12-year-old seems to be permanently sulky about one thing or another – especially if I ask him to do something simple such as emptying the dishwasher or setting the table. You’d think I’d asked him to do a week’s work in the mines, rather than a five-minute job. The thing that annoys […]

Dear Diane, I am an artist, so my surroundings are really important to me. I believe that beautiful things enhance our lives...

Dear Diane, How much is it okay to discipline someone else’s child? We occasionally look after a friend’s child in return for them looking after ours...

Dear Diane, Last week, when I was out on my nightly walk, I sprang my daughter and her friend at the local park – smoking. I don’t know who was more horrified – me, or her. The crazy thing about it is that this generation knows the dangers of cigarettes. When my daughter was younger […]

Dear Diane, This might seem trivial but it bothers me and I’m sure I’m not the only parent who has come up against it, so here goes!

Dear Diane, My daughter is 19 and expecting her first baby. I’ve been going to some of her appointments with a midwife and at Winz, as she is on her own and on a benefit.

Dear Diane, My three kids are 15, 12 and 9. This year my partner and I decided that our days of making school lunches...

Dear Diane, How do you know if a child is “gifted” – and if they are, what should you do?

Dear Diane, I had a baby girl when I was 18 and although the relationship didn’t work out, her father has mostly stayed involved in her life.

Dear Diane, When I was a kid we had lovely birthday parties at home with cake, a few saveloys and a crate of mixed soft drinks.

Dear Diane, I’m sure you get this question all the time, but it’s something I didn’t really think about until recently. Basically, my daughter is only 11 but wants to start shaving her legs and armpits.

Dear Diane, Three months ago, my husband’s mother died and it’s had a devastating effect on our daughter, who is eight and was especially close to “Mama”.

Dear Diane, I’m not too old to remember my own teenage crushes – there are a few boys who still spring to mind now, not to mention the odd 1970s rock star...

Dear Diane, My children are nagging us to get some pets, but I’m not an animal lover and find the whole thought revolting. I can handle our family cat, and if I didn’t work full time I’d like to have a dog, but my kids are talking about rats, mice, rabbits and guinea pigs.

My husband and I split a few years ago and the kids go to their father’s most holidays. I’ve always felt they’re in safe hands there. However...

Dear Diane, I’m a single mum – I fell pregnant at the age of 16 and was in a very abusive relationship which had me hospitalised six times, two of which were very serious.

My husband and I separated more than a year ago and he now has a new girlfriend I have to contend with.

Three girls at my daughter’s school have committed suicide this year and I’m desperately worried about the way my girl and her friends are mourning.

You’ve probably been asked this lots of times, but I can’t help worrying about my six-year old son, who doesn’t seem very “masculine”.

Dear Diane, oy son's 12-year-old friend is allowed to drink at home and now our son wants to do the same. I guess a little beer won't hurt - even if it's the dreaded shandy we used to drink when we were

Dear Diane, My son has a history of stealing. At kindergarten he was always taking other children's toys. I ...and, apart from a couple of minor incidents

Dear Diane, Is it true that it's weight and not age that will kick-start puberty in girls? oy niece is developing very rapidly at the age of 10 and I know my sister has already had to have "the talk" because

Dear Diane, How far should you go with allowing your children to have their own rules around food? oy seven-year-old son is mostly a great eater, but hates the idea of eating small animals such as chickens

Dear Diane, When we had our first baby in March, the plan was always that I would go back to work by the end of the year. I work in retail and that's their busy time so it seemed sensible for everyone.

Diane Levy joins us to provide expert answers to your parenting queries. Send your questions to: family@nzww.co.nz. Diane can’t answer individual queries, but we will endeavour to publish a representative sample on this page. Diane’s parenting books are available in bookshops. Dear Diane, oy husband is in the armed forces and he is away overseas […]

Dear Diane, oy husband has been diagnosed with an unusual sort of cancer and his prospects aren't good. The doctors say he might only have a couple of years left - if he's lucky. As you can imagine, this

Dear Diane, Whenever I ask my six-year-old daughter who she played with at school, she always says “No-one”. I’m not sure if I should be worried about this or not. She’s quite an independent little thing, but I’d hate to think that she’s being shunned or ostracised at school. I did ask the teacher what […]

Dear Diane, oy daughter won’t sleep! She’s had trouble sleeping since she was a baby, and now she’s nine it’s become worse. The other night we woke at 1am to find her still wide awake. She does try to sleep, but says her mind runs away with her and she ends up having scary thoughts. […]

Diane Levy joins us to provide expert answers to your parenting queries. Send your questions to: family@nzww.co.nz. Diane can't answer individual queries, but we will endeavour to publish a representative

Diane Levy joins us to provide expert answers to your parenting queries. Send your questions to: family@nzww.co.nz. Diane can’t answer individual queries, but we will endeavour to publish a representative sample on this page. Diane’s parenting books are available in bookshops. Dear Diane I’ve always been generous with rules around the house and I have […]

Diane Levy joins us to provide expert answers to your parenting queries. Send your questions to: family@nzww.co.nz. Diane can’t answer individual queries, but we will endeavour to publish a representative sample on this page. Diane’s parenting books are available in bookshops. Dear Diane I know you’re probably getting a huge amount of mail along these […]

Dear Diane oy daughter Ruby is 11 months old and my husband and I have been trying to work out whether we should be disciplining her in any way. I keep thinking that she probably doesn’t really understand us if we scold her when she throws her toys on the floor or puts her hands […]

Dear Diane oy nine-year-old daughter is utterly obsessed with the osama Bin Laden news as it’s been playing out over the last few weeks. She’s glued to CNN when the coverage is on and reads every newspaper story about him avidly. We’ve had to explain the whole 9/11 situation to her in detail – she […]

Dear Diane oy son and his wife had a very sticky break-up and divorce last year, and since then the children have lived with their mother and my son only has them every second weekend. He always tries to bring them around to see me and my husband, but there are often school events during […]