Update: Wendy Wilson turning to Supernanny for help

Update: Wendy’s episode of Supernanny will air tonight on ABC at 9 p.m. EST.

Originally posted January 29th: Wendy Wilson, who rose to fame while singing with the music trio Wilson Phillips, and her husband, former rocker Dan Knutson, are seeking the help of Jo Frost aka Supernanny to help them with their four sons – Leo Evan, 4, Beau, 3, and 5-month-old twins Will and Jesse. 

The 38-year-old mom is hoping to learn new strategies for dealing with the family’s four rambunctious kids.  Wendy and Dan are the first celebrity parents that have appeared on the reality television show Supernanny.  The episode will air on February 20th on ABC.

Source: UPI

Thanks to CBB reader Juli.

Comments

I enjoy watching Super nanny a lot. Jo does a good job in helping the parents control the misbehavior of their children in a more subtle, compassionate way in order to help the kids realize that their behavior cannot be tolerated, rather than spanking which can make things worse.

- J.J. on January 29th, 2008

That will be great to see. Wow to having four boys four and under!!!

- Sage on January 29th, 2008

WOW! I Love Watching Supernanny!

- Erika on January 30th, 2008

I don’t normally watch Supernanny, but I’ll tune in for this episode. I can’t imagine juggling four little boys! I wonder if she has any help at all or are she and her hubby doing it solo.

- Michelle on January 30th, 2008

Rambunctious 5 month olds??? I can’t wait to see that episode.

- Georgia on January 30th, 2008

I wish I could just phone up Jo Frost and have her whip me and my two year old into shape!

- PSB on January 30th, 2008

I love Supernanny. Can’t wait to see her help her first “celeb” family. Show ‘em no mercy Jo!

- Mary on January 30th, 2008

Quick fix methods might make good tv…in the long term they are not the solution. these TV “experts” do not consider the mental wellbeing of the children in anyway. For example I have personally discussed her leaving them to cry to sleep methods and she hadn’t a clue of the damage that can do to brain development. Surely somebody paid to care for children should at least have some idea about the consequences and at least warn of the risks involved when embarking upon negative parenting techniques. It’s not fait when the parents are not given a chance to make an informed decision.
For a start see what Alfie Kohn has to say on the subject.

- Tracy on January 31st, 2008

How does letting babies cry themselves to sleep damage their brain development tracy? i am at university studying for a bachelors degree in early childhood education and as part of the course we do papers on brain development. we often talk about supernannys methods as we have a lot of parents in oour course and when asked, our lecturer – who has his masters degree in child development – said controlled crying if carried out properly teaches a child to settle themselves when they are put into their beds. not trying to say you are wrong or anything, just curious about your statement and trying to build my knowledge .

- sarah on February 1st, 2008

Tracy- Your comments are opinion, not fact.

- Jenny on February 20th, 2008

With our pediatrician’s help, we used crying it out to help our daughter get over some unwillingness to sleep when she was around 18 months. It worked like a CHARM and to this day she is great at getting herself back to sleep without a problem. I credit it with reinforcing her ability to self soothe, and THAT skill has been indispensable when it comes to calming herself down after a tantrum and being able to pull herself together. It’s an important skill to teach your kids, whether or not you think crying it out is the method for you.

I think crying it out gets a really bad reputation. You wouldn’t use it on your 5 month old hungry baby, but for children who are old enough, it’s VERY effective.

Jo gives excellent advice. She’s practical and no nonsense.

- chatty cricket on February 20th, 2008

We are a bit Super Nanny crazy at our house right now because she is in town filming this week!

- finnaryn on February 20th, 2008

I can’t wait to see this! I watch supernanny every week and as a former preschool teacher find her to be dead on right with nearly everything! I have 4 children and at one time had 3 under 3(2,14 months and newborn). Organazation is the key to my life..BUT I would give anything for supernanny tocome and show me how to teach my 7 year old not to act so high and mighty…LOL

- Courtney on February 20th, 2008

Wow 4 kids under the age of 5, including twins, wendy has her hands full lol. I read they asked her in the newspaper anymore babies, she said no way I’m going crazy with 4 boys and I got my tubes tied to make sure, no more kids lol.

- gabriella on February 20th, 2008

I am in defense with Tracy on the issue of not letting your baby cry themselves to sleep. I tried it briefly when my daughter was a baby and it didn’t work, yes I was nervous to try it but I did and she ended up puking all over the crib because she got herself so worked up I guess her gag refluxes went in reverse. She also gag on the spit up in her mouth until I could reach her in her crib, so I never tried that one again. Also has any other adult tried seriously balling their eyes out while laying horizontally flat in bed, it creates huge pressure in your head that leads to a headache, your nose gets stuffed up and it is hard to breath. Sorry I had a lot of sympathy for my child as a baby to continue that form of sleep pattern. I know alot of parents will disagree with me.

- Deb on February 20th, 2008

I can’t wait to watch this one!! I have four kids my oldest, (a daughter) just turned 4 last week, I then have twin sons (22 months) and a son who is (10 months) My boys (the twins) are starting to gang up on me!!

- Becky on February 20th, 2008

Supernanny does NOT advocate Cry-It-Out, just to clear this up. I would not be following the Supernanny techniques (which work wonders) if she did. I greatly disagree with letting a baby (even if they are an “older” baby) get the idea of “If you cry, no one will come for you.” Heartbreaking.

- daphneesmith on February 20th, 2008

If you’ve watched the show, Jo isn’t letting little babies or even young toddlers cry it out in their cribs, she’s teaching older toddlers and children who are having tantrums to sleep in their own bed and go to sleep at bed time.

- Jenny on February 20th, 2008

Boy, what a doll her husband is. I really enjoyed watching this — despite problems, this seems to be a family whose members really listen to each other and make the effort to communicate and be considerate but still firm. You can even already see that in their kids’ behavior. Count me impressed, celebrity or not.

- Chiara on February 20th, 2008

I really wanted to see this episode and missed it. Can anyone who saw it give a recap of what happened (what the problems were, what the parents were like, etc.)?

- Lauren on February 20th, 2008

Deb, if it helps, I’ve only seen Supernanny episodes where Jo work with parents who have toddlers in big boy/big girl beds. They are at the age where they like to come out to the living room or their parents room for attention when they think they aren’t ready for bed yet. I’ve never seen her work with parents on that issue when there are babies in cribs involved.

Lauren – The episode was great. They are a nice family who started out with a lot of little ones and no real schedules to help themselves out. Jo helped them work out some binky, potty, bedtime and baby schedule issues to name a few. Wendy and her husband both talked about their different family backgrounds and they worked with Jo to figure out a happy medium for a few family plans. I felt for Wendy, she looked so frazzled but she slowly got things under order and they all seem to know what and how they will be doing things now.

- Jen on February 21st, 2008

i thought it was interesting to see not only a celebrity family, but wendy as a celebrity baby herself, and how that affected her.

also, carnie and lola showed up!

- nona on February 21st, 2008

I saw the episode and loved it. I expected to see a celebrity being on there for publicity,(I know,cynical me). I was pleasantly surprised. They really did need help. The husband, how great was he? You could see he was understanding of his wife’s chaotic childhood vs his. There is alot of love there. He really felt for her. There are good men out there!

- Hilda on February 21st, 2008

I really liked this episode. I thought Jo had great ideas for easing away from “paci”, little Beau did wonderfully in both letting it go and getting back into the potty routine. He heard what the adults were talking about and decided on his own that he wanted to be big. What a wonderful family!

- Kim Klotz on February 21st, 2008

I watched this episode and give Wendy so much credit! She was an honest mother who was struggling with her 4 young boys. Wendy and her husband raise their kids on their own, and they shared many struggles of parents today. Wendy even was saying how she felt guilty about working again and leaving the boys. I applaud Wendy and her husband for doing this, and showing America that celebrity parents are real, go through the struggles of parents across the country, and don’t depend on nannies, baby-sitters and others to raise their children!

- SuzyBee on February 21st, 2008

I just watched the episode and thought it was great. Dan and Wendy seem really down to earth. They didn’t portray them as a celebrity couple, just everyday folks struggling with issues all parents have. The boys are all so cute. What makes me laugh is how blonde Leo and Beau are and even little Lola. Where is all that blonde hair coming from?

- Michelle on February 22nd, 2008