Baby, Child and Family Support
Parenting and Family Life
Everyday parenting support, behaviour and emotional difficulties, separation and family breakdown, bereavement, young carers, kinship care, fostering and adoption, and help during illness or a family crisis.
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Asking for help is ordinary, not a failure
Family life includes long stretches that are simply hard: sleepless years, difficult behaviour, money worries, separation, illness and loss. Support in the UK is not only for families in crisis, and asking for it early is far easier than waiting until everything is breaking down.
Free help includes parent helplines, family support volunteers, children’s centres and family hubs, school-based support, and children’s services at your council. None of these require a referral to make a first enquiry.
Where to turn first
- Your child’s school or nursery — pastoral staff, family support workers and referrals to local services.
- Health visitor, school nurse or GP — sleep, behaviour, emotional health and your own wellbeing.
- Your council’s family hub or children’s services — early help, parenting programmes and practical support.
- National helplines — free, confidential and often open in the evenings.
- Childline — for children and young people to talk to in their own right.
Choose the help you need
Open the section that matches your situation
Each heading row below is a button and opens the information underneath it.
Parenting support
- Free parenting programmes run through councils, family hubs, schools and charities.
- Helplines can talk through a specific problem, not just general advice.
- Peer groups reduce isolation and often produce the most useful practical tips.
- Routines, clear boundaries, praise for the behaviour you want and consistent follow-through help at every age.
- Look after the adults: sleep, food, breaks and someone to talk to are part of parenting well.
- Ask for help early if you feel you are losing your temper regularly or dreading time with your child.
Behaviour and emotional difficulties
- Behaviour is usually communication. Look for what changed: sleep, school, friendships, health or something at home.
- Ask school about pastoral support, a mentor, or a referral to local emotional wellbeing services.
- Speak to a GP about anxiety, low mood, self-harm, eating difficulties or a sudden change in a child.
- Ask about mental health support teams in schools and local children’s wellbeing services.
- If a child or young person has seriously harmed themselves, has taken an overdose, or is at immediate risk, ring 999 or go to A&E. If they are in crisis but not in immediate danger, ring NHS 111 and say it is a mental health emergency.
- Older children may prefer a confidential helpline or text service to talking to a parent at first.
Family breakdown and separation
- Arrangements for children can be agreed between parents without going to court, and most families do.
- Mediation is usually quicker and cheaper than court, and legal aid may be available for it.
- Keep children out of the disagreement, and avoid using them to pass messages.
- Tell school what is happening, and who may collect the child.
- Child maintenance can be arranged privately or through the Child Maintenance Service.
- Check benefits and housing again after a separation, because entitlement often changes.
- Get legal advice about court orders, and take urgent advice if a child may be taken abroad.
Bereavement in a family
- Children grieve in bursts and often return to play in between. That is normal.
- Use plain, honest words appropriate to their age. Vague phrases can confuse young children.
- Tell school or nursery, and agree how staff will support them day to day.
- Expect changes in sleep, appetite, behaviour and school work for a while.
- Specialist child bereavement charities offer free guidance for adults on what to say and how to help.
- Ask a GP for support if a child’s grief is not easing over months, or if an adult in the family is struggling badly.
Young carers
- A young carer is a child or young person who helps look after a relative because of illness, disability, mental health or addiction.
- Young carers have a right to an assessment from their council, and to support in their own right.
- Tell school. Many schools have a young carers lead and can be flexible about homework and attendance.
- Local young carers services offer groups, trips and someone outside the family to talk to.
- Support for the adult being cared for often reduces the load on the child, so ask for a carer’s assessment too.
Kinship care
- Kinship care is when a child is raised by a grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle or family friend.
- Arrangements vary: informal family arrangements, child arrangements orders, special guardianship and kinship foster care all carry different rights and support.
- Ask the council which legal arrangement applies, and what financial and practical support goes with it.
- Get free specialist advice before agreeing to any arrangement proposed by children’s services.
- Ask about school admissions, benefits, housing size rules and help with the costs of a child arriving suddenly.
Fostering and adoption information
- Fostering and adoption are arranged through councils and approved agencies, and both begin with an informal enquiry.
- Expect training, checks and a thorough assessment. It takes months, and support continues afterwards.
- Fostering includes short-term, long-term, respite and specialist placements, with allowances paid.
- Adoption creates permanent legal parenthood, and adoption leave and pay may be available.
- Adopted people and birth relatives can get support with records, contact and searching.
- You do not need to be married, young, wealthy or a homeowner to apply.
Help during illness, hospital treatment or a family crisis
- Tell the hospital if you are a parent with no one to care for your children; they can involve support services.
- Ask your council’s children’s services for early help. Asking for practical support is not the same as being investigated.
- Ask school for flexibility with uniform, homework, trips and attendance during a crisis.
- Arrange in advance who can collect your children and who holds a spare key, and tell school the names.
- Ask about help with travel and parking costs for hospital visits.
- Home visiting charities can provide a volunteer for a few hours a week during a difficult period.
- If pets are involved, temporary fostering and practical support may be available.
Trusted UK organisations
- Family Lives – parent helpline (opens in a new tab)
- Home-Start (opens in a new tab)
- YoungMinds (opens in a new tab)
- Gingerbread – single parents (opens in a new tab)
- Kinship (opens in a new tab)
- Winston’s Wish (opens in a new tab)
- Carers Trust (opens in a new tab)
Important information
Sixpence Support UK provides general information and signposting only. This page is not legal advice or medical advice, and we do not make decisions about children, benefits or care arrangements. Take free specialist advice about your own situation, and contact your GP or NHS 111 about health concerns. In an emergency, ring 999.