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The Whopping Family Cell Phone Bill

Cell phones as we know them are only a few decades old, and yet it is hard to think about living without them, despite the fact that humankind survived centuries without cell phones. It isn’t unusual these days to be spending $250 or more a month for your family cell phones. In some families, the cell phone expense may be the second highest monthly bill, after the mortgage or the rent. Doing without other things, from eating out to dental care (in some cases) in order to afford cell phones has become the norm. How did things get so crazy? … Continue reading →

Getting Weighed at School

Well as I mentioned before my kids are doing the weight loss journey with me. We had an issue come up this week. Did you know that kids from 3rd – 12th grade are weighed at school now and their Body Mass Index is calculated? Well last year when they did it they sent a letter home with our kids saying if they were obese or not. When I got the letter home last year I called the school and asked them not to do it anymore. When my now 10 year old son did it last year he saw … Continue reading →

Overcompensating

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I’m sure the following scenario is something most of us have experienced at some point in our life. You twist your ankle, and while it doesn’t hurt bad enough for you to go to the doctor and get crutches, it does hurt when you walk. So, to avoid further injury, you try to keep weight off of the ankle, and, instead, you put more pressure on your healthy ankle. Over time, the injured ankle heals, but the other ankle, the one you didn’t twist, has also become sore due to all the extra strain you had been putting on it. … Continue reading →

Researchers Find Autism Genes

In a recent press release from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, it was declared that recent research is showing that autism spectrum disorders may be linked to “Combination of Inherited and New Genetic Mutations Acting Together.” Quoted in the press release: “We are finding that both inherited and new, or de novo, genetic mutations are scattered throughout the genome and we suspect that differentcombinations of these variations contribute to autism susceptibility,” saidco-author Maja Bucan, Ph.D., professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Chair of the Steering committee for Autism Speaks’ Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE).” … Continue reading →

Toddler Language Development

Language development explodes during toddlerhood, with new words being acquired daily. For example when your your reaches eighteen months, his or her vocabulary should increase up to five times the amount that it was when he or she was only fifteen months old. First words The first words that a baby says are usually mama and dada. We see this across cultural lines, and it isn’t surprising that these first words are usually reserved for the baby’s parents. After that, the first word could be anyone’s guess. The word “more” is a popular first word, as is the name of … Continue reading →

Naming Body Parts

By eighteen months of age, your baby should be able to name most of his or her body parts. Here are some ideas and fun games to play that will encourage this learning. Start with the basics Facial features are the most fascinating things to your baby, so they are good places to start when teaching body parts. The nose, the eyes, the mouth and the ears are all easily recognizable and accessible. Hands and feet also seem easy for most babies to learn first. Play the where is it game Start with one body part, such as the nose, … Continue reading →

Reducing Gassiness in Babies

Little babies (and big ones, too) often have a lot of gas in their systems. While many will happily pass gas anywhere at all, much to the embarrassment of a mom or a dad out in public, gas can also cause a lot of discomfort for the baby. Reducing the amount of gas that gets in to your baby’s system or produced by it can really help a fussy baby feel better. Here are some ways to reduce gassiness in your baby. Whether you breastfeed or bottle feed, make sure that the baby is positioned correctly when feeding. This means … Continue reading →

How to Stop Night Waking 3

If you are struggling with getting your baby to sleep through the night, you are not alone. Most parents I talk with describe night waking as an issue with their babies. It is a serious challenge to have a contentedly sleeping baby all night long, but once the problem is solved, the benefit helps everyone involved, including your baby. Now here are some more physical reasons why your baby may be waking at night. Hunger In very young babies, this is probably the number one reason for night waking. Little babies have tiny tummies, and then just need to eat … Continue reading →

How to Stop Night Waking 2

If you want your baby to sleep through the night, you may want to read this post. There may be many reasons why your baby is waking in the night, and they all have solutions that you can try. If you missed the previous post on this topic, you can click here How to Stop Night Waking. Now let’s talk about some more physical reasons that may not be allowing your baby to sleep through the night. Stuffy Nose When babies are very young, they rely on their nasal passages to breathe. Later, they can breath through their mouths, although … Continue reading →

How to Stop Night Waking

Getting your baby to sleep and stay asleep is probably one of the biggest challenges of parenthood. Sure we have all heard the glory stories of babies that sleep through the night the moment they come home from the hospital, but for most of us that just isn’t the case. The first step you might take is to try to eliminate as many of the physical reasons for night waking as possible. This may depend on the age of your baby, since some night waking may be inevitable in tiny babies. Teething Teething pain can wake a baby and keep … Continue reading →