Day-to-Day-Parenting

June 9, 2014

Explaining Death to Children

Telling a young child that a beloved family member, friend, or pet has died is a difficult task for any parent to face, and many parents have questions about how to approach this conversation. There are a few important things to keep in mind when discussing death with a child of any age.
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May 27, 2014

Infantile Spasms | What to Know as a Parent, Therapist & Caregiver

Infantile Spasms usually start between the ages of 4 to 8 months and occur in clusters, where often a baby is flexing his arms, legs, trunk or neck. Colic, on the other hand, does not typically occur in clusters and colic is often associated with feeding, where Infantile Spasms are not. Sometimes they are mistaken by parents as a “startle reflex.”
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May 20, 2014
bottle weaning

Weaning From Bottle and Pacifier: When and Why

All parents must face the task of weaning their children from a bottle at some point, but when is the best time to do it? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends doing it by the time healthy children are 15 months. If there are significant concerns regarding the child’s health and nutrition, it is always advised to check with a child’s pediatrician before weaning from the bottle.
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April 30, 2014
w sitting day to day parenting

What’s Wrong with W Sitting in Children?

Do you see your child or someone else’s child sitting with their bottom on the floor and their legs out beside them, forming a “W” shape? This is commonly called “W sitting.” You may think “wow, look how flexible they are.” Although flexibility in your muscles is a good thing, “W” sitting is not.
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April 21, 2014
learning to walk should babies wear shoes

Should Babies Wear Shoes? Tips For New Walkers

Shoes or no shoes? This is a question many parents of young children who are learning to walk will eventually ask. Do shoes make their child more stable? Or, will shoes hinder their ability to progress? Varying opinions of friends and family may add to the confusion.
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April 14, 2014

Could Your Child Benefit from a Cochlear Implant? | Sensorineural Hearing Loss Treatment

The type of hearing loss involved with getting a cochlear implant is called sensorineural, which means that there are abnormalities in the hair cells in the cochlea. With this type of loss, sound cannot reach the auditory nerve. With a cochlear implant, sound bypasses the damaged parts of the ear and reaches the auditory nerve.
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April 3, 2014

The Picture Exchange Communication System | Alternative Communication Intervention

Communication comes in many forms. From a cry to express hunger to rhythmic kicks of their feet to show excitement, children begin communicating in the earliest years of their life. For most, communication continues to develop and becomes an everyday effortless activity; however, for individuals with disabilities, communication can be a constant obstacle.
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March 27, 2014

Turning Oral Motor Activities into Play

Parents and their children are actually participating in oral motor activities and modeling oral motor skills during their daily routines without even being aware of it. Here are some fun ways to target oral motor skills during play and daily routines with your child that provide multiple opportunities to practice each skill and are fun for everyone!
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March 20, 2014

Fun and Healthy Eating for Kids

In my profession as a pediatric dietitian I frequently have parents ask, “How do I change my child’s eating habits?” Some parents would like their child to eat more, some to eat less, others to eat healthier and others just to include more variety. We have all heard the traditional response that as a parent we should model good eating habits. Sometimes that just isn’t enough. I always include trying to make healthy eating fun for your children.
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March 18, 2014

Toddler a Picky Eater? The Development of Oral Motor Skills and Eating

During early childhood, there is an important progression of oral motor skills that a child gains in order to move on to each set of new foods. One of the most significant of these oral motor skills is tongue lateralization, or the movement of the tongue from side to side inside the mouth.
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March 13, 2014

Joint Attention: How do we teach what is hardest to learn?

An airplane flies overhead. Your toddler looks up into the sky with large eyes, looks quickly to you, then looks back toward the sky. It takes no words, no description, but language is not driving this interaction. Your child just used a method of communication known as joint attention.
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March 11, 2014

Applied Behavior Analysis and Early Intervention

The practice of ABA seeks to determine the “who, what, where, and why” of behaviors in order to develop methods to both teach new skills and replace problem behaviors with positive ones. ABA is used to teach a wide variety of skills such as play skills, communication, self-help skills, and social skills.
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March 6, 2014

Autism Spectrum Therapies: the PLAY Project

As therapists working with our families in their natural environments, we have the ability to choose from many different approaches to autism spectrum therapy as well as identify appropriate structures for interventions that can be implemented. One such approach is called “The PLAY Project” (Play and Language for the Autistic Youngster).
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February 28, 2014

Child Reactions: Sensory Issues or Behavior Driven?

Many parents and therapists alike can be perplexed by whether or not a child’s behaviors are resulting from sensory processing dysfunction or behavior driven. When living or working with infants or toddlers, this can be especially difficult until they are able to express their wants or needs by actions or words.
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February 26, 2014

Toddler Stuttering? What is Stuttering & How to Stop Stuttering

What is stuttering? Stuttering is a speech disorder that affects the normal flow of speech. People who stutter often exhibit part-word repetitions (d-d-d-dog), whole-word repetitions (dog dog dog), breaks in speech, interjections (um, er), and/or prolongations of sounds (DDDog).
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January 30, 2014
bilingualism and language delay

Can a Child Diagnosed with Language Delay Learn Two Languages?

There are many advantages to being bilingual. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association suggests that some advantages may include: learning new words more easily, playing rhyming games, putting words into categories, increasing problem solving skills, and improving listening skills.
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