It's late at night and your baby refuses to stop bawling and go to sleep. You know your baby wants something but you just can't figure out what. After hours of tears and screams, your exhausted baby finally drifts off to sleep, leaving you frustrated and feeling guilty about causing him so much sorrow. How many times have you encountered this scenario?
Babies cry largely because they want their needs to be met. Problem is baby can't tell you what he wants so he will keep crying until you meet his need. However, teaching your baby sign language can help you communicate with your baby and minimize tears.
What is baby sign language?
Speech is a very complicated process and requires breath regulation, control of vocal chords, etc. That is why children do not begin talking until after they are a year old. Even then, most children are capable of speaking only a few words. Baby sign language gives your baby a non-verbal outlet to express thoughts and needs.
Aren't babies too young to be taught sign language?
Critics of baby sign language claim that babies are too young to learn communication. But if you think about it, almost every baby can wave goodbye in response to a person leaving. So a baby can communicate as long as he knows how. Teaching your baby sign language has an additional benefit. The American Academy of Pediatrics has conducted research, which monitored the verbal skills of children who were taught sign language as babies. The results were that these children's verbal skills were more developed than those who were not taught to sign.
When should I start teaching my baby sign language?
You can introduce your baby to sign language from 6 months. Remember that most babies develop the ability to sign only after 8 months so don't worry if your baby cannot sign back yet. If you are unsure how to teach your baby, there are plenty of baby sign language classes available. Here, a professional can guide you on the best way to teach your baby to sign.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Do's and Don'ts for Discipline Your Toddler
The transition from baby to toddler is also the stage when your child will learn to accept and give in to your authority, at least in certain matters. The process will be gradual and involve a certain amount of stress for both of you.
Your child will rebel and will test your will against his on at least some occasions; but tact and resolve in handling such situations should get you through.
Some Do's and Don'ts to guide you in disciplining your child, are as follows:
Do's:
• Set correct and clear rules: Let your toddler be sure of what right behavior is and what unacceptable behavior is.
• Be consistent. Don't expect your child to know that jumping on the couch at home is okay, but not at the neighbor's house.
• Be firm: Your toddler will try to change your mind and bend the rules; but you should be firm about your disciplinary directives and learn to say 'no'.
• Be gentle and sympathetic: Generally, your toddler will happily listen to you if you are gentle and encouraging.
• Supervise your toddler's actions: Let your toddler know you are keeping a tab on its actions.
Don'ts:
• Do not set unrealistic rules: You must remember your toddler is only a child and not an adult. Therefore, you should consider what is normal from a toddler's point of view and accordingly set limits.
• Do not get personal: Criticize your toddler's unacceptable actions and not your toddler. Avoid generalizing when it comes to your toddler's mistakes. No child wants to hear that they "always" spill their milk, or make a mess.
• Do not hit your child: While you may get frustrated, nothing can take back hitting your child for a mistake they make, mostly unknowingly. Always remember the basic goodness of children. They are mostly testing and learning and it's your job to keep them from destroying themselves and others during this process.
Your child will rebel and will test your will against his on at least some occasions; but tact and resolve in handling such situations should get you through.
Some Do's and Don'ts to guide you in disciplining your child, are as follows:
Do's:
• Set correct and clear rules: Let your toddler be sure of what right behavior is and what unacceptable behavior is.
• Be consistent. Don't expect your child to know that jumping on the couch at home is okay, but not at the neighbor's house.
• Be firm: Your toddler will try to change your mind and bend the rules; but you should be firm about your disciplinary directives and learn to say 'no'.
• Be gentle and sympathetic: Generally, your toddler will happily listen to you if you are gentle and encouraging.
• Supervise your toddler's actions: Let your toddler know you are keeping a tab on its actions.
Don'ts:
• Do not set unrealistic rules: You must remember your toddler is only a child and not an adult. Therefore, you should consider what is normal from a toddler's point of view and accordingly set limits.
• Do not get personal: Criticize your toddler's unacceptable actions and not your toddler. Avoid generalizing when it comes to your toddler's mistakes. No child wants to hear that they "always" spill their milk, or make a mess.
• Do not hit your child: While you may get frustrated, nothing can take back hitting your child for a mistake they make, mostly unknowingly. Always remember the basic goodness of children. They are mostly testing and learning and it's your job to keep them from destroying themselves and others during this process.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Buying Baby Clothes on a Budget
If your spouse is pregnant, this is the best time to start making a list of all the items your new baby will need. On top of the list is, of course, clothes for your baby. Here are some tips on getting good deals on baby clothes.
Tip 1: Hand-me-downs
Babies grow extremely fast and tend to outgrow their clothes in no time. If a close relative or friend has a child only slightly older than yours and has some baby clothes to pass on, go ahead and accept them. In all likelihood, the clothes have only been used a couple of times and will be as good as new. The best part of hand-me-downs? They don't cost a cent.
Tip 2: Unused baby shower gifts
Baby clothes are a common gift given at baby showers. Often, women receive more clothes than their baby will ever use, which are either given away or sold cheap. The best way to spot these baby clothes is to scout around yard sales and look for clothing with the tags still attached.
Tip 3: End of season sales
Buying baby clothes during season-ending sales is a great way to save money on baby clothes, especially if you are partial to branded clothes. The key here is to plan your shopping well in advance. For example, if your spouse is due in summer, you can purchase winter clothes from newborn to 6 months during the previous winter end sale.
Tip 4: Reuse old clothes.
Since your baby is growing really fast, use your creativity and reuse old clothes to make new ones. For example, if your baby has outgrown his or her trousers, cut them to make shorts. Jackets whose sleeves are too short can become waistcoats if you cut the sleeves off.
Looking after young child involves managing a variety of tasks; one of the more pleasurable among these is buying baby clothes. However, shopping for children's clothes requires careful thought. Find out more tips while selecting baby clothes.
Tip 1: Hand-me-downs
Babies grow extremely fast and tend to outgrow their clothes in no time. If a close relative or friend has a child only slightly older than yours and has some baby clothes to pass on, go ahead and accept them. In all likelihood, the clothes have only been used a couple of times and will be as good as new. The best part of hand-me-downs? They don't cost a cent.
Tip 2: Unused baby shower gifts
Baby clothes are a common gift given at baby showers. Often, women receive more clothes than their baby will ever use, which are either given away or sold cheap. The best way to spot these baby clothes is to scout around yard sales and look for clothing with the tags still attached.
Tip 3: End of season sales
Buying baby clothes during season-ending sales is a great way to save money on baby clothes, especially if you are partial to branded clothes. The key here is to plan your shopping well in advance. For example, if your spouse is due in summer, you can purchase winter clothes from newborn to 6 months during the previous winter end sale.
Tip 4: Reuse old clothes.
Since your baby is growing really fast, use your creativity and reuse old clothes to make new ones. For example, if your baby has outgrown his or her trousers, cut them to make shorts. Jackets whose sleeves are too short can become waistcoats if you cut the sleeves off.
Looking after young child involves managing a variety of tasks; one of the more pleasurable among these is buying baby clothes. However, shopping for children's clothes requires careful thought. Find out more tips while selecting baby clothes.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Holidays on Cruise Ships with Kids
If you're like most couples with young kids, nothing sounds worse than being cooped up with a boatload of geriatrics and your little kids. While the image of cruising is changing, it's still hard to get over this preconception. In reality, a cruise might be a perfect vacation for you and your family.
Here are some key things to think about when planning a cruise adventure.
1. Number one is cost and relaxation. While a cruise with a baby in a small cabin might work, packing 2 older kids in with mom and dad might spoil the relaxation of a cruise. Think of the cost/benefit trade-offs when planning and deciding to take a cruise. For example: No sex for a week, 8PM bedtimes and living in a perpetual mess you have to step over, may not seem like a vacation.
2. Most cruise lines have excellent and FREE child-care programs that will take care of kids 3 or older (2 or older for potty-trained kids on Carnival and Norwegian), which makes even thinking of 4 to a cabin imaginable. Many kids end up preferring childcare to being with mom and dad and it gives parents total flexibility in planning excursions and alone time. However, kids must be potty trained and may even be excluded if they violate "3 strikes" rules.
Additionally, you'll find out very quickly if your child does not like the childcare concept. On a recent cruise to Alaska, our five year old couldn't stay away from her new pals, while the couple we were traveling with could not convince their son to try it more than once.
3. Cruise ship pools do not allow swimming diapers due to different public health rules, so no babies in the pool.
4. Talk to cruise staff about the appropriateness of excursions for your kids. While cruises always try to have you reserve excursions up front, most, if not all, do not get completely booked until the days before they take place, so you can almost always book on the ship after talking to staff with direct experience.
Make sure to ask whether the excursion might be scary for little kids, whether rest rooms are available, and importantly if there's a chance dad might have to carry a four-year-old up 450 steps.
5. Bring a group. Cruising is really a perfect way to travel with extended family or another couple or two with kids. The size of the ship and the number of excursions allow for plenty of separation, while providing lots of opportunities for friends and family to re-unite at dinners or events.
Long travel gives dads the added concern of keeping kids from getting bored on the journey. There are many more ways to do this than the good old portable DVD player. For other travel activities with kids, there are some good ideas you can keep at the back of your mind when the "how much longer?" questions start coming fast and furious.
Here are some key things to think about when planning a cruise adventure.
1. Number one is cost and relaxation. While a cruise with a baby in a small cabin might work, packing 2 older kids in with mom and dad might spoil the relaxation of a cruise. Think of the cost/benefit trade-offs when planning and deciding to take a cruise. For example: No sex for a week, 8PM bedtimes and living in a perpetual mess you have to step over, may not seem like a vacation.
2. Most cruise lines have excellent and FREE child-care programs that will take care of kids 3 or older (2 or older for potty-trained kids on Carnival and Norwegian), which makes even thinking of 4 to a cabin imaginable. Many kids end up preferring childcare to being with mom and dad and it gives parents total flexibility in planning excursions and alone time. However, kids must be potty trained and may even be excluded if they violate "3 strikes" rules.
Additionally, you'll find out very quickly if your child does not like the childcare concept. On a recent cruise to Alaska, our five year old couldn't stay away from her new pals, while the couple we were traveling with could not convince their son to try it more than once.
3. Cruise ship pools do not allow swimming diapers due to different public health rules, so no babies in the pool.
4. Talk to cruise staff about the appropriateness of excursions for your kids. While cruises always try to have you reserve excursions up front, most, if not all, do not get completely booked until the days before they take place, so you can almost always book on the ship after talking to staff with direct experience.
Make sure to ask whether the excursion might be scary for little kids, whether rest rooms are available, and importantly if there's a chance dad might have to carry a four-year-old up 450 steps.
5. Bring a group. Cruising is really a perfect way to travel with extended family or another couple or two with kids. The size of the ship and the number of excursions allow for plenty of separation, while providing lots of opportunities for friends and family to re-unite at dinners or events.
Long travel gives dads the added concern of keeping kids from getting bored on the journey. There are many more ways to do this than the good old portable DVD player. For other travel activities with kids, there are some good ideas you can keep at the back of your mind when the "how much longer?" questions start coming fast and furious.
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