Search Results for: blog encouraging your toddler to talk

Medicine Cabinets and Toddlers

What’s in your medicine cabinet? If you have a toddler, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a list of items you should have stocked in your medicine cabinet, including: Thermometer: Pediatricians recommend that you invest in a rectal thermometer, as it provides the most accurate readings. However, most doctors also realize that many parents are weary of using one, so they suggest taking your toddler’s temperature in a way that you feel most comfortable. Be warned, though, digital ear thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. What’s more, trying to cajole a sick tot into holding an oral thermometer under his tongue or … Continue reading →

Do You Over or Under Medicate Your Toddler?

My young daughter would rather endure excruciatingly painful injections to her thighs than down a teaspoon of grape-flavored medicine. Since she was a tiny baby, my daughter has forcefully regurgitated every single drop of oral medication that I have carefully and skillfully placed in her mouth… towards her cheek, away from her taste buds and not directly down her throat. As a result of her violent gagging and distressful purging tendencies, my daughter’s pediatrician recommends that my little throw-up queen receive medication via syringe. It works when the injection option is available, like when she had strep throat, hand, foot … Continue reading →

Why You Shouldn’t Slide With Your Toddler

Parents, who try to get their toddlers acclimated to playground slides by holding them on their laps before taking off, are not doing themselves or their children any favors. According to a new study published in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, moms and dads should think twice before placing toddlers on their laps and heading down the park’s slide. Researchers say you are not protecting your child by placing him on your lap; rather you are increasing the chances of him getting seriously injured. The study found parents, who sit and slid with little Johnny on their laps, doubled the … Continue reading →

Make Learning Fun for Toddlers

With older kids back in school, now is a great time to bond with your toddler. However, instead of simply reading books or singing songs, mix-up your routine by adding these fun and educational activities that your toddler will love to play over and over: EGG MATCH Materials: 12 plastic Easter eggs Glue Egg carton Directions: Use leftover plastic eggs from Easter (about one dozen) making sure that you have at least five different colors. Glue or tape the two parts of each egg together. Encourage your child to sort the eggs by color and place them into the carton. … Continue reading →

How Do You Respond When Your Toddler Cries?

Do you: A. Find the nearest couch and bury your head between the cushions. B. Beam with pride and revel in the sweet sound knowing that your little one’s lungs are obviously extremely healthy. C. Crying? What crying? I can’t hear a thing with these earplugs in. According to a new study, the way a mother responds to her screaming child may be the result of how well she bonded with her own mother. The recently published Baylor University study revealed that some moms experience a “natural high” while listening to their crying child, while others facing the same scenario … Continue reading →

Toddler Pizza Party

My preschooler loves pizza, but as a toddler she wasn’t that into chowing down on crunchy dough topped with whatever veggies I could sneak under melted cheese. Still, she loved the idea of eating with her hands (it was the taste of the pizza she despised) and happily created her own fake Italian pies in her play kitchen. Whether your toddler devours pizza by the slice or she refuses to touch it with a ten-foot pole, she’ll have a ball partaking in the following simple, age appropriate pizza-related activities: PIZZA ART An unused pizza pan can act as a great … Continue reading →

Encouraging Your Toddler to Talk

When my daughter was a baby I spent countless hours encouraging her to say new words. Now I can’t get her to stop talking. EVER. Still, I don’t regret a single second I spent reading to her, sounding out words or simply describing each item we encountered during our walks through the neighborhood. If you are looking for ways to encourage your toddler to express himself through words, then consider the following tips: Nix the baby talk: Use real words. Don’t confuse your toddler with made up baby talk or weird sounds. Instead, use adult language in a pleasing tone. … Continue reading →

Cleaning Up After a Toddler

It’s a thankless job, but someone’s got to do it, right? Typically (see: always) that person is me. From crayon marks on the wall to spilled cereal on the living room floor to mashed bananas on the bathroom mirror (mind you the banana was whole when it left the kitchen), toddlers don’t need to be schooled on how to make a mess. My daughter is at the head of the class when it comes to turning a room upside down and inside out. Consequently, I’ve had to take a crash course in cleaning. Here’s what I’ve learned so far: Mr. … 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 →

Are You Too Focused on Your Child’s Looks?

Let’s face it, we are a society that is obsessed with youth and external looks can seem incredibly important. As parents, it can also be hard NOT to focus on what our children look like—are they wearing the “right” clothes? Do they have the “right” haircut? Are their teeth straight? Is there a line that we cross, however, between what is reasonable and what is obsessive? Recently, I was talking to a parent whose child has just been diagnosed with eczema. One of my own children had allergies when she was a preschooler that manifested itself with eczema so I … Continue reading →