How to Get Your Infant on a Sleep Schedule

One of the first difficulties a parent will face is the fact that their child will not be on a sleep schedule. When a child is in the womb they have no concept of time and schedules. When they are born this ignorance to schedules and time continues into their daily life. This can be hard on a parent because they often times will want to get back on a normal sleep schedule when the baby starts to grow older. Luckily, there are a few things parents can do to help their child get on a regular, routine sleep schedule.

Naps. An infant will need to nap during the day. However, if you wish to have your infant on a sleep schedule you will need to keep those naps short. The shorter the nap the more you encourage your child to sleep at night. Studies have shown that infants will need about 15 hours of sleep. This means that when your child naps do not allow them to nap for more than three hours. Wake them up to play or even to feed. This will allow them to grow tired at night and sleep during that period of time.

Noise and Light. If your baby or infant does nap during the day try to have them nap where there is noise and light. This will prevent your child from going into a deep sleep that is reserved for nighttime. If they do not go into a deep sleep then they will be more likely to sleep at night than during the day.

Daytime Stimulation. An infant is more likely to stay awake if you keep them up and stimulated during the day. This can include playing games, music and even TV shows. Stimulation will prevent the infant from growing tired and wanting to fall asleep during the daytime.

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How to Handle Your Child’s Temper Tantrum

Children in Jerusalem.
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Even though your child has not arrived yet you are probably already educating yourself with plenty of parenting tips. You are reading up on what to feed your child, how to potty train, how to get them to love reading and all sorts of other great tips that parents love to read up on while they are waiting for their bundle of joy to arrive. One of the topics that you may have run into but dread learning about is the temper tantrums.

It’s a given fact that when your child gets older they will probably throw at least one or two temper tantrums in their life. Think about it, even adults throw a temper tantrum when they don’t get what they want or they are faced with having a possible DUI and they don’t know whether to refuse breathalyzer tests or what to do. So you should learn how to handle that situation now before the first tantrum arrives. Here are some tips on how to handle temper tantrums.

Ignore them. It might be hard to ignore your child while they are throwing themselves around and screaming but ignoring the temper tantrum is the number one suggested way to go. This shows your child you are not putting up with the temper tantrum and they are not having an effect on you.

Consequences. Sometimes you can tell when a temper tantrum is starting to boil. If you remind your child to remain calm and if they start to act up there will be consequences this might stop their behavior in its tracks.

No matter how you choose to hand your child’s temper tantrum remember that the key to stopping the temper tantrum in its tracks is your ability to maintain your cool. If you start to yell, your child will probably start throwing a fit along with you.

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Filed Under: Child Birth, Family health Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Parents are Role Models

Everybody eagerly awaits the arrival of a new baby, especially new parents. The room is ready, the clothes, toys and necessities are all ready to go and siblings have been briefed on what to expect when the new bundle of joy comes home. What many parents don’t discuss, however, is their own behavior patterns and how those may affect growing children.

From a very young age infants learn to observe. They carefully watch everything around them and before long they’ll start to mimic behaviors. This is an important developmental step, but its also one that can go very wrong. Parents are usually quick to correct bad behavior in their children, but oftentimes it is just the children copying their behavior. Parents are the first role models to their children.

If, for example, the parents are having talks about divorce and debt and usually end up screaming or yelling at each other, then it’d be no surprise for their toddler to start using that kind of abrasive yelling. If the parents don’t show any physical emotion toward each other, how will their child possibly learn to be affectionate with others?

If the parents are hostile and unfriendly to others then the child will learn that that is an acceptable way to behave. The parents may or may not realize that the child is learning these behaviors but the only real way to correct the behavior in the child is to realize where they’re learning it and to fix it at the source.

Parents may be doing everything right, but their own behavior teaches the child how to behave, communicate and interact with other people. It has been said that a child’s behavior will be fundamentally determined by the age of 4, so be sure to address any behavioral issues while they’re still young enough.

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Filed Under: Child Birth, Family health, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Preparing for Post Child Birth

Newborn child, seconds after birth. The umbili...
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Being a first time mom is exciting and scary all at the same time. You want the best for you and for your child. Just like choosing the best Phoenix apartments, you want to make the best decisions for your child. While you are no doubt preparing for the birthing process and dealing with the anticipation and the anxiety that goes a long with it, there is also a bigger task at hand. It’s about planning for the few weeks that follow. Being a mother with no previous training can be very difficult in the first few weeks. 

Babies, as you know, require constant care and attention, especially early on. They must be fed every two to three hours and they are often fussy or can even fall ill to temperatures and colds. This isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but if you aren’t ready to deal with all of it is could be more than a bit overwhelming. 

The basis of everything is to have your Phoenix apartments ready for the coming baby. Make sure that the house is stocked with food, formula, and diapers. Don’t think simply about food for the baby, but about food for yourself. You’ll be in the house often and you’ll need to have food close by. This will help you immensely as you go forward. 

Another thing is to make sure you have someone around who can relieve you. Hopefully, the father is taking time off of work, or is in the picture at least, but that isn’t always the case. Just like shopping for Phoenix apartments, you cannot expect to do it all by yourself. There is no shame in asking for help. Those first weeks are really tough. If you don’t take the proper care and precautions that are needed early on, you could find yourself overwhelmed once the baby does come home. Do your best to avoid that.

Filed Under: Child health, Family health, General Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Parenting Tip: What Does “I Hate You” Really Mean

You’re child has just screamed that he or she hates you. Is this normal? Generally this is a a sensitive topic and should be taken seriously. If you as a parent ignore it, it could result in some serious and harmful consequences. As a parent you need to recognize these words may be being driven by feelings that could turn into seriously detrimental acts.

Some parents may have actually prohibited the use of certain words and language within their home and family structure, and this can include the hate speech. These parents may treat a child’s “I hate you” outcry as a rule violation and impose punishment or consequences.

Professionals generally say that this is not a wise decision. Rather than an immediate punishment or reprimand, parents should use this as a way to open lines of communication. This is a desperate statement, just as serious as a threat of suicide or intentional harm. These statements imply a state of unhappiness that should be discussed to get to the root of those feelings.

Also, parents should realize that the “I hate you” statement is probably not rooted in true hate, but may a symptom of other issues including:

–Frustration on the part of the child from demands, restraints or lack of understanding by parents.

–The child is upset because of poor decisions that were made on his or her part, and just wants to share those feelings.

–The child is upset by something a parent did or didn’t do. The “I hate you” statement may really mean that they are hurt by a parent’s treatment.

The child at this point does not need punishment from the parent but rather empathy and concern. When your child lashes out with the hate statement, you should actually respond with wanting to have your child explain his or her feelings of anger or unhappiness.

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: , ,
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