Once your child begins walking, he will become more and more independent. Toddlers and preschoolers want to try to do a number of things on their own and parents have a tremendous opportunity to instill good, healthy habits as they teach self-care skills during this stage of development. Your child…
Naptime is a blessing for you and your baby. Here are some tips on how to make this important time as beneficial as possible for you both. Why Should Babies Nap? Naps are not just important for their restorative value, although that is their most obvious benefit. Children’s sleep expert…
You’ve had the familiar pang of longing while looking at the babies of friends and family. Heck, diaper commercials may even bring a tear to your eye. But it’s not all emotions; you’ve done the math, weighed your options and decided: it’s time to have a baby. Women of childbearing…
Shortly after having my first baby, I decided I was going to be the perfect parent. I immediately began to keep an intelligent library of child-rearing books on my nightstand and would replenish the stock as each book was absorbed into my sub-consciousness and checked off the “read” list. My…
Summer is a great time for children. School is out for most of them and it’s time to play. Running, climbing, building sand castles, swimming… Sweating, sunburns, complaining. It isn’t necessarily all that easy to keep the kids busy all summer long, especially on particularly hot days, the days when…
Sex, drugs and alcohol — these are subjects you’ll want to talk about with your children before there is a problem. As a family, you can establish boundaries and consequences and come to a common understanding of what is acceptable. Sex: According to Advocates for Youth, statistics indicate that children…
Kids don’t come with an instruction manual, and there’s no such thing as a perfect parent. You can read as many books as possible, talk to all the moms on the playground and pay for weekly therapy sessions, and you still might feel like you don’t know what you are…
It used to be that parents were skeptical when it came to their kids using cell phones. The technology seemed too grown up for kids and teens, and the possibilities of them having instant secret communication with their friends sparked concerns about all kinds of trouble. Today, all that is…
In order for us to get restful sleep, we need to be relaxed. In order to relax, a number of things have to happen. First of all, we need to feel safe and secure. Obviously, if there is tension in the house – abuse, parents rowing, problems with finances or…
Everyone benefits from a good night’s sleep. Children also need to learn how to unwind at the end of the day with an uninterrupted period of restorative sleep. For some children, this comes easily. For others, it may mean a night of counting sheep and difficult morning rises. Break the…