Search Results for: blog ask a baby blogger how young is too young for discipline

Our Evolution of Discipline Part III

In the early days of putting our disciplinary plan into actions, we did not really visit other people very often so dealing with him acting out at someone’s house was not a problem. Inevitably, once the craziness of the beginning of the school year died down (I was a full time high school teacher at this stage in our son’s life), I started visiting friends again. It was interesting to see how our son interacted with other people. While he was largely very well behaved and and a pretty “good listener,” there were of course instances during our outings to … Continue reading →

Are You Causing Your Toddler’s Sleep Problems?

Yesterday I wrote about three bad habits you should avoid from the beginning if you want to help your baby establish healthy sleep patterns. Interestingly, I ran across research today that showed a link between parenting style and sleeping problems that last into toddlerhood, past the 12 month mark. Defining Healthy Sleep Despite what all the mothers in your mom’s group say (and despite what you may feel) “sleeping through the night” is medically defined as 5 hours. While that is certainly not enough sleep for most adults, it’s important to understand that when we’re looking for healthy sleep habits, … Continue reading →

3 Parenting Mistakes to Avoid with Your Toddler

Despite the moniker “terrible twos”, that period of testing and searching for independence can come as early as 15 months and last up until three years old. Navigating this period of development successfully requires, patience, patience, a little more patience and then just a little more patience. However, setting boundaries during this time will set you up for a life time of positive interaction with your child. This is the age where you’re setting the ground work for authority in your home. It’s not a now or never deal, but parents who are not consistent and firm with their toddlers, … Continue reading →

The Best of the 2007 Baby Blog

It has been an exciting year in the baby blog with a few changes in bloggers, several news stories, a few series started, and of course lots of information and reflection. This is a list of the best of the best. . .the best news, the best advice and the best of my personal favorites. With that I wish you all a Happy New Year, and look forward to an exciting year in 2008! Ask a Baby Blogger Series–This, in my opinion is one of the best things the baby blog has to offer. Granted, it’s my advice which I … Continue reading →

Ask a Baby Blogger: Why My Toddlers Aren’t Allowed to Talk Back

Question: I’ve heard you say a few times that you don’t allow your toddlers to talk back to you. At first, I thought you meant preschoolers but in one of your posts you even make mention of insisting that your 14 month old doesn’t say ‘no’ to you. How exactly do you accomplish this? I don’t mean to offend you, but you sound horribly strict. I am going to have to answer this in two parts. First, I’ll give you the ‘why’ of dealing with toddlers and then in another blog I’ll explain how exactly we gain their cooperation. Yes, … Continue reading →

The Trouble With Twins

If you have any of my blogs in the past, you probably know that I have five kids, and that the last two came as a matching pair two years ago. Now my twins are not identical, (they are in fact fraternal) but they look awfully similar. In fact if they are not standing side by side together, I have to be no further than five or six feet away to tell them apart. Even then, if I am looking at the first twin Emily, I’m not really sure who it is that I’m looking at. If the other twin, … Continue reading →

Why Being Strong Willed is a Gift (The Rest of the Meghan Story)

It is not easy as parents, to be at our wits end with a toddler who is being unreasonable. I mentioned in my first article that I used to think bratty toddlers were a reflection of their parents. After having one of my own very strong willed toddlers, I see things a little differently. Today my challenge is for we parents to learn to embrace those tantrums as part of our child’s unique temperament. They don’t need to be ’fixed’ as much as they need to be nurtured towards using their abilities appropriately. Meghan, as a toddler used to love … Continue reading →

The Joy of Fatherhood

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My youngest children are 2 year old, twin girls. They are quite a handful. Just this morning, I had an errand to run at the local Target. Now when I say local, I mean about a mile-easy walking distance for myself. In fact, since I live in New York City (where parking is a HUGE part of daily life) I figured that walking would actually save time in the long run. To give them a chance to go out (but mostly as a personal favor to my wife) I decided to take them with me. Now the twins like to … Continue reading →

Baby Blog in Review: April Thus Far

What can I say other than ‘oops’? I forgot to post a week in review for the baby blog last week. I was just coming back from vacation, had mountains of laundry and other sundry things to take care of and well, I just forgot. So this week, I will bring you the baby blog review starting from April 1st! Sunday, April 1 April started off controversially with a blog entitled Weak White Males and the Difference Race Makes in Preemies. This is a discussion on the statistical tendency for males, especially caucasion males to mature the slowest in the … Continue reading →

Ask a Baby Blogger: How Young Is Too Young for Discipline?

The question: My husband feels that we can begin disciplining our 1 year old child by giving him time outs and spanking him. I think he’s too young. What is your opinion on how young a child can be disciplined? I don’t think there is a magical age at which a child can be disciplined in terms of time outs or other tools that you may use. I think it depends on the child, the infraction and what exactly ‘discipline’ means in your household. I also want to point out that there is a big difference developmentally between a 13 … Continue reading →