When Children Are Afraid of the Dark

Kids often become afraid of the dark and it is tough to figure out what to do to comfort them.  Parenting magazine offers a few tips to help to take the fear out of sleeping in the dark. Follow the link below to read more. 

http://www.parenting.com/article/when-children-are-afraid-dark

Developmental Milestones: Birth - 6 month

Many parents worry about their child’s development. Parents hear what other parents are saying about their child’s development and worry that their child is behind. The truth is, although each milestone has an age level, the actual age when a normally developing child reaches that milestone can vary. Every child is unique.

What are developmental milestones?
Developmental milestones are a group of age-specific tasks that are appropriate for most children. Today we are going to talk about developmental milestones from birth to 6 months. Please keep in mind that these are only guidelines and all children develop at their own pace so don’t get too concerned if your child lags in a certain task.

Developmental Milestones for a One-Month Old
When you first bring you baby home it seems like all the do is eat and sleep. By the end of the first month your baby should become much more alert and responsive. Some milestones might include:

•Bringing hands within range of eyes and mouth
•Moving head from side to side during tummy time
•Flopping head backward if unsupported
•Keeping hands in a tight fist

Developmental Milestones for a Three-Month Old
Around 3 months of age your baby will become much more active and many newborn traits will begin to fade. Babies around this age often have more control over their body and can spend hours entertaining themselves discovering their hands.

Some milestones may include:

•Raising their head and chest during tummy time
•Grasping and shaking hand toys
•Beginning to babble
•Beginning to imitate some sounds
•Turning head toward direction of sound
•Beginning to develop a social smile
•Enjoying playing with other people and crying when playing stops

Developmental Milestones for a Seven-Month Old
Many important changes occur between 4 and 7 months of age. Your baby will learn to coordinate their motor skills and start to develop their senses like vision, touch and hearing.

Some milestones may include

•Rolling both ways (front to back, back to front)
•Sitting with, and then without, support of her hands
•Supporting his or her whole weight on their legs
•Reaching with one hand
•Tracking moving objects
•Responding to own name
•Beginning to respond to “no”
•Distinguishing emotions by tone of voice
•Enjoying social play

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s development, please contact your pediatrician or for more information please visit the American Academy Pediatrics website

Source: http://www.aap.org

Is Your Child Too Old for a Blankie?

Young children may have a “lovey” which may be a blanket or their favorite stuffed animal.  As parents we worry if our children are to old to be carrying their “blankie” around.  Scholastic magazine has a great article on dealing with this topic. Click here to read the article.

Interaction is Important for Your Baby’s Development

Experts suggest the first three years of life are extremely important in the long-tern development of young children. You can jump start your babies emotional and intellectual development by providing the right kind of stimulation.

· At a basic level, facial expressions, like playing peak-a-boo or smiling can begin to stimulate your baby’s brain from a very early age.

· Reading aloud to a baby can provide stimulation and the basic building blocks of speech and language development.

· The stimulation your baby receives by touching various types of fabrics, shape blocks and even playing with water during bath time can help develop a baby’s motor skills as well as stimulate their brains.

· Hugs, kisses and other positive interactions can help stimulate your baby’s brain and provide emotional development and support to make your baby feel secure.

· There is a fine line between providing enough stimulation to your baby and too much. Soothing music and baby massages are a great way to stimulate your baby’s brain why at the same time calming them.

The best way to make sure your baby is getting enough stimulation is to fill their environment with books, colorful objects and pay toys of all different sizes and shapes.

The Top 5 Potty Training Issues and How to Tackle Them

Let’s face it, potty training can be difficult for everyone involved. There can be many issues that parents/guardians face during potty training.  This article from Education.com helps parents/guardians through the top 5 potty training issues.  Click here to read more

Teaching Healthy Eating

If getting your child to eat vegetables and fruits has become a battle. Get them involved in choosing healthy food by create a collage of nutritious fruits and veggies. This will help them learn about new foods while embracing their inner artist.

What you'll need

* Magazines, preferably cooking and food publications
* Cardboard or poster board
* Scissors
* Glue or a glue stick


How it works

Ask your child what healthy foods they likes to eat, and look through the magazines together to find pictures of those vegetables, fruit, or grains. Encourage them to pick out items that they are less enthusiastic about and explain why those are good to include in their diet as well.

Help your child to cut out the images and glue them on the poster board arranging items by color. Then hang their masterpiece on the fridge as an easy reminder of what foods are best to eat, or head out to your local farmers market and have your child pick out foods they want to try that are on their poster.

Helping Preschoolers to Celebrate Siblings’ Birthdays

It can be hard for toddler’s/preschoolers to celebrate their siblings birthday.  They watch their brother or sister receive all the attention, opening present after present.  Scholastic  wrote a great article on how to deal with this issue and how to keep everyone happy during a fun birthday celebration.  Click here to read the article

Getting Toddlers to Help Around the House

One of the most common complaints from parents with toddlers is that their toddlers don’t clean up, because of their curious minds and nonstop energy they are into everything. By the end of the day your house looks like 50 kids had a play date instead of just one. However, there is some good news, toddlers can learn at an early age to pick up after themselves and even have a little fun while doing it. The earlier you start cleaning up and helping around the house habits the easier it will become as your little one gets older.

One of the most important habits is to have a routine for clean up. Try giving them a 5 minute warning that clean up time is coming. Next, is having a verbal cue to let your child know that it is clean up time. A favorite one used by teachers is the clean up song, you can make up one on your own or use the old time favorite. Singing will help pass the time while your child is picking everything up and putting it away. Now, to make things easier for your child, you need to be organized. It makes it much more fun when your little one knows where everything goes. One of the best ways to do this is to purchase some inexpensive bins and label them. Take a picture of the toy that belongs in the bin and place it on the outside so all your child has to do is to match the toy to the picture. If you have older children, place a card with the name of the toy written on it. This will help with their reading skills.


Remember to keep a positive attitude. Your little one may not get all the toys back where they should go but, they did clean up, so offer them positive encouragement for even the littlest effort. Your toddler will be so pleased with their accomplishment.