Timeouts: Helpful or Harmful?
Timeouts have become a controversial topic. Many magazines, blogs, and parenting advice columns discuss how timeouts can negatively impact a child’s attachment and emotional regulation. Yet, they fail to include peer-reviewed evidence to support these claims. Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2007) define timeout “…as the withdrawal of the opportunity to earn positive reinforcement, or the …
Effects of Social Media Use on Teenagers
The adolescent stage of development can be defined by change or transformation. As early as age 11, parents may start to notice physical, developmental, emotional, and social changes in their pre-teen. Emotional ups and downs, a push for independence, new friend groups, and academic pressures are common experiences among adolescents. In today’s technological world, an …
When to Introduce Common Allergenic Foods, like Peanuts?
Is there a way to prevent my baby from developing a food allergy? How likely is it that my child will develop a food allergy? Questions regarding children and food allergies stem from common concerns that many new and expecting parents consider as food allergies among infants and children in the United States have increased. …
Snacks before bedtime?
Do you or your children have trouble sleeping at night? There are many factors that can disrupt your quality of sleep. For example, according to the Sleep Health Foundation, if adults and children spend too much time viewing screens, don’t get enough physical activity, have irregular sleeping routines, and consume caffeine, they may have issues …
Can you really spoil your baby?
When most professionals use the term, they are actually referring to a method of sleep training that uses gradual extinction or bedtime fading strategies, which are designed to produce better infant sleep behaviors. The Ferber method, better known as gradual extinction, involves a series of training sessions comprised of timed intervals of parent exposure. Over …
Concerned About Your Child’s Eating? Eating Disorders Among Young Children and Teens
As a parent, you hope that you will not need to address the topic of eating disorders with your child; however, many parents are forced to confront their child’s diagnosis with this illness. All parents should be aware of the signs and symptoms of eating disorders and provide a stable and supportive environment for those …
2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has released the updated Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The updated guidelines are based on the latest scientific evidence that explains the benefits of daily physical activity. The guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for improving health through increased physical activity. New aspects of the guidelines discuss the following: …
What is Empathy? How to Foster Empathy in Children
Empathy is the ability for a person to understand and share the feelings of others, to recognize emotions that are being experienced by another and to understand another person’s situation from that person’s perspective (Havighurst, et.al, 2010). Helping a child understand the concept of empathy can be challenging for parents. Empathy promotes prosocial and cooperative …