Shaping the life of your precious ones

Welcome to another issue of All about Parenting Toddlers .

In This Issue:

1. Ten Tips That Promote Healthy Brain Development In Children
2. Sleep Patterns For Your Kids
3. Latest updates on Parenting Toddlers

Ten Tips That Promote Healthy Brain Development In Children
by Carolyn Warnemuende, M.S. of informedparent.com

This month’s article is excerpted from the presentation kit, “Rethinking the Brain” of Families and Work Institute, 1998. The source was Child Care Connections, November-December, 1999.

1. BE WARM, LOVING AND RESPONSIVE.
When children receive warm care, they are more likely to feel safe and secure with the adults who take care of them and will become attached to them.

2. RESPOND TO THE CHILD’S CUES AND CLUES.
Being responsive includes understanding what the child is saying and then responding. It may be responding to a child emotionally, (when hurt), or socially (getting along), or intellectually (bringing him a book about bugs when he has become fascinated with bugs).

3. TALK, SING AND READ TO CHILDREN.
It’s not just reading a story but reading a story in a way that gets a child to participate. It’s not just listening to music but singing to the child so that he or she sings back.

4. ESTABLISH RITUALS AND ROUTINES.
Teach young children to know when it’s time for bed by developing routines such as singing a song and pulling the curtains. Daily routines and rituals create memories children will have forever.

5. ENCOURAGE SAFE EXPLORATIONS AND PLAY.
As infants grow, they begin to explore the world beyond their caregivers. Encourage this exploration. Children actually learn through playing.

6. MAKE TELEVISION WATCHING SELECTIVE.
Watch television with the child and talk about what is being seen. Don’t use TV as a babysitter.

7. USE DISCIPLINE AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TEACH.
In addition to consistent and loving adult supervision, teach children limits. Never hit or shake a child.

8. RECOGNIZE THAT EACH CHILD IS UNIQUE AND EXPECT CHILDREN TO SUCCEED.
Children grow at different rates. Their ideas and feelings about themselves reflect, in large measure, parents’ and caregivers’ attitudes toward them.

9. CHOOSE QUALITY CHILD CARE AND STAY INVOLVED.
Frequently visit child care providers and seek someone who responds warmly and responds to the children’s needs.

10. CAREGIVERS NEED TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.
They need nurturing, too. When parents and caregivers are exhausted, irritable, depressed, or overwhelmed, they may have a harder time meeting the needs of young children.

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Sleep Patterns For Your Kids
by John H. Samson, M.D., F.A.A.P. of informedparent.com

First-time parents inevitably bring multiple questions to the well checks of their infant. Without the greater family support or wise and experienced grandmother who in past times would answer these pressing questions, the physician often provides the answers.

One perplexed mother inquired of me how much time was too much time for her one-year-old to sleep. It seemed that the child took two daytime naps and would sleep through the night. Friends told her that the baby was sleeping too much. It was their experience that children her age took only one nap per day.

I mapped out a chart for this mother, assuring her that the numbers given represented typical requirements, and an individual child’s needs may vary on either side of the amount listed.

Age Range

1st month		15-16 hours
1 month to 1 year		13-15 hours
1 year to 2 years		13 hours
2 years to 5 years		11-13 hours
5 years to 9 years		10 hours
9 years to 12 years		9-10 hours
12 years and older		8-9 hours

Of added note, a typical one-year-old takes two naps per day, while a two-to-three-year-old takes one nap per day. Any infant may require a little more or a little less and still be normal. If there is a great variation one should discuss this with the child’s physician.

Parents of teenagers will note that adolescents do not usually have consistent sleep hours, day-to-day. Some days or during certain times they seem to require considerably more sleep than the 8 – 9 hours listed. Athletic, social, work or academic demands dictate this variation. If the adolescent’s hours of sleep per day are tabulated for a full month, one will find it usually will average out to be 8 – 9 hours per day.

Latest updates on Parenting Toddlers

The Parenting Toddlers website is constantly being updated with more information.

Below are the latest additions :

Create your own math game for kids and review of some existing math board game

Review of some block toys available in the market

A new section has just been created, called Help for Parents. This section highlights resources and tools created by parents for parents. Find out what other parents do to bring up their children “successfully”.

Remember to check back often for more updates on parenting toddlers.

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See you in the next issue. :-)