Developmental Milestones
Milestones are a way to track your Baby’s progress and development but it is important to remember that all children are different. Some babies don’t meet the milestones within the charted dates and some far exceed them. If your baby does not meet these milestones please do not panic. If you are concerned, talk to your pediatrician. Otherwise, just be patient and use these milestones as a general guide.
By the end of their first month, most babies:
- Make jerky, quivering arm movements
- Bring hands near face
- Keep hands in tight fists
- Move head from side to side while lying on stomach
- Focus on objects 8 to 12 inches away
- Prefer human faces over other shapes
- Prefer black-and-white or high-contrast patterns
- Hear very well
- Recognize some sounds, including parents’ voices
By the end of their third month, most babies:
- Raise head and chest when lying on stomach
- Support upper body with arms when lying on stomach
- Stretch legs out and kick when lying on stomach or back
- Push down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface
- Open and shut hands
- Bring hands to mouth
- Grab and shake hand toys
- Follow moving object with eyes
- Watch faces closely
- Recognize familiar objects and people at a distance
- Start using hands and eyes in coordination
- Begin to babble and to imitate some sounds
- Smile at the sound of parents’ voices
- Enjoy playing with other people
- May cry when playing stops
By the end of their seventh month, most babies:
- Roll over both ways (stomach to back and back to stomach)
- Sit up
- Reach for object with hand
- Transfer objects from one hand to the other
- Support whole weight on legs when held upright
- Develop full-color vision and mature distance vision
- Use voice to express joy and displeasure
- Respond to own name
- Babble chains of consonants (ba-ba-ba-ba)
- Distinguish emotions by tone of voice
- Explore objects with hands and mouth
- Struggle to get objects that are out of reach
- Enjoy playing peek-a-boo
- Show an interest in mirror images
By their first birthday, most babies:
- Sit without assistance
- Get into hands-and-knees position
- Crawl
- Pull self up to stand
- Walk holding onto furniture, and possibly a few steps without support
- Use pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger)
- Say “dada” and “mama”
- Use exclamations, such as “oh-oh!”
- Try to imitate words
- Respond to “no” and simple verbal requests
- Use simple gestures, such as shaking head “no” and waving bye-bye
- Explore objects in many ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping)
- Begin to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair)
- Find hidden objects easily
- Look at correct picture when an image is named
By their second birthday, most children:
- Walk alone
- Pull toys behind them while walking
- Carry large toy or several toys while walking
- Begin to run
- Kick a ball
- Climb on and off furniture without help
- Walk up and down stairs while holding on to support
- Scribble with crayon
- Build tower of four blocks or more
- Recognize names of familiar people, objects and body parts
- Say several single words (by 15 to 18 months)
- Use simple phrases (by 18 to 24 months)
- Use two- to four-word sentences (“want snack”)
- Follow simple instructions
- Begin to sort objects by shapes and colors
- Begin to play make-believe
- Imitate behavior of others
- Show growing independence
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics. “Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5, Fourth Edition” (Bantam Books, 2005).
Has anyone asking if you are banking your cord blood? Did you come away thinking that you needed more information about what cord blood banking is about?
By storing your child’s cord blood, you are storing stem cells with regenerative capabilities. Currently, over 50 of diseases can be treated with cord blood, but scientists predict that stem cell treatment will become increasingly frequent as cord blood stem cells research is performed, with some experts suggesting that stem cell treatment may be commonly used for many major diseases within a decade.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Sold exclusively at: The Land of Nod stores in Illinois and Washington, the Land of Nod catalog and www.landofnod.com from October 2007 through February 2010 for about $25.
“Swaddling a baby is perfectly safe”, says Raleigh, North Carolina-based Pamela Diamond, a certified postpartum doula and baby sleep consultant.
“Considering the millions of people that have been swaddling newborns every night and every day, if such a theory were correct, there would be literally thousands of such reported incidents over the years, and there simply aren’t,” says Michael Gatten, CEO and Founder of Miracle Industries, LLC, makers of a leading swaddling product, Miracle Blanket. “We are extremely concerned about parents being incorrectly educated regarding sleep positions that have not been clinically studied.”
A tipped uterus is can be a uterus of many names. Your doctor might refer to it as retro-flexed, tilted, backward, retroverted or tilted. There are also beautiful medical terms like: uterine retro-versionn, uterine retroflexion,retro-versionn of the uterus, symptomatic uterineretro-versionn, sympromatic uterine reflexion, uterine retrodisplacement, reflexion of the uterus. But how does the uterus normally sit, and how is a tipped uterus sitting?
There are not many specific symptoms of a tipped uterus because it is more of a situation than a disease. A lot of women do not find out that they have a tipped uterus unless it is mentioned by their doctor or an ultrasound technician. Most women do not experience any difficulties or problems as a result of a tipped uterus.
BuckleyBoo is a growing collection of award-winning developmental stuffed toys co-created by a child psychologist and grandma that encourage cognitive development and sequential learning through matching, buckling and unbuckling. Plus BuckleyBoos are adorable and cuddly and are sure to become your little one’s new favorite friend.
Uterine artery embolization (UAE), also called uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) is an endovascular procedure, meaning it is done through the arterial system. It is non-surgical and minimally invasive. It does not require general anesthesia- the groin is numbed and the patient is sedated, but still conscious enough to respond to a question.
Let us step back from our desire to go off to the Dollar Store and buy cheap plastic trinkets for the birthday bash.
There is no reason that you can not try and make the Birthday spread as healthy as possible.
Having a princess party? Using your digital camera take a picture of all of the little princesses and print them out before the party has ended. As the girls leave hand them each the photo that was taken in a special frame.
Pregnancy is a blissful condition, and motherhood is one of the most beautiful experiences in every woman’s life, but the fact is that it goes together with some not so pleasant aspect. Morning sickness is one of them.
Neutral approach right after you get up from the bed is the formula: glass of water and fresh air. Keep your body hydrated enough, but stick to the water, because all the other drink might promote sickness. Also, lemonade could be a good replacement, if you need a flavor and want to get the whole body refreshed. Many women report that even a smell of citrus can make them feel better.
Thinking of breakfast, even if you are hungry, can come as disgusting when waking up dizzy, but you should avoid an empty stomach. Stomach acid can make morning sickness worse, so try to eat a small amount, but often. You might want to avoid groceries, especially going on your own to buy them, because the smell of groceries tends to make many women feel worse. Stick to the protein rich meals, but avoid fatty and spicy food. If you want just to have a bite and wait until the sickness goes away, try eating nuts or some neutral salads. Also, it seems that cold meals are easier to cope with than hot ones when feeling sick.
Herbal teas can be quite helpful, and most of the women say that ginger tea can be an easy and quick relief to morning nausea. You can easily prepare it at home or buy it in the form of syrup or tablets. Also, add multivitamins to your every day’s diet. Vitamin B complex or just vitamin B6 are particularly handy when fighting morning sickness and vomiting.
Toilet Training Your Toddler
July 13, 2016 by • Toilet Traning • 0 Comments
There are so many different and effective methods of toilet training your child. As time (and months) ticked by, I remember looking at my mother in despair when my child refused to use the toilet. After not listening to her for well over a year something changed…I finally heard what she was saying. She had told me time and time again that this would not go on forever. My child wanted to use the toilet. It is part of every child’s normal development. It will happen when my child is ready. Forcing the issue will only MAKE it an issue. Patience was required and I would be rewarded. And Mom you were right. It took some patience but now we are diaper free. The moment that I stopped pushing, my child started on the journey to Pottyland.
WORDS: Choose the language that you are going to use with your child. Are you going to say “pee” or “wee wee”? Whatever you choose make sure that you stick to these terms and use them during the entire toilet training process.
WATCH: Children learn by watching. Let your child watch you go to the washroom and talk about it with them while you are on the toilet. It might seem awkward but you are doing your child a wonderful service by teaching them that both Mommy and Daddy use the toilet too.
REWARD: You don’t need to reward with anything more than positive reinforcement. It can go miles. Have a mini celebration every time your child uses the toilet.
If you hit a roadblock, try out some special treats if the child reaches a goal of your choice. My child refused to go #2 on the toilet; he was actually terrified of it. I decided that bribery may work to get him over this developing phobia (I know, I know). One day when we were playing he mentioned a specific toy and talked about longingly. Instead of saying, “Let’s write that down for your Birthday or Santa!” I decided to say the following, “I am going to buy that toy for you. You can play with it every time you poop on the toilet. If you stop pooping on the toilet, I am going to put it away until you poop on the toilet again. What do you think of that?”. My child looked at me and quickly asked me when I was getting the toy…Later that day I escaped to get the toy and my child went poop on the toilet the moment I walked in the front door. We have never looked back.
This strategy might not work for everyone but I sure hope that it does.
READINESS:
Try not to force your child to toilet train. They will get to a stage of development where it is something that they are going to want to do naturally and on their own. Read books and look for DVDs about toilet training. Talk about it with them so that they know that going to the toilet is always an option. Try and peak their interest.
NO SHAME:
Children crave attention. Attention can come in the form of positive or negative reinforcement. Praise your child for a job well done and the child will seek that praise by repeating the task. If an accident occurs or if there is a setback to diapers, choose not to shame your child. Just go with the flow. By removing a reaction you remove the benefit(or attention) from the action. Give your child a chance to figure this out on their own with your loving guidance, not a heavy hand.
Good Luck!