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Reading to Baby: When to Start and How to Do it Well
By Jamell Andrews
In the age of television, internet, and ubiquitous gadgets, there is something refreshing about the quiet act of reading a good book. And although childcare experts say reading to a child has little significant effect until he or she is around the six-month mark, it is never too early to get started. Young children may not get the same things out of books that we do, but the reading experience is valuable for a number of reasons, and reading daily to your baby is a crucial stepping stone toward future linguistic and educational development.
Posted in Activities, Books, Dads, Development, Language Skills, Learning, Moms, Nanny | 
Leave a commentBaby’s First Week: What to Expect
By Lisa Pecos
For first-time parents, the first week with a new baby is one of the most exciting, nerve-wracking, and thrilling times in your life. After months of planning and preparing for this moment, not to mention imagining and desiring for it to come, the simple act of walking through your front door with your baby for the first time can seem downright surreal. It is a magical time for many parents, but it also comes with a set of challenges that must be quickly overcome. And while the initial excitement is worth savoring, after a few days you will have to settle into the long-term, routine-driven life of parenting.
Posted in Care, Dads, Development, Emotional - Social, Moms, Newborns, Social Life | Leave a commentHow Does Having a Baby Change Your Life?
For new parents, no two situations are alike. Everyone has their own habits, their own hobbies, and their own experiences. So if you are about to welcome your first child into your life, only you can know how you are going to handle it. Some people have been preparing for years to become parents and are more or less ready, while others receive their first child with no more than a few months to prepare mentally, socially, and financially. Whatever your situation, there are ways to handle the new arrival so that your life and your family’s life become better. One thing is for sure, though: Life will change.
The Pros and Cons of Pacifiers
For many new parents, the pacifier is a lifesaver. Not only is it quick and simple, but it also seems to do a better job of stopping the baby’s crying than virtually anything else. After hours of rocking, cuddling, and singing with no reprieve in the baby’s crying, having that pacifier on hand can be a great relief. Yet even though pacifiers work quite well for many children, there are some potential drawbacks that parents should be aware of. In the end, pacifiers are great as a short-term solution to baby’s crying, but they should be used with caution.
Getting an Infant to Sleep: Strategies for Parents
When it comes to getting an infant to sleep, there are many factors that parents have to balance. They have to balance the child’s personality and preferences with the recommendations of doctors and parenting guides-and these two things are seldom perfectly aligned. They have to balance the child’s sleep schedule with their own schedules. They have to figure out how to regulate the child’s naps so that he or she sleeps the proper amount during the night. And in addition to these issues, there may be other, unexpected factors that come into play. All in all, figuring out how to give your child healthy sleep is one of the biggest challenges of the first several months of parenting.
Posted in Babysitter, Care, Dads, General Health, Moms, Nanny, Newborns, Preemies, Sleep, Sleep Care, Twins - Multiples | Leave a commentChoosing a Doctor for Your Baby
For new parents, the early stages of pregnancy are all about keeping the mother healthy and preparing for labor. You might be so preoccupied with these concerns that you forget about the years of parenting that will follow the birth. While some tasks can be saved until later, there is one thing that must be taken care of as early as possible: finding a doctor for the baby. Parents should start thinking about this early in the pregnancy, and it is best to have a doctor chosen by the seventh or eight month.
How Babies Learn to Talk, and How You Can Help
Learning how to talk is an innate human ability that scarcely needs parental encouragement. As long as a child is around people who talk, he or she is eventually going to begin picking up on words, and adeptness with the language comes soon thereafter. However, the sooner a child learns how to talk, the sooner she can begin to communicate more complex things, learn to read, and socialize meaningfully with other children. As a parent, you may not be able to speed up the process significantly, but some babies do respond well to encouragement.
Posted in Development, Emotional - Social, Language Skills, Learning, Motor Skills | Leave a commentReturning to Work after Childbirth
The question of when to return to work after giving birth weighs heavily on the minds of many pregnant woman. In the United States, the vast majority of women with children of preschool age or younger are part of the work force, and the rate is increasing throughout the world. This can be troublesome in an age in which women are still widely expected to be the primary caregivers for young children, and the issue is further complicated by the physical and emotional difficulties surrounding the post-childbirth return to work.
The Pros and Cons of Circumcision
Although circumcision is a long-established tradition and is very common in the United States, it is a perpetual subject of controversy. There is a substantial body of evidence that circumcision might have health benefits, but the procedure also comes with risks. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not consider the benefits of circumcision significant enough to outweigh the risks, which is why they do not officially recommend circumcision, saying that it “is not essential to the child’s well-being.”
Hunger is Not Why Babies Wake up at Night
For new parents, sleep can seem like a rare and priceless asset. During the early months, babies can be very unpredictable in their sleeping habits, and they wake at all hours, sometimes for seemingly no reason. Many pants find that their infants settle down and sleep more predictably after the first couple of months, but then things get rough again a little later, usually between the ages of 6 and 10 months. No one is sure exactly why this happens, and research has not made it clear. However, it is likely that frequent wakeups at this age result from a variety of factors. Here are a few of the most common ones.
Posted in Care, Crawling - Walking, Feeding, Health, Nanny, Newborns, Sleep, Sleep Care, Teething | Leave a comment