Posts by blogEPantley

Which Expert Should You Trust about your Newborn?

It’s remarkable, but true – your baby is born with a distinct personality that exists from the moment of birth. Babies are similar in their actions and needs, but they are not all exactly alike. Even two children born to the same parents on the same day – twins! – can be very different from each other.  Your newborn baby is a unique person with likes and dislikes, emotions and feelings. Your most important job in these early weeks is to get to know your unique and precious baby.

Separation Anxiety is a Normal Part of Development

Babies quickly learn that other people are vital to their happiness and their survival, which means that they form very strong bonds with their caretakers! Unfortunately, babies don’t have the ability to understand fully how the world works. They don’t know what makes people appear or disappear, and they don’t know if beloved people will come back ever again once they are out of sight. Craving closeness to their caretakers is something that babies do to protect themselves from these potential losses.

Self Care Doesn’t Always Mean Time Alone

It’s often said that self-care is vitally important for a busy parent. It’s common for moms and dads to juggle a million tasks every day. They are constantly busy and consequently stressed and often short-tempered. They tend to their children’s needs, their own work and responsibilities, with rarely a moment to themselves. 

Self-care is a vital way to keep the engines going. It can mean taking a jog around the block, meeting a friend for coffee, taking a yoga class, or spending an hour working on the car in the garage with your music blaring. Taking care of yourself is not selfish – it’s the way to fill your own needs so that you can, in turn, take care of everyone else.

But here’s one point that is often missed when discussing self-care: It doesn’t always mean time alone.

Co-Sleeping: Making it Safe

If you decide to have your child sleep with you, either for naps or at nighttime, and you’ve found how to make co-sleeping work with your family, it’s important to follow these safety guidelines to protect your baby. People have a lot of opinions and “what worked for me” stories — but do your homework and make safe choices. 

Using the Magic Word when Parenting

Day in and day out, parents are teaching their children to use their manners; but all too often, parents forget to use those same manners themselves. Parents make the mistake of modeling the exact opposite of what they’ve been teaching, which makes their parenting lessons much less effective. Or they take the opposite approach and are not direct enough.