Many parents are wary in the months leading up to potty training, as it seems this milestone can be rife with stress, power struggles, and messy problems. While it is certainly a stressful time for parents, it also is for the child being trained! Defusing that stress is what Stress-Free Potty Training, A Commonsense Guide…
Excerpt from the Updated and Expanded version of “Good Night, Sleep Tight” The Secret Language of Babies Babies have a lot of different cries. I have been fascinated by Priscilla Dunstan’s work on baby sounds, and many families have found it very helpful in understanding their babies’ preverbal communication. Understanding what our little babies are…
People always ask how they can help their baby sleep. Often in my book, “Good Night, Sleep Tight”, I will instruct you to put your baby down to sleep when she is “drowsy but awake” so she can learn to do that last part of falling asleep on her own. If you have trouble visualizing…
10 Tips for Pleasing Your Picky Eater, by Karen Mahan, BS, MS- Guest Blogger Being a picky eater is part of what it means to be a toddler. There are developmental reasons why kids between one and three years of age peck and poke at their food. After a year of rapid growth (the average…
Potty Training Tips While Preserving Your Child’s Sleep Parents often have a lot of questions about toilet training and how it interacts with sleep. You’ll learn: The “potty training window” Start potty training in the daytime Use pullups for naps and sleep for now Avoiding the potty as a bedtime stall Potty training is a milestone!…
In my work with parents, I constantly stress the need to be consistent. But consistency isn’t always possible if babysitters, nannies, child care centers or grandmas are also involved with your child’s sleep. To the extent possible, work with these other caretakers to develop consistent or at least not wildly incompatible, sleep rules and schedules….
When Joe and I were expecting our first baby we were convinced that I would have a natural birth and that our baby would sleep like an angel in her white bassinette that we had painstakingly prepared. Looking back on it I’m glad that at least the bassinette was prepared because we sure as heck…
First, let’s begin by addressing four of the most coveted words in parenting – “sleeping through the night” – a term most parents long to understand, experience, and feel! Throughout our sleep time, we are constantly transitioning and cycling between light and deep sleep (known as REM and non-REM). During these transition periods, we experience…
