Parenting Blog

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Sleep

5 Reasons Your Child May Be Having Nightmares

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When your little one wakes up in the middle of the night crying over the visions they see in their sleep it can be heartbreaking. It’s normal that they pop up from time to time. But, if your kids are starting to develop symptoms of frequent nightmares from grinding their teeth, wetting the bed, or having difficulty processing what they see, you may want to start looking deeper into what’s causing it.

Here are some of the reasons to consider why your child may be having nightmares, and what you can do to help. [Read more…] about 5 Reasons Your Child May Be Having Nightmares

Uncontrolled Emotions – Health Risks

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depresseart1Depression, anger, lack of social skills and many more, these are classical signs of either underlying sickness or too much stress. Nope, you’re not crazy but might need help, who needs psychologists who charge tons of money. Get help from people like you who may have overcome these challenges themselves and have ample experience to help you through. From seasoned professionals who are well versed in such cases or merely people who want to help and have dealt with people like you, what’s important is to accept that something is wrong and that help is needed.
Acceptance is one of the most difficult things to do, for no one, and we mean no one wants to admit it outright they have issues. Pent up anger can get out of hand and easily turn violent without therapy and counseling. Have a child who seems out of the game most of the time, get help quick so you can get help on tips how you can help them develop into more lively kids.
Getting help is the first step, recovery is the ultimate goal which we all strive to attain. Learn how people overcome fear, anxiety and dread of things we take fore granted. Learn how your fears can be turned into positive approaches to the most common problems we face. The current economic slump isn’t helping either, lost your job, need help or simply want a sympathetic ear to ease away the pain. Depression is so hard to battle when you’re alone. You sacrifice your health, family and life for something that can be addresses with simple yet effective conversations. Get help, get on your way to a healthier you, inside and out!

Help Your Baby Sleep At Night

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A friend of mine, who is a relatively new mom, was telling me about her 5-month old baby the other day. Naturally, she had all those delightful tales about how adorable her baby is, but she also had the not-so-pleasant stories. One of those was the fact that her baby does not really sleep well at night, especially if she does not sleep beside him. As many more seasoned moms would know, babies generally are ready to sleep for about 4 or 5 hours straight at night when they reach 4 months or so. The trick is in helping or teaching the baby to do it on his/her own. This is what I shared with my friend.

Establish a routine and make sure you follow it. Man is a creature of habit, and babies are no different! At this point, you have to help your baby get used to certain “rituals” at night that will make it easier for him to fall asleep. The tried and tested trick for me is to get the atmosphere right about 20 to 30 minutes before bedtime. Give baby a soothing bath. Turn the lights down (or off, if that works for the baby). Play soft music. Tell a story. Make soothing sounds. These things combined send a signal that it is time for beddybye land. The story telling and soothing sounds really help – your baby relishes the sound of your voice more than you would know. Of course, in the beginning, your baby will still make a fuss and not fall asleep easily. After a week or so of constant practice, though, things should settle down.

Avoid coddling the baby. This is something that is quite hard for some parents to do, especially those who are first-timers. The moment the baby makes a sound, you might be tempted to pick him up immediately. I have learned to do otherwise. Instead of immediately reassuring the baby, wait and see first. For some infants, this kind of response will actually make them stop crying on their own. If this is the case for your baby, then it is a good sign that you can actually “ignore” his cries every now and then, especially if it is time for bed. He may only be seeking for attention and some coddling, which can be ignored when trying to teach him to fall asleep on his own. Of course, you have to observe how this kind of reaction affects your baby.

Expert moms, how did you teach your baby to fall asleep alone?

Night Terrors and Monster Go Away Spray!

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msl-monstergoawayAt least one or twice a week, my husband and I hear little footsteps in the dead of night, traversing from across the hall and into our bedroom, with “Mommy, I had a bad dream”. Usually, we are both too exhausted to take them back, so we end up with one (sometimes two) little bodies squeezed in between us. And putting them to bed is even more of an issue, with claims of “Mommy I’m scared”, “Mom I don’t want to be alone” (even if they aren’t alone, “Mommy I have bad dreams” etc etc., making the bedtime ritual stretch out even longer until bone tired Mom is about to pass out on the bunk with them.

So when I saw this product on My Daily Om, I thought, What a clever idea, I wish I thought of it!….followed by… I have to get one!. Formulated by a Mom, this fabulous spray gets rid of those bedtime monsters both physically and psychologically. Physically, because it uses essential oils and works it’s magic through aromatherapy, and psychologically, well, you know. We Moms are all amateur doctors, right?

[Read more…] about Night Terrors and Monster Go Away Spray!

Sleeping Through The Night: Not!

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ss

My 20-month-old son has NEVER slept through the night. I can’t help comparing him to my 4-year-old girl, who within a few days of taking her home from the hospital slept for 8 hour stretches. Well here’s some news: thats the first rule to assume when you have kids – siblings will always be different, especially when they’re of the opposite sex. I guess that’s why they tell you to avoid comparing, which isn’t too easy.

So my little boy, who is an utter sweetheart in every other way, can be a real nightmare when it comes to sleep. No fail, every single night (save two or three in his short existence, where I prematurely rejoice thinking he has done it- but the next day its back to the old), he’ll wake up two or three times a night, crying miserably to be rocked, danced or fed.

I am determined to stop this exhausting life for both our sakes (miraculously his sister sho shares a room with him sleeps like a log throughout), as I’ve also heard that bad sleep patterns this early and life can be taken into adulthood. Think of all those adults who have to rely on sleep medication, sound effects etc. Come to think of it now, there must be at least 3 people in my extended family who have this problem. Oh dear.

Here’s some advice I found from Dr.Greene when a desperate Mom with the same exact problem wrote in:

“….The first step in helping Nicholas fall asleep at night is to develop a bedtime ritual. This may include an evening feeding at least one-half hour before bed, bath time (a warm bath right before bed tends to make children sleepy), putting on a fresh diaper and clean pajamas, having Nicholas lie in his crib, and reading a bedtime story. Add one new element of the ritual per week for several weeks until you have established a routine that works well for your family. Not all of these steps are necessary, but you may find many of them helpful. At first you will need to stay by Nicholas’s crib, and perhaps keep reading to him, until he falls asleep. Down the road, you will be able to read for a set amount of time and then leave him alone to fall asleep. In the transition period, it is helpful to give him a children’s cassette tape player with a tape of his favorite stories being read by Mom and Dad. Often when children can turn the tape on and listen as long as they want, they will fall asleep very rapidly. This is particularly true when you tell them that you’ll come back in and check on them in a while.”

[tags]toddler,sleeping,sleep problems,sleeping through night[/tags]

Energetic Kids

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dd

My little girl has a LOT of energy. I’m not sure if its just her age (4 1/2), or if this is something I will have to contend with for the next 15 or so years. With school just running from 8 a.m. to noon, I have to cook up other activities for the rest of the day or she’ll be scaling the walls until bedtime. And speaking of the dreaded hour when parents are praying for the beginning of peace in their day, I’ve found that if every little bone in her body isn’t tired enough, she’ll be using every excuse in the book to scrounge another few hours of awake (read play) time. Try “mom, my leg is itchy” or ” mom, I’m really thirsty” (this is an effective one that gets a trip to the potty too) or “mom, its too hot in my room” etc etc.

So aside from signing her up for the “extended day program” at school a few times a week, she also has playgroup on wednesday afternoons and football practice three times a week. Not that the latter means I get tuesdays, thursdays and saturday afternoons free to shop or get a direly needed pedicure, but on those days I get to sit on ant-infested bleachers for two hours with Readers Digest. And if I take my 20-month-old toddler along to the playground adjacent, the whole exercise becomes a full-on workout. Such is mother’s life!

[tags]kids,kid problems,fathers,moms,energy,hyperactive[/tags]