Reinforcing sleep routines means your child goes to sleep earlier and sleeps longer. Tell Me More Many parents swear by bedtime routines, and scientific evidence supports this: children who have both a regular bedtime and a bedtime routine fall asleep faster and sleep, on average, longer than children who do not. This fact holds true
Category: Family Tips
Getting Ready for Your Sitter
You’ve done it! Booked a sitter via SitterTree, snagged that hard-to-get dinner reservation and picked up your favorite dress from the cleaners. Now what? It’s time to get ready for the sitter. I’m a “planner” by nature and making sure the babysitter is well prepared for her time with my son is important. Hiring sitters
Imaginary friends can be good to have
Imaginary friends tend to reflect strong cognitive, social, and emotional skills in young children, rather than being a cause for concern. Tell Me More Creating a fantasy friend requires a child to do a lot of mental work – they create something to see and feel out of thin air, right inside their own head.
Summer Creative Play Guide for School-Aged Children
Summer is almost here and soon your kids will be out of school! You may be wondering what to do with your kids while they are home for the summer. Here is your summer guide to creative play for your school-aged kids. Not only can you use this information for yourself, but it can be
Quality of early care linked to outcome
High-quality care before entering school has a significant impact on long-term outcomes. Tell Me More While there’s no evidence that anyone specific preschool program is better than another, substantial evidence underscores the fact that high-quality care leads to both short and long-term advantages to your child. The quality of care is not only reflected in
The development of empathy
Tiny cells in the brain that act like internal mirrors give us the capacity to copy actions and behaviors as well as feel or empathize with other people’s emotions. Tell Me More When I reach for something or feel something, my brain is activated. When I see you reach for something or feel something, my
Healthy Kids: It Starts with Mom
As a new mom, we learn to scrutinize every nuance of our baby to understand what the little person is trying to tell us. Before long we know the difference in the cry for food and the cry from pain. We continuously monitor the signals our infant gives and we’re experts in non-verbal communication. Why?
Teaching children how to remember
Children whose parents ask more questions about events and experiences tend to have significantly better memories than their less-questioned counterparts. Tell Me More The development of memory, like many functions, is extremely malleable during the toddler and preschool years. At this age, your child’s memory is particularly responsive to gentle but regular training. One activity
Crying as a sign of stress
We can’t solve the age-old debate about on-demand vs scheduled feedings here, but we can tell you that your baby has to get pretty worked up in order to ‘tell you’ that they are ready for their next meal. Tell Me More When is the last time you cried for a meal? Thanks to our
Ask for Help
I must fully acknowledge that I can’t imagine keeping these little ones alive without the support of my generous, ever-patient husband, who is a true partner in every sense of the word. But, I know that many moms are raising kids on their own and I think you are amazing—and that at times, every single