In his book titled Loving by Leading: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Healthy and Responsible Children, Dr. Den Trumbull explores the research on parenting styles. He cites four specific styles as described by developmental psychologist, Dr. Dianna Baumrind. Trumbull explains, “The most successful parenting style, the authoritative style, used a balance of positive encouragement and […]
“Limit your children’s screen time.” It is easy when stressed and in a hurry to use the TV as a babysitter, and children may seem to want screen time more than anything else. It seems to make a great reward and a useful distraction. Responding to media use with a focus on your child’s well-being […]
Pregnancy can mean different things to different people, but one thing’s for sure: it’s definitely life changing! From the moment a couple sees that positive on the pregnancy test, nothing is the same. What follows are months of doctor’s appointments, morning sickness, anticipation, anxiety, and more. But for some parents, this life-changing experience takes an […]
I know of many parents, including some of my own aunts, uncles and friends, that spend the majority of their day helping their children participate in extracurricular activities. They meticulously organize each hour of the day to accommodate and fit in each child’s separate activities. I have an aunt, for example, who, with her three […]
Depression–or feeling sad, frustrated, and hopeless about life, accompanied by loss of pleasure in most activities and disturbances in sleep, appetite, concentration, and energy–is one of the most common psychological problems among adolescents. According to previous research done at the American Psychiatric Association in 2013, 20 to 50 percent of U.S. teenagers experience mild to […]
The word teratogen comes from the Greek word, teras, meaning “malformation” or “monstrosity” (Berk, L., Development Through the Lifespan, p. 81). During pregnancy, it’s extremely important to take care of yourself and your baby, and many mothers don’t know about teratogens, or certain aspects of their environment that could cause damage during the prenatal period. […]
In February of 2017, in the middle of one of the coldest winters in years, it was also the wettest. The water couldn’t sink into the frozen ground so it pooled. Fields quickly turned to ponds and small lakes and roads became rivers. No one in our area had seen anything like it, and only […]
For most children, experience with a doctor starts at day one. It’s probably a good thing babies can’t remember their birth. No baby, child, or adult would want to go back to the doctor if they associate the doctor or hospital with pain and discomfort. One bad experience can set a person against it forever. […]
The “talk” is one that many avoid, and many others hope will only require a quick fill-in of information they do not already know. For many, the “talk” that we have with our children about sexual development can be very intimidating. According to the Department of Health & Human Services (2016), many parents assume that […]
Many mothers today differ in their opinions on what’s better for their newborn: breastfeeding or bottle-feeding? Nutrition is especially crucial for development in the first two years of the baby’s life because it’s brain and body are growing so rapidly. Babies need both enough food and the right kind of food. In early infancy, breastfeeding […]
